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“Y ou won’t kill me,” Arenn huffed. His magicless body strained beneath Lukas’s weight as he pinned down his arms, while Erik sat on his legs. Around us, the tropical garden stayed peaceful, free of any flying vines or deadly thorns. I’d have to invest in one of those iron cuffs – without his magic, Arenn was completely harmless.

Then again his screeching as the two men forced him down had been quite painful on the ears.

“You’re right. I won’t kill you,” I told him, kneeling by his left arm as Ivy took her place beside me. “But this might hurt. Quite a bit.”

Arenn stared at me, confusion pulling at his features. “What are you scheming, human?”

Testing a theory . Ignoring the prince, I held out my scalpel. “Could I have some of your cleansing solution please, Ivy?”

Ivy reached into the pockets of her gown and pulled out a small bottle. After dousing the scalpel in clear liquid, she handed the now half-full bottle to me.

“What’s that for?” Lukas tilted his head.

“Sterilising to prevent infection,” I explained, pouring the rest onto Arenn’s wrist. The crystals embedded in his skin glittered in the bright sunlight.

“ Sterilising… ” Lukas mumbled to himself.

Ivy and I shared a knowing smile.

“What are you doing, human?” Arenn writhed against us. “Tell me!” His voice cracked with panic.

Steadying my breath, I lowered the scalpel to his skin. “Hold him still,” I said to Lukas. “When I tried this on myself, it felt so awful I could barely breathe.” I also nearly died after collapsing mid-cut, but there was no point dwelling in the details. Arenn had told me once before that a faery bond could be broken with someone else’s love. But he’d never said anything about using a scalpel.

And with visions of a sickly Raphael flooding my mind, I was in the mood to experiment.

“Cutting in now,” I warned, bringing the blade to his skin. At least I could be sure that the bond had been severed on my end if I didn’t feel pain from this cut.

“Naria, stop. Please,” Arenn begged. Blood trickled down his arm, forming little beads as it pooled around the crystals. I grinned at the lack of pain in my own wrist.

“Please,” he rasped. “This won’t work like you think. It won’t help us. It—” His gaze turned blank the moment my scalpel tapped the crystal.

“Arenn?” I paused. A warm breeze brushed the hairs from my face. Glancing nervously at Ivy, I dug the scalpel in further.

That was when the screaming started.

“Hold him down!” I yelled, working the blade against the crystal as Arenn’s back arched.

“Stop! Please!” he screamed. “Anything! I’ll do anything!”

“It’s coming out!” Ivy panted. She’d thrown her weight down upon Arenn’s chest while Raena held his head.

With an awful squelch, the first crystal popped out from his arm and tumbled to the grass.

“One down,” I said, moving my tool to the other crystal. His body began to shake uncontrollably, but I just pressed down harder on his wrist.

“Naria, maybe we should…” Ivy’s voice trailed off.

I glanced up, and my mouth popped open. Arenn was more than shaking. His entire body was seizing. Gasps flew from his lips, and his eyes had rolled back to his skull. Looking back at his wrist, the last crystal was so close to being free. I was so close to being free.

“I’m taking it out. Hold him steady.” Ignoring his shaking, I dug my scalpel in one last time.

“No!” The shout tore from his throat just as a loud crack rang over the meadow.

The second crystal hit the floor. Along with the now broken iron cuff. The prince was gone before any of us could speak another word.

Within minutes, the entire meadow was flooded with furious Ryntook soldiers. Queen Cora had announced her son’s recovery to the palace, along with the name of the real culprit, and now every guard – along with a few bloodthirsty servants – had set out to find the prince.

Of course, they were all too late by the time their search reached the palace’s tropical garden. But that didn’t stop them digging through every bush and peering around every palm tree just to make sure he wasn’t still here somewhere, lurking in the shadows.

Despite their frenzied searching, there was no doubt in my mind where he’d vanished off to. And now, with his two crystals clacking together in my skirt pocket as we walked back towards the palace, I couldn’t see him leaving his kingdom or even daring to haunt my dreams ever again.

