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Now this felt like home, boring political conversations and social introductions. At my first opportunity, I excused myself to seek refreshments. I spotted an attendant passing around a tray of bright blue and green cordials. The green was pretty and deep. Unthinkingly, I started to reach for it, but someone knocked my hand away.
Surprised, I turned and saw a young woman close to my own age. She let out a peel of laughter. "I’m sorry. That was so rude of me! Trust me when I say you do not want to drink that one. It’s not good for us."
Us? I wondered.
Then, the woman tucked a strand of her bright, copper hair behind her ear, revealing its roundness. She was human, like me. The first I had seen. Was she a stolen bride too? My mouth opened to ask, but she was already slipping back into the crowd.
I took a blue cordial instead. Blue was better anyway. It didn’t remind me of a certain someone’s traitorous green eyes.
I returned to Forrest’s side, and he excused himself to dance.
He pulled me tight against his chest, and I could feel his steady heart beat. I wanted to rest my ear against it and listen. Then I caught myself. Get a grip!
"Careful. Those are strong," Forrest warned, taking the glass from my hand and passing it off to some blur of a fae. Probably a brownie that didn’t wish to be seen.
"I’m not a child," I grumbled.
He laughed softly. "Of course not. Drink as many as you want. It would be my pleasure to carry you to bed," he said in a low, rumbling voice that sent a delicious shiver down my spine.
As we danced, I "accidentally" stepped on his toe.
I’d marry him for my family and kingdom, but I wasn’t going to flirt. Not now that I knew what I was to him. A solution to a problem.
When Forrest suggested we take a break, I nodded my agreement, but my feet had other plans. They didn’t follow. My eyes widened in a brief moment of fear, but Forrest seemed unsurprised. He simply wrapped an arm around my back and pushed me forward.
"Don’t worry," he whispered. "I will pull you from the dance anytime you need me, and all of your shoes have a soft-sole charm to protect your feet."
We exited the faerie circle, and my feet returned to normal.
Seconds later, Forrest received a tap on the shoulder from a visiting dignitary, one so wild he almost looked as if he might grow roots into the castle floor. He was a slow talker, and I fought a sigh.
Forrest gave me a brief look that said, "Go on. Have a drink. I’ll still be here."
So, I strolled on my own for a bit, taking in the unusual plant life. It struck me that the plant I had been seeking could be here. If I could find susurrus, my garden would be complete.
Yet another attendant passed by with drinks. I stopped and grabbed another blue cordial. This one was a deeper blue than the first and tasted as sweet as nectar. I hoped it was safe. I looked around for the copper-haired girl, wondering if she could tell me, but sadly, she was nowhere to be seen.
I returned to Forrest’s side and offered him the rest of my cordial. He downed it in one shot. "Thanks," he mumbled. "It felt like that conversation would never end."
Then I noticed a hulking fae man approaching us. Though he didn’t appear aged, his hair was the color of snow, and his eyes were a sharp, penetrating crystal blue. He was sizing up the room as if he were on a battlefield. He was formidable in stance, build, and attire. His broad shoulders were adorned in battle leathers rather than party finery. A broadsword hung from his hip, and as I looked closer, I noticed it was dripping fresh blood. Had this man just stepped off a battlefield? Had he slain a party guest?
He made me nervous, and I began tracking his steps toward us with trepidation. Until I saw his companion—the petite human woman with vivid, copper hair, the one who had advised me on cordials. I wondered again if she, too, was a stolen bride.
Then I caught sight of her hands. One of them was delicately intertwined with his. Seconds later, the girl tripped, and the man steadied her. She looked up at him with a sheepish smile and loving eyes. Was she glamoured or drugged?
Perhaps not as he gazed back at her steadily for a long moment before righting her.
They appeared to be…together.
But so did Forrest and I.
Appearances were not always reality, and I didn’t want to judge someone else’s situation before I knew them. And I longed to know this other human girl. She was the first I had seen since arriving in the fae realm.
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long.
The odd couple appeared before us. The fae man bowed his head in deference. The girl’s eyes met mine, and she gave me a bemused smile before curtsying. "Oh, it’s you!" she said happily.
The fae man cut his eyes over at her warningly.
