Bad Fae | romantasy | Bad Fae #1

Chapter Twelve

Not that all my time outside was taken up with training. Dain also showed me through the Darkrealm. Sometimes we walked. Sometimes, as with that day, we rode, and it gave me some good time to spend with Legacy after I'd sort of forgotten about him while I was hiding inside. Not that he seemed to mind; he'd thrived in his three months in the Darkrealm.

"It's hardly fair!" I yelled at Dain as we raced under the trees, him ahead of me as usual.

"Why is that?" he called back lazily, and I heard the humour in his voice.

"You have a fae steed," I pointed out.

He pulled his horse, Camoren, up quickly and they span to face us as Legacy stopped short of running into them. Dain was smirking at me.

"You wager it is the steed, not the skill of the rider?" he asked.

I huffed at him. "I think it only fair to check."

A wide smile broke out across his face as he looked up into the trees. "And will you make it a proper wager, Milesian?"

I leant on my saddle. "What would you ask, I wonder?" I said, sarcasm-heavy.

Because of course, fae wagers were not about the winner getting a prize. Like all wagers, they were about everyone getting what they wanted. In theory. I had no doubt that Dain would find a way to screw me over no matter what we agreed.

His smile, if possible, widened. "Only for a re-match should I lose."

"Why?" I countered. "You don't believe I could ride as well as you?"

"My reflexes are still superior to yours. Beat me once and it could be mere chance. Beat me twice and mayhap you deserve it."

Well, I couldn't fault the sidhe's logic, there. "And if you win?"

His smile grew more wry. "I could demand you use your remaining debt."

I scoffed. "So, I could lose either way?"

"And how do you figure that?"

"If you win, I give up my only advantage over you. If I win, statistically it's not likely to happen twice. Ergo, I lose either way."

He rubbed the back of his finger along his jaw. "Hm. That is a conundrum. To my mind, if I win, you use your debt and win something from me. If you win once, you're just as likely to win again."

"While possibilities, and good ones in theory, you know the reality as well as I."

The skin around his eyes crinkled. "Fair. What would you ask should I win?"

What would I ask? My first instinct was a map of the Darkrealm, if it existed, but he'd surely guess why I'd be interested in that, and he'd just as likely find some way to make sure it wasn't complete or accurate even if I specified. It would be nigh impossible to ask for it in a way that would cover every minor change he could make to it to render it useless.

"I suppose another debt is out of the question?" I sassed.

The smile on his face made his eyes shine as he looked away from me and ran his tongue over his bottom lip. "You are bold, my little bastard princess. You want me to owe you another debt for beating you?"

I shrugged. "Why not? You wanted me to use mine if you won and tried telling me that would be good for me."

He slid off Camoren with a grace and elegance that made my stomach clench. He lay his hand on Legacy's neck as he looked him over. "You are something else, Yana," he said, his voice low and deep and curling around me tantalisingly. "I will not owe you another debt for this, mortal. However..." He paused and looked up at me through the hair that hung over his eyes. "For your spirit, in its place, I would offer you a boon of your choosing."