Chapter Thirty-One

THE THREE LAND FAE ALL bowed their heads in respect and said in unison, "Your Highness."

My jaw wanted to drop, but I kept it in place. Having Rune's ex-lover and her best friends show me any ounce of courtesy or friendliness had me feeling like I'd stepped into the twilight zone. They'd been nothing but hostile to me during the week I'd spent at Rune's family home—the place Aidan had also been staying in an effort to be chosen as Rune's partner.

Rune stared at the three Fae he knew well, and the look of pure bewilderment he wore made me want to laugh, because I was feeling the exact same way.

This is fucking weird.

They were each in their Fae forms—Yasmine, the Red Fox; Aidan, the Silver Fox; and Talia, the Leopard. Nothing much had changed about the way they looked since I'd last seen them. Talia was the same with her brown hair and pouty lips that I knew spewed plenty of sass. Yasmine was still tall and slender with dark skin and lush, curly hair that framed her face. Aidan was as gorgeous as ever with flawless skin, perky boobs accentuated by her dress, and glossy black hair.

Yasmine cleared her throat as the three women looked up at me once more. "You're probably wondering why we're here."

Fighting to make coherent words, I replied, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." Remembering that I was technically meeting them as Princess right now, I waved a hand at the couches facing each other. "Please sit."

Rune and I slowly made our way over to the couch facing theirs, and we sank onto the cushions. The trio slowly lowered as we did, fidgeting nervously as they stared over the coffee table between us.

"I'll go grab some refreshments," Khalani announced as she swiftly left the room.

Dallas and Rance remained by the doors, ready to defend if necessary.

"So," I began. "What brings you here?"

"Did King Elias send you?" Rune asked. A clear warning laced his question.

"No," Aidan answered. She crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. "We're here on our own business."

"And what business would that be?" I asked as I raised a brow at her. Suspicion bled into my words, despite myself. I was fairly confident that Aidan knew her chances of getting Rune were futile at this point, so I was left to guess at their motives.

It had been a while since the two figures were seen lurking along the shores of the mainland, and no more strange sightings had occurred since then. I couldn't help but wonder if this was a tactic from Elias to have inside eyes here. Though, he'd picked odd ones to send if that were the case, considering we hadn't previously gotten along with this trio.

"Are you really aiming to end the war and bring peace?" Yasmine asked, and her brown eyes locked right on me.

I stared back and nodded. "I am."

Yasmine seemed to let out a relieved sigh. "In that case, the three of us would like to join your side. We want to aid in your fight for harmony."

My eyes widened. When I'd walked into this room and found these three, this was so far from what I'd expected to hear. I shared a stunned look with Rune, and seeing that he was just as baffled as me did little to settle my shock.

My first instinct was to doubt them and their intentions. After all, they'd been nothing but nasty to me before, and Aidan had always seemed proud of her part in the war. But, then again, I didn't truly know Aidan, Yasmine, or Talia. I had assumptions and suspicions, but that was all. I asked my people to give Land Fae—their enemy—a chance, so despite what I had experienced with these girls, I needed to do the same.

"You want peace?" I asked, passing my gaze over the three.

"This war has taken a lot from everyone," Talia said, brushing her leopard tail, which sat draped in her lap. She toyed with it as she continued, "When it reached a sort of standstill twenty years ago, back when you were hidden, we were all relieved. It almost felt like we could pretend the fight was over."

"Until you ran into a Water Fae," Aidan mumbled as she stared at the coffee table. "Then you were reminded of the anger, pain, and bloodshed."

"We want to actually end the war," Yasmine insisted. "That way it will be like the past twenty years, just without the constant looking over your shoulder and walking on eggshells. We want there to be a truce, a civility among everyone."

"Why the change of heart?" Rune asked. "Why suddenly interested in being cordial with Water Fae when you've always been fine killing them?"

"We were never fine killing them," Aidan hissed, exposing her fox canines. Rune's narrowed eyes met hers, and she quickly looked away at the empty fireplace. "Only sick people would truly be okay with that many lives lost to their hands."

"My mother certainly seemed to believe you were someone like that."

"Yeah, well, I guess that just means I'm a damn good actress." She finally looked at Rune with sharp eyes. "I was raised to be a badass Water-Fae-killing-machine just like you. So, of course, Myra believed all of those things about me. I did a good job of pretending to be okay with all the Fae I'd killed."

"If that's the case," I said slowly. "If you're such a good actress, how do we know you aren't pretending now?"

Aidan's hardened gaze found mine, and the anger previously there melted away into shame. "Because if I were lying, I wouldn't come here . I wouldn't face you. Or you." She glanced at Rune. "Being here with the two of you sucks for a multitude of reasons, and trust me when I say, I wouldn't be here unless I really wanted to be."

