Facing the Fae [BOOK TWO]

Chapter 10

It was amazing how emotional breakdowns worked.

One minute you were fine—and the next everything around you shattered into thousands of splintered pieces.

Rebecca didn't know how it happened. She wasn't even aware of it starting—only that once it hit it was like a tidal wave cresting and she was powerless to stop it.

Thankfully, it wasn't in public. She managed to get back to her room before it happened.

Now, she could only lie on her bed, buried under all her blankets as she cried into her pillow. There was nothing to cry about. She was living every girls dream—though, at times, it felt like more of a nightmare.

It was so easy to think she was in the human world. But the subtle differences were there. Her room was too large, too grand. She had a balcony that overlooked a cliff and thousands of houses.

Rebecca Morley no longer existed. At least not as far as anyone was concerned here. Here, she was a Queen. She was supposed to work out war strategies on how to defeat enemies that she'd accidentally already blown up. She was supposed to watch people fight for her in a sacred, barbaric tradition.

All of it tumbled into a giant mess.

So, she was left stranded in a sea of tears that wouldn't stop.

The door had opened several times. She heard it every time. Yet, she didn't move. Sometimes there were whispers. Other times it was just watchful silence. Whenever someone spoke it was in Faelk, but even then she could hear the concern in the words.

She looked like she was asleep from the outside looking in.

If only that was the truth.

The whole situation should've been empowering. Yet, it only managed to make her feel smaller and lonelier each time she was under someone's scrutiny.

How long she'd been here, she didn't know. She didn't know how much longer it'd continue either.

This had been coming for weeks. Months if she was honest with herself.

She wasn't made of iron. She wasn't unbreakable. And she'd reached her breaking point. The only people she'd ever considered parents were gone. She couldn't reach them, even if she tried—

The door opened. She heard it creak. She didn't move, waiting for it to close. When it didn't, she continued to wait. Finally, footsteps sounded. But the door didn't close. The bed shifted. Rebecca jumped, though she tried her hardest to stay still. Then the other side of the bed dipped.

Rebecca shot off the bed, tripping and falling on her face in the carpet. It didn't help that her pants were so long they went well beyond her ankles. Her heart was racing and she was barely aware of the sudden pain. Instead she was up on her feet in a second, racing to the nearest wall. When she felt it with her hands, she turned so her back was right against it. Then she held out her hands, warning, "Don't come any closer."

Whoever had moved the bed didn't answer.

She forced herself to calm down. No one would get in the room unless they'd been seen. If they were a threat, they wouldn't have been let in. Still, she wasn't risking going closer. "Who're you?"

No answer.

Slowly, she looked up, well aware she had to look terrified.