A girl could hope, anyway.

“Goodness me!” a panicked yelp shot from further down the sandy path. Queen Cora hurried towards us as Ronan ran by her side.

“Look at the state of you all!” She let out a gasp when she spotted Ivy. The poor girl had one arm over Raena’s shoulders and the other over Erik’s as she limped along with us. “Are you alright, my dear? Shall I call for a healer?”

“She’s already got one,” I reminded her, shooting my friend a look. “But she refused my help.”

“I told you already, I’m perfectly fine,” Ivy teased.

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t press. She would be fine in a day or so. But that didn’t make it any easier to see the blood stains on her gown.

“There was talk of a fight in the flower meadow?” Cora turned to me. “Is this true? Has the prince been dealt with?”

“He has,” I answered quickly. “And I doubt he’ll return here any time soon.”

“You let him get away?” Ronan snarled. But before he could continue, Cora placed a hand on his arm.

“It’s alright, dear,” she cooed, before turning back to me. “We’re not interested in starting a war with the fae. Aside from this incident they’ve never bothered our kingdom, and we’d rather not give them any more reason to.” Her eyes met mine, glossy and pleading. “As long as you’re certain he won’t return here…”

“He won’t,” I assured her. “And if he does, you have the full support of my kingdom to deal with him however you wish.”

“Drothmore’s too,” Lukas added, his tone dangerously low. “I’d have no objections to you gutting the man in the street.”

“At least we can agree on that,” Ronan grumbled as Cora rubbed his arm soothingly.

“Come now, dear.” A smile worked across her jaw, warm enough to lift the tension on my own shoulders. “Let’s not forget our son is alive and well again. We should be celebrating.” Sunlight glittered in her eyes. “The day is still young. Why don’t I plan a party for tonight? Another ball, perhaps?”

Ronan’s scowl softened, but before he could reply, Raena let out an excited squeal. “How about a wedding?” she chimed.

My heart skipped a beat.

“A wedding?” Cora’s eyes widened. “Oh, my dear, while that would certainly lift spirits I’m afraid we don’t have a willing couple.” She laughed. But her chuckling ceased the moment a low voice slipped through the warm air between us, smooth like honey.

“You do.” Lukas’s words vibrated through me as he wrapped his arms around my middle, pulling me back against his chest. “I’ve already made it clear to my fiancée that she won’t be leaving this kingdom until she’s become my wife,” he teased before pushing back my hair and kissing the sensitive spot behind my ear.

I slid him a look, but his only response was to growl with laughter and kiss me again.

“How delightful!” Cora sang, flapping her hands. “Raena, my darling, you must help me to plan! We’ll need decorations and new gowns and…” Her voice faded away as I melted into the warm arms engulfing me.

His lips teased my ear, trailing down to my neck. Soft growls became pleasant tingles on my skin while his fingers brushed my waist.

“Naria?”

My eyes snapped open to see Raena and Cora blinking at me expectantly. “Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “Were you talking to me?”

“We asked if you’d be alright with us planning your entire wedding?” Raena chuckled. “Since it seems you’re much too distracted to help.”

“Sorry,” I said again, my cheeks flushing pink.

“Don’t be.” Lukas nestled into my burning neck. “Like she said, you’ll be too busy today anyway,” he whispered. “We have… packing to do.”

“Packing?” I chuckled softly.

“Plan as much as you wish,” I said to Raena who squealed in reply. “The wedding itself doesn’t really matter to me as long as I’m surrounded by the people I love and married by the end of it.”

“Agreed.” Lukas’s fingers caught my chin, tipping my lips up to meet his. “As long as I’m yours.” He smirked. “ My forest princess.”

I giggled against his lips. And as my fingers tangled in the smooth waves of his hair, I hardly noticed the others leaving us to wander back to the palace as the golden sun dipped behind the palm trees.

THE END