Page 49 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

I couldn’t say it to him. I couldn’t admit what was building. I’d already let him in enough and if I started talking about it now, I wouldn’t be able to contain my emotions. I gave him a tight smile. “I don’t want to talk about it. I want to enjoy myself.”

Or at least pretend to until I could escape.

He glared, not believing me, but let it go as Luka steered us towards a massive green tent.

We stepped into a different world under the moss-colored canvas. The energy shifted, and it felt like walking into a living fairy tale. Light from outside the tent was magically shielded, and the only illumination came from balls of fire floating in the air. Instead of the open space expected in a tent this large, it felt intimate because branches, moss, and nature surrounded us, and above the canopy, performers twirled with the stars.

“What is this?” I asked no one in particular. My cheeks heated when I realized the performers were mostly naked.

“You’ve lived here your whole life, haven’t you?” Luka drew my attention away from the brooding Jaxus. “Shouldn’t you be used to this?” His voice came low and sultry like the shift in mood bled into his voice. Almost dreamy.

“This has never been my scene, and I didn’t grow up here,” I told him.

“I thought you were here in school with Nyx?” Luka asked, and suddenly, we were alone, transported to a path like one the Forest Kingdom would have boasted.

“Yes, but not fully. I went back and forth and spent a lot of time back home. Healers don’t have to come here like ryders and flyers do. Most of the strong healer lines originate from the Forest Kingdom, which is where the best training is for our craft. We only split our time between there and the palace because my father has been Healer on High since before I was born.”

I’d spent so much time in the Forest Kingdom with my gran, able to hide away from this overstimulating popularity parade.

“I preferred it there,” I admitted. “I learned so much under my gran’s tuition. My parents were busy and—” I swallowed my words, not wanting to tell him about the mean kids in the palace, which was the main reason I preferred home. “It was just better for me there.”

His brows pulled, but he nodded. He understood without me saying it. It was easy to see why he and Zaria were as close as they were.

“Where are we going?” I asked when he didn’t say anything.

He lifted his chin, and I followed his gaze to find we’d arrived at a quaint little garden with a fae serving ale from behind a massive tree stump. We ordered and when I tried to put gold down, Luka waved me off. “Your money is no good here.”

I rolled my eyes, but I’d be lying if I said I hated it. “Thank you.”

“You know you deserve to be treated well, don’t you?” Luka wandered through the group of chairs, taking a set out of the way.

“I know.” I kept my eyes on my glass. “Where did the others go?”

“These places have a way of making what needs to happen, happen. That’s why I linked arms with you. The magic decided we needed this time together.” His words made me lift my eyes.

“What do you mean?” I’d never heard of magic like that.

“It’s a wayfarer tent. You step in and leave the world outside while you take whichever journey you need to take. I don’t know how they do it. Some type of earth magic. They travel with the festival and on holy days, they say the Goddess grants you the gift you most need to receive. The magic guides us and leads us to where our fates need us to be.” Luka shook his head, looking into my eyes. “Why don’t you know any of this? Surely, even if you don’t have time now, you came when you were a child.”

I turned my glass in my hands, letting out a breath as I tried to search for words, but before I could speak, another voice ran ice through my veins.

“If it isn’t the little dragon wannabe and the bookworm. Word is, the little bookworm is supposed to be a ryder now? Haven’t seen you out with our esteemed lieutenant yet, though. Is there some reason you haven’t joined the legion, bookworm? Or do you just still think you’re too good to fly”

I sprang to my feet, knocking over my chair, while my mug slipped from my fingers. It hit the grass beneath our feet and splashed across Luka’s boots.

He stood, stepping in front of me. “What do you want, Koen?”

“Don’t make us show you what we do to juuttunuts again.”

I gasped. “You can’t call him that.” It was about the worst thing a flyer could call a regular fae.

“Try me.” Luka had his hand on his dagger, but two of Koen’s friends stepped out of the mist behind him.

My mouth went dry. This was my greatest fear. Even worse than the heights. Heren might be dead, but his gang of sidekicks were still very much alive, and worse, they were the flyers under Jaxus. I’d just hoped to never cross their path.

I swallowed, grabbing the back of Luka’s shirt to pull him back with me. If we somehow lost our friends in this magical tent, surely we could lose these thugs, too. “Luka,” I hissed.

“You go.” The set of his jaw told me he wasn’t leaving. Was he mad? They could crush him.