What if I was wrong?
“…Is that…” I stumbled over my words as I took in the scene in front of me, my logic failing to make sense of this image before me.
Deirdre held a finger to her lips and then pointed at the sleeping unicorn.
How did she master the beast? Not once in all of fae history had the unicorn sat with the one on trial. That fae either walked out of the grove alive or not at all.
Rows of daisies circled around the two of them, an otherworldly garden full of white daisies and bloodthirsty roses.
When I moved closer, the unicorn’s head shot up. It turned its head toward me, red eyes blazing with power. I paused, holding my palm out. Its gaze darted to the royal rune on my hand.
It nuzzled Deirdre’s arm, stood to its feet, and ran off before I could say a word.
Deirdre held out her hands, summoning the nearby daisies to crawl along her chest, covering more of her pale skin.
My palms sweated at the sight of the flowers slithering around her. They curled around her shoulders and chest, thewhite petals brushing across skin I shouldn’t have been gaping at.
Right palm raised, she called to the roses nearest me, their thorny vines seeking out my legs.
As King of the Fae, I would never insult the ancient grove by fighting.
“Here.” I tossed her the robe and turned around, remembering what Liora said about humans needing privacy. “You're alive.”
“Surprised?”
After a few moments, I turned back around. She stood there, the robe tightly closed, arms folded, the previous flowered attire on the ground except for a daisy bracelet she wore on her wrist.
“Somewhat,” I replied. “I guess this was all you're doing?”
Deirdre played with her bottom lip. “Uh. I made a bit of a mess. The unicorn charged and I just called to the grove, and then this began happening.”
Her brow furrowed a bit, as if something about this area bothered her, but she should have been proud of this accomplishment. She had no idea how many fae had died here because of their unworthiness.
“Magic is different here,” I told her. “How did you get it to lie with you?”
“I’m not sure… I thought it was going to kill me, but I think it likes daisies.”
“Well, you passed.”
“But nothing happened? Wasn’t I supposed to get some type of blessing?”
“The unicorn didn’t kill you, which means he approves. That is the blessing.”
Her eyes widened. “What if I killed it?”
I laughed. “Now, that would have been something.”
“Does this mean I’m going to be queen?” Her voice dropped to a whisper as she stared at her feet, refusing to look at me.
“Yes,” I replied, the finality of that response solidifying our future.
She flinched, the truth seeming to twist something inside her. Had she hoped for death instead?
“When?”
“That's for the priests to decide. Come.” I nodded for her to follow me out of the grove.
Tugging the robe tighter, she walked to my side.