I had to give her that, because this was most definitely awkward and uncomfortable for everyone. Here we were—Rune, his ex-lover, and his current one. Not only that, but Yasmine secretly loved Aidan, and she was forced to sit next to Aidan while her crush stared Rune down like a sad puppy. I sort of envied Talia at the moment, who had no slice of this awkward pie we'd made.

"We know that trusting us is probably hard," Yasmine admitted.

"Especially since we started off on the wrong foot," Talia mumbled.

"But we're willing to do whatever we need to do to show you that we truly want to be on your side," Yasmine finished. "Whatever you need from us, we're willing to do it. Helping around Morardia, assisting here at the palace, intel on Land Fae who belong to the opposing side. Whatever it may be. We just want to be on the side that aims to help and save versus destroy and kill. We want to stop this war."

As I passed my gaze between the three girls, I teetered on the edge of what to do. They sounded and appeared genuine, but I also couldn't pretend that Land and Water Fae weren't technically still at war. This could still be a Trojan horse situation orchestrated by Elias—sending Land Fae we knew to make us lower our guard just so they could assassinate me or Rune.

I had to be smart. As much as I wanted to believe that Aidan and the rest had honest intentions, I had countless people here that relied on me to make decisions that would keep them safe. I couldn't put Morardia in danger.

But I also couldn't turn away Land Fae out of fear of the possibilities.

"Where are you all currently staying in Ambrolia?" I asked.

"We aren't," Talia answered. "We snuck away from our homes to come here, which if our families haven't realized by now, they will soon. Joining you will make us treasonous."

"We wanted to follow you when you made your declaration at Myra's," Yasmine added. "But Aidan and I were scared to reach out to you then with all those Fox Fae right there. She and I talked after you left and realized we'd have to find the right time to sneak away and come find you."

I recalled the look both Aidan and Yasmine had worn back when things came to a head on my final day at Myra's home. As my friends and I joined together to declare our intentions of ending the war and bringing peace, Aidan and Yasmine had stared after us just a hair longer than Rune's family, and their expressions had been hard to decipher. They weren't haughty or angry like the other Foxes, but rather, they'd almost seemed torn.

Perhaps they were telling the truth after all.

"If you all don't have somewhere to stay," I began. "You are more than welcome to stay here in the palace. We have plenty of rooms. I'm sure the staff could use an extra hand as well, especially as we prepare for the upcoming coronation and ball."

"Thank you, Your Highness," the three said in unison, bowing their heads at me.

Khalani swept back into the room with a tray full of scones, cakes, and cookies, along with a pot of tea and cups. She set the tray on the table between us before backing away to the edge of the room where she waited in case I needed anything else.

Rune watched his old friends with blank eyes, but I could feel the tension in his body. He was definitely on edge, but I wasn't sure if it stemmed from his distrust of the newcomers or if it was because Aidan kept staring at him.

"If you need our help with anything, please let us know," Talia said. "We really do want to help."

I nodded and got to my feet. Everyone else stood, too, but I quickly held out my hands. "No need to rise. You guys stay and enjoy the tea and snacks. I'll have some Fae sent over to show you to your rooms. Just relax for now. I'm sure you're tired from sneaking away and coming here."

Rune offered me his hand, which I took. He and I moved around the couch for the doors, and as we left, I shared a look with Dallas and Rance, who subtly dipped her head in a nod. The message was silent but clear, nonetheless.

Have these girls watched.

Rance and Dallas glanced at the other and seemed to communicate something silently. Rance nodded once and stood tall by the door, taking on the position of watchman for now.

I was going to welcome Aidan and her friends, but I wasn't going to be naive about it. There wasn't a peace treaty between our kinds yet, and since I didn't know them well enough to let them have free rein in the Kingdom, I'd have them monitored for everyone's safety.

"Bria, wait."

I'd just made it into the empty hallway, but I stopped at the sound of my name. I turned to find Aidan shutting the sitting room door behind her. She hugged her arms around herself and fidgeted from foot to foot. Never had I seen her , the terrifyingly strong and beautiful Fox Fae, look so meek or unsure.

She glanced at all the people around me and mumbled, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She left the question suspended with a silent, implied word. Alone .

I wasn't sure what she wanted, but I found myself unafraid of her or any potential threat she may hold—both in the physical and mental sense. I had grown stronger in my time here, and she was in my domain. Water flowed through the very walls of the palace, and if she tried to attack, I was confident in my ability to defend myself. Likewise, if this was some sort of weak attempt to convince me that Rune was hers, I was also sure enough of my relationship with him to know that nothing she said could change that.

Finally, I nodded. "Sure." I looked at Dallas and Khalani. "Can you guys go ahead? I'll be there in a second."

