Page 66 of Fae Games

“Er… Chestnut, please.” It was the only nut I’d heard of, but I still couldn’t imagine how it could be turned into milk.

On the far left of the round room was a sofa covered in crushed rose petals. After sitting on what felt like the most comfortable surface on the Isle of Fae, I took off my shoes and let my feet sink into the damp, mossy floor.

“Your home is heavenly,” I said.

Pokeweed emerged from the kitchen area holding a tray laden with round pieces of shortbread and two steaming mugs of coffee. He lowered himself onto the sofa and placed the tray between us, instead of on the low tables close by. “I’m glad you like it.”

I sipped at the richest, creamiest dandelion coffee I’d ever tasted. It was better than the imported stuff, and the shortbread was sweet and crumbly. Pokeweed stole glances throughout my drink, taking deep breaths as though psyching himself up to say something important.

To fill the silence, I told him about visiting the hag but left out the part about milking Prince Bradwell for his semen. I also outlined the steps the hag showed us, along with the herbs and items she had plucked for her garden.

“It sounds like the four-star ritual.”

I twisted around the seat and frowned at Pokeweed. “How did you know?”

He raised his broad shoulders. “I spent a lot of time in the library in my younger days.”

“Right.” I picked up another piece of shortbread.

“This enchantment requires four people with a deep connection.”

I tilted my head to the side, not understanding what he meant. Three of the princes wanted to be my mate. With me added, that meant four. “What’s wrong with that?”

“You can’t yet express your magic.” Pokeweed stared at me with solemn eyes. “For this enchantment to work, you will need all four brothers.”

My spirits sank. If Prince August knew I would be there, he’d probably not turn up. Worse, he would call the Duke of Medietas and have me thrown into the darkest dungeon.

Chapter 17

I rose from the rose-petal sofa and paced up and down the moss-covered floor. Its cool, damp surface did nothing to calm my nerves. Everything was going wrong, and we hadn’t even started.

Poor Helen. She was stuck in another realm with all manner of monsters. No one would protect her from the four dark faeries who were furious with the loss of their brother.

“What’s the matter?” asked Pokeweed.

I stopped at an arched window and rested my palms on its wooden sill. Six-foot high apple trees with fruit growing from narrow trunks stood like sentinels at a royal palace. Thin branches sprouted from the tops of those trees like hair.

Tilting my head to the side, I wondered if Pokeweed was growing upside-down broomsticks. Beyond the peculiar sight lay a view of the weeping willow and the pond.

Turning away from the distraction to a low bookshelf with dusty-looking tomes, I said, “Even if the king and queen released the princes, they would probably have them followed.”

“That’s true,” he said.

“Maybe we should reschedule, then.” I turned and found Pokeweed still sitting by the tray of shortbread, staring at me as though I was a firecracker about to explode. “What do you think?”

His chest heaved with a sigh, and he placed his mug down on the dray. “Perhaps you should send a missive to the Duke of Medietas and tell him what you learned from the seeing hag.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I admire your effort to rescue your friend, but isn’t that the job of the Noble House of Medietas?” he asked.

My brows drew together. “I can’t just sit there and do nothing. That punishment was meant for me.”

“From what I have heard, the duke is more interested in revenge than in retrieving his lost daughter.”

My shoulders drooped, and I returned to the sofa and sat. “All the more reason for me to make an effort. Until I mentioned it to the princes, they acted as though Helen had to remain in Dubnos until the new moon. If people that powerful can’t use their influence to get her out, it’s because they don’t care.”

“That is true,” he said. “But I can’t help wondering about how four vacuous, eighteen-year-old girls managed to effect such potent magic.”