Queen of the Fae (Book 1)

Five

"She loves the serene brutality of the ocean, loves the electric power she felt with each breath of wet, briny air."

-Holly Black (Tithe, Modern Faerie Tales, #1)

"Coping"

By: Rosie Darling

The rest of our journey passed in silence. She had me walk in front of her but didn't make further movements to touch me. I was grateful for that. The feelings that erupted inside me when her skin touched mine were unlike anything I'd ever felt and certainly better than even the fattest of dabs. But it made me wary. I couldn't get attached to her or risk caring for her. My short time here had already instilled in me that the Fae were not my friends. Humans were not seen often and obviously regarded as nothing more than peasantry. My breathing labored as I struggled up the final hill, my muscles screaming for relief. I was tired, more than slightly traumatized, and freezing in my waterlogged clothes.

Yet Kaisa didn't seem to care.

Finally we made it up the hill, and me being me, I collapsed in a heap, sucking in deep breaths of air. "You couldn't have," wheeze, "walked" wheeze, "a little," wheeze, "slower?"

"No." She hauled me up by the collar of my shirt, her hand unexpectedly warm on my lower back.

I stumbled away from her and huffed, running a hand through my tangled hair and taking in the scene before me. A soft gasp escaped my lips at the beautiful countryside lined with adorable cobble-stone streets and cute homey stone houses. Flowers of all kinds erupted from the town, and even squinting I could tell there was some kind of event going on.

"What's down there?" I asked her when she guided me along.

"A village. You should be safe here while I'm gone."

A chill skittered down my back and I stopped in my tracks. "Wait, you're leaving?" A sudden burst of hurt speared through my chest when she turned around, her face wearing that same infuriating mask of indifference.

"I have other matters to attend to. You will be well taken care of here while I am away, I promise you that."

I didn't understand the coursing feelings of desperation and fear racing through me when I begged her to stay, but I begged all the same.

"Wait...please....don't go. I know I'm nothing but filth to you, and I get that, we're not that great. But I.....," my voice broke as tears slid down my cheeks, and a muscle in her jaw clenched in response. "I need you. Whatever you did to tie us together, you owe me that."

A dangerous gleam fled through her eyes and in a blink she'd stormed up to me. My breathing quickened and I backed myself into a tree, a whimper hovering at the edge of my lips. Her breath fanned across my cheeks, and a soft touch on my lip ring had my mouth parting. Her forehead touched mine and I knew this was wrong, that I should be terrified of her especially given what she'd put me through, but the only thing I wanted in that moment was for her to pull me closer. Her eyes glowed a beautiful violet as she cupped my jaw, tipping my face to meet her. A part of me believed this wasn't real, that I was about to regret this in a painful way, but when her lips fit delicately over mine, I trembled. I didn't entirely know what was going on, but in this moment she was the only thing I could focus on.