Dallas seemed hesitant to leave. She knew the history I had with Aidan and probably wanted to be here as a supportive best friend and a protective personal guard. When she saw the confidence in my gaze, though, she seemed to relax just a hair and finally shuffled after Khalani.

I looked at Rune, who still gripped my hand and stared down at me. I didn't miss the worry in his eyes. This would be the first moment he'd left my side since I'd returned to him, and he seemed terrified of the idea. It was like he thought if he took his eyes off me for even a second, I'd disappear again.

Giving him a soft smile, I whispered, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right back."

His brow furrowed, and he seemed to battle with himself about walking away. I guessed his trust in me won, because he nodded, leaned down to place a tender kiss on my lips, and followed after the rest of our group.

I watched them until they disappeared around the bend at the end of the hall. When they were out of sight, I faced Aidan, who'd been watching the party leave, too.

She finally looked at me, and her brown eyes turned down just a fraction at the corners. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

My mind short-circuited. I nearly laughed out of pure shock, because I just couldn't help but find it ironic. Now that I was Princess of Water Fae and she needed me, in a way, she was ready to be civil and apologize. But when we'd been at Myra's and I'd just been a girl who stood in her way, she'd wanted to actually kill me.

I could think of a plethora of things that she could be apologizing for, so I asked, "For what?"

She shrugged a slender shoulder and gave a humorless laugh. "Everything. The pettiness, the attitude, the fight." She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. "I admit it. I was a bitch."

Laughing at her bluntness, I crossed my arms. "Yes. You were."

She smirked, exposing her sharp canines. "Foxes are territorial, as I'm sure you know. I viewed Rune as mine, and you were a threat to that."

I mirrored her stance and leaned against the wall across from her. " Viewed ? You don't see him that way now?"

She watched me for a few silent moments like she was still trying to figure out the answer herself. Finally, she stated, "I never liked Rune. Not the way you think, anyway."

Furrowing my brow, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"You think I liked him, maybe even loved him, right?"

I mulled over the question, nodding my head side to side. "Well, yes. You two, you know, have a history. I figured you still liked him, which was part of the reason you were so aggressive in your attempts to get his attention back at Myra's."

She chuckled, though the sound was empty. "Seems to be what most thought. But, no, I never liked Rune. I was brought up to be a powerful Fox, and I was pushed to find a powerful partner so we could create powerful offspring. It was ingrained in me, so when I was given the opportunity to be Rune Beckett's partner, it was a no-brainer. He was exactly what I'd been taught to look for, and since Myra chose me, I felt like it was a done deal. Then you showed up, and my whole world turned upside down. Rune and I were supposed to be this elite couple, yet he'd brought you. I was hurt. I was angry. I was confused." She stopped and swallowed hard. "But, most of all, I was jealous."

The admission nearly knocked me over. "Jealous? Of me?"

She nodded. "You had what I wanted. You had someone looking at you like the world started and stopped with you. Someone who spoke about you with pure admiration. Someone who would burn the world down if it meant loving you. I wanted that, and for a moment, I thought Rune could give me that. He treated you that way, so surely he could do the same for me. We could be the powerful couple as planned, and I'd finally have someone who loved me fiercely."

She paused, and her black-and-white fox ears fell flat. "Only I realized he couldn't give me those things. They were reserved for you and you alone." Her brown eyes locked onto mine as she finished, "I was in love with the idea of love. The idea of Rune's love. That was all."

The honesty in her confession was hard. It was difficult to listen to her explanation, because despite our past, it made me sympathize with her. It reminded me of my relationship with Dax—I'd loved the idea of him and what I'd built him up to be in my head. It hit me that Aidan and I were probably a lot more similar than either of us expected, which was hard. No one wanted to feel for their lover's ex, but I did. I'd really misunderstood Aidan, and hearing that what she'd really wanted all along was a partner who loved her, made my heart squeeze.

Then I remembered that there was someone who seemed to feel that way about Aidan. Someone who'd been willing to sacrifice her own happiness if it meant Aidan got the life she wanted.

"I don't think you should give up on that love," I said. "I think it exists for you. You just have to look in the right places. Maybe they're closer than you realize."

She looked sideways at the closed doors. "Maybe."

Silence filled the space between us again, and this time, the tension seemed to be fading. There wasn't any weird strain choking the air around us anymore, and I suddenly felt like this could be real. There were possibilities between us. Possibilities for trust. Possibilities for friendship. And possibilities for other Land and Water Fae to do the same as we were.

Talking.

Working to resolve and understand the other.

It felt good .

Smiling, I pushed away from the wall. "Thank you for telling me all that."

She shrugged and made her way back to the door. "I just felt like you should know."

I started to turn away, but Aidan called, "Bria?" I turned back to look at her.

"Thank you again. You know. For letting us stay here."

"No need to thank me. I just hope we all made the right decision."