Chapter 32

The sun is shining. It's warm and these gardens are beautiful. It is wonderful to be outside and free of the same selection of rooms I'm usually forced to haunt. That's why I'm in a good mood. It is nothing at all to do with having been fucked well last night. Though, judging by the way Tristan keeps looking at me, he has his suspicions.

I grin at him and he grins back at me, ruby red eyes sparkling. He doesn't say anything though, thank heavens. I'd probably die of mortification if he did. Rhydian is his brother, after all, which makes everything a thousand times more awkward.

Tristan and I stroll along in content silence for a moment. Gorgeous bird song drifts in the air around us.

"Blodeuyn," says Tristan as he points at a purple flower.

I roll my eyes at him. "I want to learn useful words, Tristan. I don't need to talk about flowers."

"The best way to learn a language is like a youngling," he insists. "Start with simple words from the world around you."

I huff and say nothing.

"Though, bedroom words might be more useful for you," he says with a wink.

My cheeks are burning, but I ignore him by pretending to be engrossed in the wild array of brightly coloured flowers dancing in the breeze. Damn it, I should have known that he wouldn't keep our conversation civilised. It was too much to hope for.

"Our branch of the fey tongue is very similar to the human Welsh language," says Tristan.

And I could kiss him for moving the conversation onto safer ground. Not that I'm ever going to let him know how much he just flustered me.

"Well, since I don't speak Welsh, that is no good to me," I grumble, mostly to keep the conversation going in the right direction.

Tristan frowns. "I can't believe you can only speak one language."

I glare at him, but he is right. It is a little embarrassing, even though I know that the vast majority of English people are the same. I've always wished I could be more European and multilingual. I guess this is my chance. I wasn't too bad at French when I had to take it at school. So I don't think I'm completely useless at other languages. Hopefully, it won't be too hard to learn a whole new one.

Tristan stops walking. I look up and follow his gaze. A graceful, willowy woman with pale green skin is dancing alone in a patch of knee high grass. A swarm of yellow butterflies flutters around her.

It is a mesmerising sight, but there is something heated about Tristan's gaze. He is appreciating far more than her enchanting dancing, while also giving the best puppy dog eyes I have ever seen. It's almost cute.

"Have you asked her out?" I say, but damn it, that's probably not going to translate very well. I can't imagine fey dating.

"Many times," Tristan says wistfully.

Okay, I guess that did translate just fine, or Tristan is skilled enough at languages to be able to understand me.

He tears his attention away from the dancing woman and we continue on our walk. His shoulders are drooping and he looks glum.

"There are plenty more fish in the sea!" I say brightly and then cringe. What is wrong with me? Since when was I a dude bro?

Tristan lifts his head. "You are right!" he grins as his eyes sparkle.

He picks up the pace of his strides and I hurry after him. Okay, cheering him up was surprisingly easy. I guess he really does have a sunny disposition by nature. Unlike some other prince I could mention.

We pass by a couple sitting on a white marble bench. They don't seem to even notice us, as they are far too engrossed at staring adoringly into each other's eyes. The woman is nearly as pale as the marble. The man is bronzed and very well muscled.

"He is a centaur," whispers Tristan.

My gaze flicks down to the man's bronzed and very toned legs. He is only wearing a toga type thing, so there is a lot of him to see. And I'm definitely seeing legs and not horse bits.

I give Tristan a quizzical look. He shrugs.

"He is in his fey form."

Oh. That makes sense. Wait. Did I really just think that? I guess I am truly settling in here. The extraordinary is becoming ordinary.

"He used to be her pet. Now he is her consort," whispers Tristan, even though we have to be out of earshot of the happy couple.

Tristan's words bounce around my mind for a moment before sinking into my heart, where they settle and ignite a teeny-tiny flame of hope.

"That can happen?" I whisper back, just in case centaurs have freaky good hearing.

"Oh yes!" says Tristan happily. Then he tilts his head to look at me. "But Rhydian won't do that. He is far too much of a cold bastard and does nothing that isn't logical. I'm not sure if he even has feelings."

I stare at Tristan in open mouth horror. We've reached a strand of small willows and their fronds are swishing gently. I grab the red-haired prince by the arm and pull him into the shade of the trees. The fronds fall closed after us, forming a waterfall of green, shielding us from the rest of the gardens. I hope it is enough privacy, because it is going to have to do.

I open my mouth and let all my outraged and indignant thoughts fall out. "Oh my god! You are so wrong! How can you say that about your own brother? Do you not know him at all? He has to hide his feelings because he is the crown prince! He needs to be respected and feared, to keep you all safe. Hiding his feelings is not the same thing as not having any!"

My lungs heave in a shaky breath. Tristan is staring at me wide-eyed, as if he doesn't know what to make of me.

I feel a tingling across my face as my cheeks begin to blush. Oops. I got a bit carried away there. Poor Tristan, that was a bit of a rant.

A noise like an angry cat, drifts on the spring air. I peer through the willow leaves and see two fey men passing each other. One dressed in blue, the other in yellow. One is hissing and the other growling. But they continue walking without further incident.

"What was that about?" I ask. Mostly as a distraction from my outburst.

"The man in yellow challenged the man in blue's son to a duel," says Tristan dutifully, even though he is still eyeing me warily as if he has discovered I'm a dangerous animal that might bite.

"Oh, what happened?" I ask as I plaster on my most pleasant expression.

I need to put Tristan at ease. Walking around the gardens, in the fresh air and the spring sunshine is like a balm to my soul. So much better than being cooped up all the time. I need Tristan to make a regular thing of this. So I can't scare him off, or have him report to Rhydian that I'm too crazy to be allowed out.

Tristan stares at me intently for a long moment, then his shoulders relax. "The man dressed in yellow, Aerie, he won and killed the other man's son."

It's working, I'm reassuring Tristan. Wait. What did he say? The fey I just saw strolling around without a care in the world is a murderer? My jaw drops open.

Tristan grins. "Of course, he could have forced him and made a rhocyn of him. Or simply unbound his hair and let him go, turning him into an outcast. But he chose to kill him."

I blink several times as my mind processes the horrors it has just learnt. It is a lot to take in. The rules of fey culture are savage. It is very unsettling.

"That's awful. The poor father," I say.

Tristan raises one delicate red eyebrow. "Well, Aerie's conquest had killed Aerie's younglings."

"What!" I splutter. "Why?" This is getting worse and worse.

"They were being noisy," shrugs Tristan, as if that is a perfectly reasonable explanation. As if murdering children is not that big of a deal. As if it happens every day.

I stare at Tristan. He stares back. His worried, cautious look returns. But he doesn't look at all disturbed by the dark atrocities he just shared with me. He is simply concerned that I'm about to have another strange outburst.

"Let's get you back to your rooms," he suggests carefully. "We can continue our language lesson another day."

I nod and allow him to lead me away. I follow him blindly. My mind is whirling and my stomach heaving. I was beginning to feel at home here. I was starting to think of the fey as exotic looking humans. But I was wrong. I've been an idiot. A foolish, stupid idiot.

Fey are monsters. Through and through. They are not human at all.

I need to remember that.