Page 13 of This Is Not True Love’s Kiss

Ambrose stroked his clean-shaven jaw. “But how do we isolate them? How do we get rid of just one?”

“Let them do it,” Wolfe said and Cillian snorted, but everyone paused, his words hanging in the air.

Ambrose raised a brow. “I thought we already established we can’t let them kill each other.”

Wolfe slowly shook his head. “No. Lor would never kill Aoife. He might not like his wife, but he’s too good. Too principled.”

Ambrose sighed. “I don’t know that I can say the same for Aoife.”

“If they want just one ruler, they’ll have to convince the other person to give up the crown. That will be the only way,” Wolfe said. “One person voluntarily ceding their power.”

“Would Castle allow that?” Cillian asked.

There had always been two rulers of Fairwitch Isle with the exception of High Prince Cillian. But Castle had its reasons for not giving Cillian a queen. His heart had always belonged to his best friend, Ceri, and Castle knew Ceri couldn’t be his queen. But Castle had eventually found a way to bring them together, to show them how the impossible could be possible.

It had cost Castle to do such a thing. It had fought against its instincts to name the queen Cillian deserved, and Castle’s magic had suffered as a result. Parts of Castle had begun to disappear, its border growing weak. But that had been because Cillian was never supposed to rule in the first place.

It had always been Lorcan Wolfgang who was supposed to be king, and Aoife his queen. Cillian was temporary until Castle could find a way to pull Lor back to his rightful place, to get Lor to break Aoife’s curse. Now that Castle had both of them, if one decided to walk away, the other could rule and Castle’s magic wouldn’t suffer.

But could Castle do such a thing? Could giving Lorcan and Aoife permission to drive the other out actually bring them together, make them see why Castle had chosen them as king and queen? All these years watching them, listening to them, and Castle did not understand these human emotions, but surely if anyone did, it would be the Wolfgang brothers, who had all been through so much over the years.

Maybe it was time for Castle to trust them. It rumbled, a scroll appearing in the middle of the table as Castle’s golden magic swirled around it.

Cillian gasped and reached out to grab the scroll, unrolling it as he read. Nevan leaned over, and Cillian elbowed him.

“Do you mind?” the youngest Wolfgang brother asked. “You’re breathing on me.”

Nevan pushed his spectacles up his nose. “Because you’re reading so slowly. At least tell us what it says.”

Wolfe reached over and snatched the scroll from Cillian.

“Hey!” he said as Wolfe’s gaze scanned the document, a slow smile coming to his lips under his full beard.

“One month,” the oldest Wolfgang brother said. “Castle is giving Lor and Aoife one month to decide who the ruler of Fairwitch Isle should be. The only way the crown can belong to just one is if one of them cedes it. They cannot be coerced or forced or killed. They can only give up their crown if they truly believe it’s what’s best for Fairwitch Isle.”

Cillian looked up at my vaulted ceiling. “Genius, Castle. This is genius.”

Ambrose frowned. “Are we sure about this? It’s going to be an all-out war, both of them trying to convince the other why they’re not good for this job.”

Cillian spread out his arms. “Nothing else has worked. Maybe it’s kind of like . . . tricking them into appreciating each other. Reverse . . .” He trailed off.

“Psychology?” Nevan asked, wrinkling his nose. “How do you know about reverse psychology?”

“My therapist mentioned it in one of our sessions,” Cillian said, tapping his brain.

Wolfe shook his head, handing the parchment to Ambrose, who stared at it for a long minute, reading the words Castle had created.

“This is so crazy maybe it just might work,” Ambrose said slowly. “Now who’s going to tell them?”

CHAPTER 6

Aoife

The world stilled around me as I moved my body in the gentle motions of tachika kan. I bent over, legs and arms straight and pushing into the ground as I stretched my body, letting my muscles loosen, letting all the tension fade away. Sweat was already prickling my skin under the warm sun, the grass cool and spongy under my feet.

“You know Lor doesn’t like it when you’re outside of Fairwitch Isle. Someone could spot you, Your Majesty.”

I straightened to see Ambrose approaching, the sun glinting off his blue wavy hair. I always thought the blue hair looked ridiculous. The Fair Folk could manipulate how we looked, could shift into animal form or elemental form, depending on our abilities, but I’d never liked to shift. The godwitches had given us that power to use us as spies. I always preferred my true form, pointed ears and all.