Page 67 of Beauty

There will be no talking to them. They obviously have theirminds made up, and I’m not sure they will tell me the truth even if I ask.Gillian’s words were odd to me, but it seems to me that my mentor has politicalambitions. She said something about uniting the Fae under Lachlan and Shim.Their marriage to the last Seelie princess would go a long way in securingthose rights. I’m not even sure Beck and Cian are alive, but I must protecttheir throne just in case.

Lach’s face is long, his disappointment obvious. “Come,Shim. I will deal with Roan. You can secure food fit for our princess. AndBronwyn, we will work this out. You no longer have to worry. Your men will takecare of you always.”

“You did a wonderful job, love.” Shim kisses my hair. “Youstayed alive.”

He winks and follows his brother out the door.

“Duffy!” Lach shouts.

Duffy jumps to his feet. “Kind of hoped they would forgetabout me. Don’t you worry none, Princess. I’ll be standing guard. I won’t letno one else ogle the royal bosoms.”

The door closes. I’m alone. I can breathe.

What happened? Can I even believe my eyes?

“Hello, Your Highness.”

I start. “I really wish Fae would stop climbing in throughmy window.”

The small creature with the huge bushy black tail seems tolaugh. He has enormous eyes and what look to be sharp teeth. His clawed feetcling to the windowsill. “You will have to excuse me, Your Highness. I wantedto see what all the fuss was about…and to beg a moment of your time on behalfof my family.”

“I don’t know what I could do for your family.” I’m almostcertain the creature is a phooka, though I never saw one up close. A phooka canbe a dangerous thing, but sometimes they bond to other beings and becomeincredibly loyal. A bonded phooka will burn down the plane for its “family.”

The phooka’s eyes narrow to slits. “You could do a hell of alot more than you’re doing now, Your Highness. Has cowardice been good to you?”

The words hurt because I see some truth to them. “Please goaway.”

The laugh that huffs from the phooka’s mouth can’t be termedhumorous. “No. Not until you learn a thing or two. Tell me something, YourHighness. What gives you any right to wear a crown? Is there anything about youthat is meaningful besides the fact that whatever brat you spill from yourthighs will have royal blood?”

The creature is pulling at my every nerve. “I have donenothing to deserve your scorn.”

“Oh, yes, you have done nothing, and doing nothingabsolutely deserves my scorn. You ran when the palace fell. I can forgive youthat. You were a child. But a woman stands before me now. A woman who has donenothing while her people are slaughtered, while innocent bondmates have beentaken to Torin’s hags and tortured and turned into weapons to be used againstour once allies. You are a woman who has done nothing while her kin havesuffered, fought, and died rallying behind her family name. Did you know yourcousin Keir died?”

My sweet cos Keir was a few years older than I was, but Iknow the story. After Torin killed my father, Keir raised an army.

And his army was slaughtered, Keir along with them.

“Other revolts have been started, all under the Finnbanner,” the phooka continues. “But Bronwyn Finn hid and plowed her fields andkept her head down. You still have a head. Many of the brave ones don’t.”

“What is your point? If it’s to make me feel bad, then youwin.”

The phooka’s yellow eyes seem to glow with righteousness.“My point is that it is past time for you to be a woman. My family has adaughter named Paige. She’s already made a heart bond with a young man namedCharles. Charles was taken and sent to the palace because he could bond. Paigehas been placated by the fact that the boy’s fathers are promising to free him.If they cannot, then I fear Paige will try herself because my young Paige ismore woman than you can ever be. And she will die and that will break mymaster’s heart forever. I fight for the ones I love, Bronwyn Finn. It is toobad you cannot say the same.”

“You will call me Your Highness and you will keep acivil tongue in your head around me. Is that understood?” If I’m going to dothis, I’ll do it right. No one of sane mind will follow a mild-mannered peasantprincess, but I remember my father’s arrogance well.

My father. He became a sluagh and left instructions for me.Sir Giles. Niall wants me to go to Sir Giles. Sir Giles is a landholder not toofar away.

Who should I trust?

“Now that sounds more like a royal who might be worthsomething.” The phooka’s mouth curves up in an approximation of a smile. “Youknow if you stay here, your husbands will cart you back to the Unseelie planeand you’ll spend the rest of your life spitting out their heirs. I’ve spentsome time with them. I’ve got no doubt they want you, but they will keep you inthe palace, away from anything to tax your lovely brain. You’ll be their sweetwife, coddled and loved and marginalized. Is that what you want? Or do you wantmore?”

Perhaps once I could have been satisfied with being a wifeand a mother as my own was, but I’m changed. Pain, loss, and work transformedme.

I don’t want to sit on the sidelines as my mother did. If Iwear a crown, it will be because I earned it. I gave my blood once. It’s timeto give more.

Shim and Lach. They were in my dreams for so long, but Imust deal with reality. Reality is the Seelie plane and Torin.

“Help me escape.”