Page 32 of Manor of Wind and Nightmares (Fae of Brytwilde #3)

“Hurry. Return to my rooms.”

He strode past me, back down the stairs, waving at me to follow.

My legs trembled from a combination of the terrors I’d just witnessed and my new anxiety over being in Kaede’s presence.

He led me back to his quarters, locking the door behind me and leaving me for what felt like endlessly long moments.

I paced the room, listening, worrying. Had Kaede left me here for my safety, or was I his prisoner? He can’t interfere with the challenges. He can’t hurt you, I reassured myself.

As time passed, I became aware of the pain lancing through my arm. I’d forgotten the vampire had clawed me. I examined my torn sleeve and the bloody scratches beneath it. The marks appeared superficial, thankfully, but they still bled enough to leave droplets on Kaede’s fine carpet.

Just as I turned my steps toward his adjoining washroom, the lock turned and the door swung inward.

Kaede’s expression was grim, his jaw tight, but his eyes immediately dropped to my injured arm and the trail of blood I’d left on his floor. “You’re still bleeding. Follow me.” Once again, he bolted the door before moving toward the washroom.

Full of trepidation, I hesitated, almost as afraid of Kaede as I’d been of the vampire. “I thought you could not interfere with the challenges. Wouldn’t tending to a competitor be interference?”

“Conjuring a vampire that attacked you would also qualify as interfering. Since that has already happened, I must attempt to set you back on equal footing with the other competitors.”

“Did...any of the guards survive?” I asked hesitantly as I trailed him into the washroom.

Kaede’s stony silence was answer enough, and I swallowed.

Watching him move about the space, opening cabinets and brushing strands of stubborn hair back from his forehead, I longed to comfort him.

Instead, I let my mind wander, trying to distract myself from the tension between us.

Earlier, though it had been fraught with anger and pain, it had also burned with countless unspoken desires and feelings.

As if he still cared for me on some level despite what I’d done, and still found me beautiful, even though I no longer wore Briar’s perfect face.

It made me remember the closeness we’d once shared.

But that tension was gone now, replaced with a terrible aloofness that chilled me to my core.

So I tried to think of other things—anything but the vampire or Kaede’s anger or my guilt. Did Kaede often sleep at Willow Manor? Did he prefer to stay here? Or was he only here for the competition? I wished I could speak to him freely, but I kept my questions to myself.

I ached, but this aloofness was what I deserved, after all. If I were in Kaede’s place, would I be able to forgive someone who’d killed me? Someone who had been the catalyst for a war between my kingdom and another, someone who’d altered the way my magic operated—who’d changed who I was?

Silently, Kaede finished gathering supplies, led me back into his room, and then gestured for me to sit on the bed.

He handed me a basin of water and a cloth to clean my wounds myself, but he applied a salve, dabbing it on with a cotton pad.

Then he lifted a roll of bandages and set to work wrapping my forearm, every brush of his fingers against my skin gentle.

They were a sharp contrast to his furrowed brow and the fire in his eyes.

Even as he worked, leaning over me closely, he avoided meeting my gaze.

I didn’t want to stare at his bare chest, so I averted my eyes to the floor, toeing the carpet with my bare foot as I waited for Kaede to tie off the bandage.

A knock on the door shattered the quiet that cloaked us.

“Your Highness?”

“Yes?” Kaede called gruffly.

The door opened a sliver and a nobleman peeked in, his eyes drinking in the sight of a shirtless Kaede leaning over me like he was witnessing a delicious piece of gossip playing out before his eyes.

“Ah, there she is. We were about to send out hunters for our missing contestant. The next test is about to begin.” His gaze pinned me the way a cat’s stare would consume a mouse. “I hope you are not growing too fond of taking this one to bed already, considering anything could happen tonight.”

A muscle jumped in Kaede’s jaw, but he didn’t bother contradicting the noble or correcting him for his brashness.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. In the human world, I would have been mortified at the accusation toward my character, but here, the fae did not care about such things.

Being seen alone with a man was hardly worth discussing—unless that man was the crown prince, it seemed.

If the nobles thought Kaede favored me, would that help or hinder my own survival?

Would they find it within themselves to respect me, or would they hate me?

Kaede glanced down at me, his expression unreadable. “It seems this is where we part ways, princess.”

I blinked at him, finding myself once again at a loss for words as I stood, my thoughts whirling in an attempt to decipher his feelings and intentions.

There had been no inflection of bitterness or mockery in his tone this time, leaving me confused at his use of the false title.

But there had been no warmth in his look either.

I repressed a shiver at the memory of our earlier proximity and the way his air magic had caressed my skin. And then I followed the noble out of Kaede’s rooms.