“Please tell me that you changed your mind about going after Snow?” I ask, keeping my eyes on the blue sky above.
“Did you seduce me to get me to listen to you, Isla?”
I turn to him because part of me isn’t sure whether he means it or if he is joking. The small smile playing on his full lips tells me it’s the latter.
I smile back. “I’m hardly a seductress, so definitely not. Please tell me that you’ve come to your senses.”
He stares up at the sky. I take in his profile. From his strong, stubbled jaw to the straight line of his nose.
He slowly turns to me. “You were right about Snow,” he tells me. “Perhaps going after her alone isn’t the wisest course of action. I have an intense need to tackle things all on my own, and I struggle with trust. You know about my past and what happened to my parents.”
I nod. “It must have been a terrible loss; one Icanunderstand. I lost my mother soon after Snow took over the rule of the kingdom. She made it a law that fae and humans are not permitted to be together. My mother was a fae and my father a human. They had been married for many summers. One day, not even a summer after Snow took the throne, mymother was taken away by the villagers. People she had known for a very long time. People we broke bread with. I played with their children. They dragged her away like they didn’t know her. A whole group of them took her and stoned her to death. They told us that it was them or her, and they chose themselves. They looked at us with such hate. The way they looked at me.” I shiver. “My father and I had to flee that same day. I am half-fae, so he was afraid for my life. I was only fourteen summers. Still a girl.”
I completely get what it is like to be all alone…to live with sorrow and loss. I understand him.
“I’m so sorry that happened. It must have been terrible. Was your mother a shadowfae?” He frowns.
“It was very tough.” I nod slowly, thinking back to that day. To her terrified screams and the look in her eyes. “She was half-shadowfae and half-firefae. My grandfather was a shadowfae.”
“I wasn’t sure whether you had witch blood or firefae blood. Shadowfae was a given. Did you ever get formal training?”
“Heavens no.” I shake my head. “My mother forbade me from using my magic. I only started practicing after my father got sick. It was hard to make a living. I was desperate.”
“Where is your father now?” Sebastian is frowning hard. He rubs a hand up and down the side of my arm.
“He died.” My voice chokes just a little.
“I’m so sorry, Isla. That had to have been tough.” He looks at me with concern, lifting a little on his elbow.
“Yes, it was. Up until then, we both worked odd jobs. It was easier to put food on the table and a roof over our heads on most nights. We had been on our own, going from settlement to settlement. When he got sick, I got desperate. I started using my magic to enhance my voice. I started practicing on silks. We needed a place to stay, and he needed expensive herbs to keep the pains at bay.”
“I’m sorry you went through that. It would seem that you know a lot about being lonely. Perhaps we aren’t so different after all.”
I smile and then groan. “We had better get moving.”
He sits up. “You’re right. I almost wish we could stay here and just forget everything out there.” He smiles at me, and my heart speeds up.
I like the idea far too much. Why does everything have to be so complicated?
He sighs. “But that’s not to be. I’ll ride with you to the nearest settlement, if you want. It would be nice to have company.”
“I would like that very much,” I tell him, sitting up as well. “It makes logical sense,” I add, because I sound far too happy at the prospect of riding with Sebastian.
“Just until the nearest settlement. That’s the best that I can do to repay you for all you have done for me.”
“Stop with the repayments already.” I frown. “I still have the coin you gave me, and I intend on keeping it.”
He throws me a half-smile that makes me want to kiss him. But since it’s not like that between us, I refrain.
Instead, I go back to being practical because that is what’s needed right now. “We’ll need horses and supplies. We don’t have much time.”
“We’ll have to go back to Julienne.” He looks in the general direction. “She has two horses, and Jack might have gone home as well. I have a plan on how to get there quickly. There is a homestead not far from here. We can borrow one of their horses.”
“Sounds good,” I say. “The queen is due any moment, and we can’t be anywhere near here when she does.”
We dress quickly.
I sneak a glance at Sebastian, and something inside me clenches. I’ve never been this attracted to a man before…andwe’re going to ride together for the next few days. Share a bedroll at night. Sleep side by side in the dark. I’m sure that there will be more than just sleeping. Especially after what just happened.
