"I still wonder about it," I said.
His brow furrowed, eyes searching my expression. "Wonder about what?"
"Whether you're the villain in my story."
~~~~~~~
Mara Monroe is at the center of a war she wanted no part in.
But with her new throne she fac...
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And met nothing but air.
When I opened my eyes, he was already walking toward the path back to the castle, his hands flexing by his sides. He glanced over his shoulder.
"Let's go," he said, as though the last thirty seconds had been completely normal. "You shouldn't be late to the last celebration."
I was too confused to be surprised and too surprised to be angry and too angry to be embarrassed. Makes sense, right?
Perhaps I should've been grateful that he wanted to pretend like nothing happened. Or, at least, about to happen. Instead, it only irritated me further and I resolved to walk the rest of the way back without speaking to him.
Fortunately, I decided that I was pretty certain Cedric would not try to kill me. He lied and betrayed me, but he wouldn't cause me physical harm. I was relatively certain of it. So instead of fearing for my life on our walk back, I let my mind wander to the hound and the stranger. I'd never seen a beast like it and I'd never met a fey like his master.
"You pushed me out today," he said and I looked at him, surprised that he broke the silence, "of your head, I mean."
"Finally," I muttered.
"How'd you do it?"
"I imagined myself naked."
"What? You imagined yourself naked? That actually worked?" He repeated slowly, his eyes widening.
I rolled my eyes. "No. I took a deep breath and kicked your ass out. Apart from that, I have no idea."
He chuckled lowly under his breath, shaking his head as if he should've expected that I was messing with him. Still, I liked the fact that the idea phased him. I liked the fact that I wasn't the only one affected.
"I imagine that you would try very hard to keep that image from me, Princess. Maybe it's a strategy worth trying. We can practice now, if you like?"
He blinked innocently down at me, silver eyes twinkling as he teased me.
"You really think you're funny, don't you?" I scoffed.
"Only because I'm right."
"Well," I grunted, heaving myself over a large fallen trunk in a most unladylike fashion. "You know what they say about broken clocks."
Cedric's brow furrowed. Sometimes I forgot that while he and I were both half-mortal, he spent most of his life in Elphame with his father and I spent most of mine in Brooklyn with my mom. My idioms and sarcasm were often just as lost on him as they were on the full-fey.
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," I explained, "doesn't mean you start asking it for its opinion."
Cedric snorted, and damn if it didn't sound sort of endearing.
