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“Oh, you’re just children,” Aria snorted. “Right, so you were her first, but she wasn’t yours.”
“My experience made our relationship better.”
“And now you’re making her better for the next guy.”
Arthur glared at her so hard that his gaze could slice her in half. She put her hand up defensively as the other onereached for more food. Holding it up to his face, she stuffed it into her mouth with a vow to stop talking.
With another sip to ease his nerves, he threw her a question that caught her off guard. “Why haven’t you had a lover, then? Hasn’t there been someone that your heart desired so strongly that it saw no one else?”
Aria suddenly couldn’t sit comfortably. “Honestly? No one ever stood out to me,” she replied. “I’ve been pursued but was never interested back. I’m not entirely sure why. It was always just physical and then I was over it.”
“There must’ve beensomeone.”
She sighed and sank into the leather chair. The only man Aria ever cared about at all was her father. His absence no longer stung so harshly, nor was it so loud. The void in her chest grew smaller each day, but she knew the spot would remain. He was her best friend, after all.
The thought of having a lover that her father would never meet…it made no sense. Growing up, she always imagined that the man she would marry would be as close to her father as she was. With the dream rendered impossible, she wasn’t sure she could risk hoping.
“There have been a few men.” she said humorously. “I can’t remember names, much less faces.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
She shook her head. “Fairies and Fae are bound by strange magical laws. We can’t conceive unless we’re with our fated mate. I suppose it’s why our population is declining so much. Plus, I didn’t sleep with them all.”
“What if your mate’s not a Fairy or Fae?” Arthur continued.
“I wonder about it,” she said. “The Fairy Guardian is against interspecies unions anyway. Very conservative woman, my mother.”
He looked at her curiously. “You could change that if you became the Fairy Guardian, couldn’t you?”
Aria was beginning to hate how the conversation was practically haunting her. It was as if her mother had infected everyone she talked to, secretly trying to coax her into putting herself in the lineup of eligible rulers for the election.
It was too much responsibility to bear. Sometimes, Aria wished she didn’t care so much.
“All in due time, Arthur,” she sighed and pulled out the scroll from her bag. “I should get going. Here are all the notes I gathered from his office. Make sure you inform me before making any decisions.”
Chapter 7
Travus couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so well. He also couldn’t remember the last time he’d left himself so defenseless either. Despite having bedded many women before, he found himself helpless to Mierna’s charms to the point of succumbing to such deep sleep.
He had no idea what really happened. His accounts of the encounter were fabricated by his ever-wandering mind.
Princess Mierna is a dangerous woman,he thought to himself as he got dressed.Perhaps it’s best if I avoid indulging in her until I practice more restraint.
It took him a moment to realize that he didn’t wake up in the pool, but in his bed instead.
How strange.
“How did I end up back in my room?” he asked the servant adjusting his sleeve, who only exchanged cautious glances with the other men and women in the room. Travus looked down at the one lacing up his boots. “You there. How did I get here?”
“It took about ten men,” she said softly, and he grunted in disappointment.
“Should’ve taken five. Tell my men their training is to become more rigorous. No wonder we had to retreat that day, from Fairies of all people. How humiliating.”
“Of course, your majesty.”
Now dressed in his royal robes, he stepped down the platform away from his large mirror and exited the room, taking in the sunlight pouring in through the windows of his castle. He couldn’t remember the last time things had been so…bright.
From the top of the tower to the ground floor of the castle, the light did not dim. If anything, it became more colorful. Travus had forgotten the tall windows were painted with colors and lines, and he observed the story play out with each pane of stained glass. The conquest of Elves over the mountains of Eldoria, the birth of the first gifted Elf, and how the nation flourished with the battles of his forefathers against the beasts of the dangerous terrain. The Battle of Boars, the Carving of the Great River, and many more accomplishments led by his family in creating the best nation in the realm.
