“How did you know where to find me?” she mused, turning her attention back to Rennick. “You couldn’t leave your kingdom.” She’d peppered him with questions about his life the entire ride, and when he’d told her about why he couldn’t retrieve her sooner, she felt a pang of guilt at the irritation she’d harbored for his absence.
He thought for too long, and she wondered if he considered lying to her. “When royal fae turn thirteen, the gods whisper the name of their fated mate for only them to hear.” His eyes softened. “The first time I heard your name, I thought it was the prettiest name I’d ever heard.”
She bit back a smile that quickly turned to a scream when she glanced out of the window and saw a giant beast. It looked like a wolf, but it was the size of a horse and had red eyes and long teeth that extended past its bottom jaw. It was menacing at best.
The monstrous creature didn’t faze the driver. He must bring people across the barrier often, but how did one get used to a brush with death?
The beast itself ignored their presence, but she didn’t care and practically jumped across the seat into Rennick’s lap, clutching a miffed Eddy to her chest.
Rennick held her tight as she squeezed her eyes shut, wrapped her free arm around him, and smashed her face against his chest. He ran a soothing hand down her hair and rested his chin on the top of her head. “He cannot see us.”
Glamour.
For the one-hundredth time since meeting her mate, she felt stupid. “Sorry,” she mumbled against his shirt and pulled back. She glanced at her seat, reluctant to leave the safe haven of his arms.
He re-situated her to a more comfortable position and said, “You’ll stay here.”
Eddy huffed and jumped onto the seat beside them. Amelia burrowed deeper into Rennick’s chest and swore she felt him smile.
Unsure how to broach a subject she’d been curious about for years, she ran a hand down his chest, playing with the edge of his jacket. “Will you tell me about your mother?” It was a delicate subject, but if they were to be married, she wanted to knoweverything about him. “I used to talk to her in the stars,” she added quietly.
A long pause followed her admission, and she feared she’d gone too far until his arms tightened around her, and he took a deep breath. “Every time you show me more of yourself, I thank the gods for you.”
She didn’t know how to respond to his admission, so she said, “Tell me about her.”
After a long pause, Rennick spoke, his voice carrying a carrying fond notes of nostalgia. “Everything excited her,” he divulged. “She never met a stranger, and the staff loved her, especially the gardeners. She grew up in the Garden Kingdom, and my father said no one was more determined to make something grow in the snow than she was.”
“And did she?” Not much vegetation survived in the northern region of the Human Kingdom. Only the green of the evergreen trees.
“She did.” His eyes glittered as he chuckled. “After my father built her a hot house. I’ll show you once you’re settled in.”
She feared how he would react to her next question. “How did she die?”
Rennick’s chest stopped moving, and Amelia held her breath, too. “A group of rebels killed her while she was gardening.”
Amelia’s breath hitched. “Rebels?”
“Groups of fae who wish to overthrow the royals,” he explained. “Here in the Mountain Kingdom, we treat our people well. They always have food and adequate lodging regardless of their financial status, as well as access to medical attention when needed.”
Her mouth turned down. “Then why are the rebels unhappy?”
“There will always be those who think they would do a better job or who think it's unfair that the throne is inherited through bloodlines.” He shifted beneath her. “They forget that ourbloodlines are blessed by the gods. We can protect the people in a way they cannot. I could glamour every citizen in our kingdom. Non-royal fae can’t.”
“What about the royal fae who don’t rule the kingdoms?” He’d told her in an old letter that he was an only child, but what if he’d had siblings?
After a beat, he responded, “Royals usually only have one child.”
She lifted a skeptical brow. “Usually?”
“Anything is possible,” he said cryptically.
“But what if an heir or the ruling king and queen die before they have a child?”
He sighed, but his voice was patient. “That’s never happened, but if it did, either the gods will fix it, or they won’t. We don’t know much about them other than they’re in the heavens and Orcus, the devil himself, is in hell. The gods created us, gave the first fae and humans decrees to follow, then left. With the exception of coming back to create the barrier thousands of years ago, no one has heard from them since.” He brushed a piece of hair from her face. “The world is the way it is because it just is, and if something abnormal happens that we’ve never seen before, either the gods will grace us with their presence, or we’ll find a way to deal with it ourselves.”
Amelia stared, wide-eyed, at the enormous palace built from white stone with ornate golden accents adorning its tall towers. It was bigger than anything she’d ever seen.
Rennick’s lips grazed her ear. “Welcome home.”
