2. Chapter Two
Chapter Two
“I think I’ll keep that little detail to myself. What if you’re a dangerous stranger?” I whispered and his smirk grew.
“I am.”
Careful not to touch the skin of his fingers with my bare hands, I peeled his grip away from me with the soft material of my hooded cape between us.
Letting people know about my powers was important to me if we would be touching. Until then, I kept my distance. I’ve been accused of stealing powers for nefarious reasons too many times in my life. Consent was key.
“See, what if you become so obsessed with me that you follow me home? I would have to kill you and then I’d be stuck with such a handsome mess.”
Rune shook his head, and I walked ahead.
He followed quietly and I barely made it five minutes before blabbing his ear off. Rune didn’t talk much, which made me want to know more.
“What are you doing in Crysia?” I asked.
“Family business.”
“Oh, do you have lots of family in Crysia?”
“No.”
We walked in silence for another ten minutes before arriving at the Hallowstag’s edge.
I flung my arms out wide showcasing Crysia in all her glory between the mountains.
In all the kingdoms I’d been to, biased or not, my home was my favorite.
The way the city was built with nature left me in awe every day of my thirty-three years of life.
“Well, this is it. Welcome to Crysia, the palace is that way. Um the—”
“Let’s get something to eat.”
I spun around and looked at Rune. Did I hear him correctly? With me talking his ear off, and him avoiding elaborating, I figured he’d be happy to escape me. Not spend more time together.
His head dipped low and lifted toward civilization. “We’re eating together. Lead the way.”
My arms crossed over my chest. “I don’t like being told what to do or people deciding things for me.”
I got enough of that. But something in the way he arched his eyebrow, daring me to deny that I wanted to go with him, warmed my blood.
We stood there with our gazes locked in a battle of wills.
Until my stomach growled and Rune smiled triumphantly.
I knew I had a choice, but there was only one I wanted to make.
“Fine, but I won’t be the only one talking, and you have to give me something good. No one or two word answers the whole time.”
Why, Sapphira?
It wasn’t like this was going to go anywhere outside the next few hours. After tonight, I’d be a claimed woman.
As we walked down the hill to the cobblestone path, I looked around my kingdom. Sure, there were the disgruntled folk here and there, but overall, we were one of the strongest and happiest kingdoms in the Fae realm.
My mother has kept the monsters out of the human realm and our city for hundreds of years. Even the evil King Verin hasn’t penetrated our territory since before I was born.
I wondered what it would be like to observe Crysia for the first time. My gaze darted to the male walking beside me.
Did he think the Crescent Sister Mountains behind the Hallowstags were beautiful? Or admire the way that our shops were carved from stone and trunks of massive trees with a roaring river behind them?
We weren’t as luxurious as other kingdoms with their gold furnishings or elaborate architecture. Crysians didn’t indulge in most of the modern technologies from the human world either.
Most of the citizens vowed to stay true to their cores and nature. We had magic and that was enough for us.
Light bouncing off the stained glass on the side of the palace caught our attention and I wanted to know what he was thinking. I opened my mouth to speak, but he filled the silence before me.
“Beautiful city. Have you lived here long?” he asked and I nodded, veering us toward my favorite bakery in the city.
“My whole life. It’s a beautiful place. Very peaceful.”
Hopefully marrying some prince from another land would keep it that way. It was mostly Father’s idea.
He knew I’d do the right thing for my people. Of course, if my future king happened to get eaten in the Hallowstags by some creature he didn’t know about, well that was out of my hands.
Shit happens.
My chest relaxed when I noticed the bakery was slow. Laura showed off her selection to one couple and that was it.
Maybe this whole getting engaged thing bothered me more than I was allowing myself to accept.
I sighed, wondering if I’d have the time to journal about my thoughts later. Probably not.
Rune watched me but didn’t say a word, he gestured for me to step through the carved archway first.
Laura seated her guests with a large cinnamon roll on a plate and then noticed me.
“Ah, there’s my number one customer. I knew you’d be in today, so I made your future favorite.
” The plump Fae with curly bronze hair pointed to a table for us to sit at.
Then she strolled past her display, whistled while she fiddled around, and came out with two new pastries on green plates.
“This one’s a stress eater. Keeps me busy and I love her for it,” Laura said to Rune then wrapped her arms around my head and kissed the top with a loud smack.
Once released, I inspected the gooey red fruit on a flaky crust. “This looks good.”
“It’s a cherry cheese pastry. I learned the recipe from my trip to the human realm last week. The things those mortals do with sugar should be a crime.” She laughed and quieted enough to inspect my guest before nudging my shoulder with her hip.
“Is this the guy? He’s handsome. No doubt you’ll make beau—”
“He isn’t the guy.” I cut her off from saying something that would make me want to crawl under the table and die.
“Well, that’s a shame,” Laura said then leaned down to whisper in my ear. “It’s not too late, girl. He looks like he’d keep you up for a night or three, if you know what I mean.”
Rune’s icy stare was locked on my face. The right corner of his lips lifted, and I did want to die. Fae had excellent hearing. Laura knew that.
The whole kingdom was excited about the potential future wedding. But the baker knew a little more because she had access to me via fueling my stress eating habits.
She baked, I talked, and she kept my secrets. It was a perfect arrangement until now.
“If you’d like something else, don’t hesitate to ask. It’s on the house,” she said and walked off, leaving me fighting the urge to toss a pastry at Rune’s face.
He took pity on me and lifted the pastry closer to inspect and sniff. “What guy?”
“I’ve got a date later,” I said through my first heavenly bite and then groaned. Laura was right, this was now my favorite of her collection, hands down.
Rune took a bite and chewed thoughtfully before clearing his throat. “He’s not for you.”
I choked.
“How would you know?” I scoffed and finished the pastry before licking my fingers clean.
Rune’s stare narrowed on my mouth then looked me in the eyes.
Was he suggesting what I think he was?
“You’ve got a warrior core. Few males can hold that fiery spirit in their hands and not choke out the flames.”
I rolled my eyes despite that being exactly my experience thus far. His words were too close to my fears, and I needed to brush them off. Only that’s not what came out of my mouth.
“Oh, and you know what to do with someone like that?”
My chair scooted closer, slowly. I looked at the ground. Did I move it? Was there an earthquake coming?
He leaned closer. “From one warrior to another.”
I didn’t say a word.
“You feed her fire,” he murmured, “and bask in the flames.”
My blood burned, and my mouth dropped.
Rune, the semi-stoic male in front of me tilted his head to the side. His gaze scanned my expressions, pointed ears listening to my heart beating rapidly.
Then he shot out of his chair with a black sword in his hand and pointed behind me.