Father’s voice was quiet but harsh. “Are you certain they were Fae?”
“I’m positive, my king,” Caspian stated clearly. “They were wearing thick cloaks with large hoods, but their skin sparkled with light under a cloudy night sky. No one in our realm looks as such.”
I grabbed at my throat to keep from gasping aloud.
The Fae…were here.
“Why did they attack you?” Father asked softly.
Caspian muttered with bewilderment, “My food. It was most bizarre. They were traveling without provisions and attacked me for my Fae damned food. It was as if…they didn’t know where to get any in our realm or some such nonsense. They felt the need to slice me in the gut instead of asking for help.”
“The Fae aren’t known for asking. They simply take.” Father hummed loudly into the silence, both quiet for a long moment. “It has been much time since a Fae was in our realm. But it is bizarre they were ill-prepared for their travels.”
Caspian responded thoughtfully, “Or it’s the simple fact that it’s against their own law to step into our realm, and they didn’t want to make their presence known.”
Father grunted in agreement. “When they attacked you, did you…”
Caspian’s tone turned dry as sand. “Do you really want to know the answer to that, my king?”
“Yes. I need to know if I’ll have one of those traveling Fae knocking on my door, demanding your head for not dying when they wanted you to.”
“All five were taken care of,” Caspian answered evenly.
“I’m not sure if that is better or worse.” Father snorted under his breath. “Is it true their eyes sink into their heads when they die? I read that somewhere once.”
I rolled my own eyes. Leave it to Father to ask that.
“I couldn’t tell you. I was too busy dodging their claws that appeared out of nowhere. Those were white and sharp as blades.”
It sounded like Father whacked my cousin on the back. “Despite the storm this may cause me, I am happy you kicked their asses and are alive to tell me about it.”
Caspian chuckled softly. “As am I.”
With much humor in his voice, Father mumbled, “Do you want to invite her in now or shall I?”
My red brows instantly puckered.
“I’ll do it.” Caspian’s head popped outside the entrance, a smirk gracing his lips as he stared into my shocked, wide eyes. “Get your ass in here, Trix. And since you still can’t eavesdrop worth a Fae shit, you get to spar with our king first.”
My mouth bobbed for a heartbeat. I sputtered, “H-How did you knowthistime?”
Caspian pointed down at my black skirt. “It was showing past the door.”
Father called from inside the sparring room, “Actually, my nosey daughter, you first kicked a stone on the stairwell. It hit the wall and bounced down.”
Caspian added, “Then you shuffled your feet on the landing.”
“After that, she hit the side of the entrance too hard,” Father remarked.
“Lastly, came the skirt issue.” Caspian pointed at my clothes again.
My cheeks were as red as my hair now.Embarrassing.
“All right. So my stealth could use a little work.” And I thought I had done so well, too. “But I can still steal better than you, my friend. You are absolutely pitiful at that.”
“That is very true.” Caspian snaked his left arm around the entrance and grasped my left wrist, yanking me inside the private room. With a none-too-gentle smack on my ass, he shoved me toward our king. “Sparring time, Trix. Go grab a weapon.”
I rubbed my butt and glowered over my shoulder. “Ow.”
