Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
I rush off to get changed. I’m anxious to get back to my sleepy little village where my sweet wife waits to start our life together.
This time I’m going to listen to her. This time I’m going to make things right between us.
Five hours later, I stare slack-jawed at the chaos around me. There are tents and campsites everywhere. My quiet village has turned into a raucous marketplace. There are Fae of all kinds walking about.
“Your Highness,” a pretty sidhe says. “Welcome back. I hope your trip went well.”
I think her name is Bri. She’s carrying a basket, and I can hear the coins jangling in her pockets. I search my memory. Her father is the miller.
“It was fine,” I reply, still dazed. “What is going on here?”
Bri’s eyes are wide. “It’s a celebration. It’s the tradition. We’re celebrating the kings’ bonding with three weeks of festivities. Last night we had a great bonfire, and the priestess blessed King Cian and Queen Meg. It was a lovely ceremony. They’re so in love.” Her face shines with remembrance. She frowns suddenly. “We’ve missed you, of course, but King Cian explained you had important business to attend to. Not that we forgot about you. Not at all. Your name was mentioned, Your Highness. Everyone cheered.”
“I’m glad someone remembered me,” I grind out. This is how Cian chooses to protect our bride? He’s supposed to hide her from prying eyes. Instead, he invites the whole damn plane to a party. The goddess only knows how many spies are reporting back to Torin. I catch sight of a big shape walking through the stalls and my jaw drops. “Is that a bloody goblin?”
The young girl nods. “Yes, they have brought so many strange wonders. Some of us worried they would not behave without Your Highness around to keep them in line, but they are terrified of the queen, so all has been well.”
My heart threatens to seize. My Meg met the goblins? Cian allowed a goblin to get close to our wife? Has he lost his mind? What did the girl say? “What do you mean the goblins are terrified of the queen?”
The girl smiles proudly. “Our queen beat them and threatened to never make another cookie for them if they ate her. She got the goblin chief to back down. Imagine that—a Seelie queen forcing an Unseelie lord to concede.” She leans in conspiratorially. “If you ask me, the force is strong with our queen.”
I wonder if somehow that damn vampire has taken me to the wrong plane. “Someone is forcing the queen to do something?”
“No,” Bri says helpfully. “It’s an old human legend. You see, the force represents…”
But I see someone who might be more helpful. Liadan is walking toward the shops at the center of the village. “Thank you, Bri. Tell your father I’d like to talk to him about the mill. We’ll need more flour if this goes on for too long.”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness,” Bri says as I start to walk away. “The queen has already taken care of it.”
Well, of course she has.
I hurry along, pursuing Liadan across the square. Liadan won’t be under the new queen’s spell as everyone else seems to be. “Lia!”
The blonde turns and when she sees it’s me, makes her bow. She’s cool and polite. “Your Highness. You returned early. You weren’t due back for another week.”
Yes. That’s why Cian thought he could get away with it. In another week, the three weeks of celebration will be over. My brother is a tricky bastard. Cian might not be able to cover the fact that he held the festivities, but he would be able to say they were small. He would have attempted to convince Beck that the parties were small but necessary to the villagers’ acceptance of Meg. He’s a sly one, my other half, and he’s about to get that magnificent brain of his bashed in.
“Would you like to tell me what the bloody hell has been going on while I was away?”
Liadan smiles sweetly. “It is a celebration for your queen, Your Highness. I was surprised you authorized it. It is very expensive and seems a strange thing to do when so many are hungry. I wouldn’t be surprised if our food stores are empty by the end of the festivities.”
I haven’t thought of that. Cian always handles those things, but he seems to be derelict in his duties lately. I hoped that once he bonded, he would go back to his responsibilities. “And what has my brother been doing?”
Liadan shrugs gracefully. “He rarely leaves the queen’s side. He dotes on her when he should be working. She demands it. I thought she wasn’t royal, Your Highness, but she certainly acts like it. She forced the women of the village to sew her a new wardrobe and the miller to up his work all because she has to make some strange human food. She even took one of my dresses. The new queen thinks that anything to catch her eye should be hers, I suppose.”