Whatever these people were, they possessed magic, or at the very least, speed, because Vadde and Wyrn sat down before a freshly made wooden table.

Vadde puzzled over a proper greeting. Considering that she was the cause for the new dining apparatus, complimenting it was no option.

Usually, Wyrn’s father and mother sat at opposite ends when they ate. Now, Wyrn and Vadde sat in the center, his parents opposite them. And not just Wyrn’s parents, but each and every one of his brothers, even Bonn who was still recovering from his leg injury during the hunt. Other than Vadde, no other wife was present.

One brother hurried to his father with paper, another with ink and a quill. But the man in question shook his head and said, “We can’t ransom your brother’s wife. It’s poor form!”

“Hey,” one protested, “we ransomed mine.”

“That’s different,” his father grumbled, facing forward once more, “for one, we’d known she was a princess from the start. That was the whole point of snatching her. Marriage to you was the threat, my son. That won’t work this time around. And besides, I hadn’t liked her.”

“Point taken.”

Vadde’d decided to keep her head hung but that wasn’t the case for Wyrn who sat with his arms folded, staring them down.

He wore a stone expression that matched his father’s perfectly. Both were unamused.

“You brought a princess—a human princess here without telling us?” his father demanded.

Wyrn’s gaze was unbending. “At least she’s human.”

Someone made a sound, perhaps Bonn, Vadde was unclear. She was also in the dark about Wyrn’s meaning. Apparently, a human wife was a prize of some kind.

“A princess makes that an unworthy accomplishment. She doesn’t want to be with a ~~; that’s for sure.”

Vadde gnashed her teeth. It was still happening.

“If you’re trying to shock or scare her, it won’t work,” Wyrn warned. “I’ve already told her.”

His father’s stone expression dissolved. “And she doesn’t care?”

“No.” Wyrn sat smug.

It was a look of concern the man wore as he focused on Vadde and asked her directly, “You would remain married to a ~~?”

Vadde stifled a scream in the back of her mind. A what? A blasted what? A spider? A dragon? A phoenix? A troll? A vampire, a what!

When she waited too long and Wyrn looked at her, no longer emboldened, she traced his strong arm until he allowed her to interlock their fingers.

“I would remain married to Wyrn.”

There was a deafening silence after that. She became unsure of her answer until she risked meeting Wyrn’s gaze to see the affection there.

“No.” His father shook his head, adamant. “A king does not give away his daughter. Not without purpose. Even if he had ten or more. A princess is a bargaining chip. They’re used to secure loyalties. End wars, sometimes start them. Hell, in some cases they are gifts, but they aren’t easily transferred to a common man—”

“Least of all one that looks like me,” Wyrn interrupted.

But his father didn’t back down. “That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you meant.”

The man sighed. “You’re infatuated so you aren’t thinking straight. Let’s assume he’s got five more daughters at the very least, but that still begs the question, why part with one?”

However, the king didn’t have five more. He had only the one and if Wyrn’s father realized that, it would be hell on earth.

And then it came.

“Ask her—”

“I will ask her nothing,” Wyrn answered. “And you will ask her nothing.” He sat bold but their worry affected him because he explained, “She was in love with a prince and her father didn’t approve of him. He called him a coward. So, he had a tournament and I won it.” At the silence that time, he waited, challenging, “Or do you think me incapable of accomplishing that much?”

That wasn’t the issue at all.

“Why?”

His father’s one word made Wyrn blink. “What?”

“Why?” The man looked from Vadde back to Wyrn. “Why didn’t he approve? Cowards come and go. But so what? He is a prince.” He tried to glance at Vadde but thought better of it. Instead, he whispered to his wife, “Had you got the midwife—?”

“Of course, I did!” she snapped. “And that’s rich coming from you considering Shaza.”

Wyrn’s father turned to her, whispering, “I’ve apologized for that. How much longer will you bring it up? And don’t talk about Bonn’s woman like that in front of him.”

“Nah. Go right ahead,” Bonn called.

His father ignored him, quietly yelling at his wife. “The tournament business was your idea! By The Living Goddess, of course it’d backfire!”

Staring at the brand new, freshly varnished table, the woman said nothing.

Therefore, Wyrn’s father tried to appeal to Vadde directly. “It is no easy life being married to a~~. Do you know this?”

Vadde was slow to nod, careful not to make eye contact.

“You’ll always be in danger of attack. Maybe even hunted for sport. And that may not be your life, but it’ll be the life of any son you birth. And it will be a son. All of them. We cannot have girls. Therefore, your boys will have to seek them out. And there are few creatures of earth and magic that are compatible with a~~. And therefore, it might be a long-suffering life. Think about this.”

Per his request, Vadde did think about it.

The moment she felt the gentle squeeze of Wyrn’s hand, she regarded her new husband.

Behind his eyes, his expression held sympathy.

Finally, Vadde told the concerned patriarch, “I’m not good at most things—those weren’t the duties of a princess, but I’ll gladly learn them all for Wyrn.”

One brother was the first to look at his siblings for guidance. Then another. They were all confused by her response, and it set her into a panic.

“Look at her!” a now familiar voice thundered. “Look at her sitting there signing her life away to these things! Ha!”

The red pixie hurried to take hold of her lover’s arm. “We shouldn’t be here, Matax! Should one of them even raise a hand at us, we’ll die instantly.”

“Oh,” the blue one complained, “you always worry, Jeze.”

But Wyrn’s father waved a hand. He was ages from the blue pixie, and yet, the thing bobbed and floated away, pushed back by some force.

“See! One touch. It’s one touch!” Jeze screamed. “It’s not worth it. Let’s go leave before—”

One of Wyrn’s brother’s flared his nostrils and grunted. “Fairies.”

His father sat up and took a whiff. “Two of them.” He paused a moment then grumbled, “A blue and red one I’d reckon. Get the club.”

“No! No. We’re leaving,” Jeze cried, dragging Matax toward the window. “We’re leaving, you brute!”

And they were right. As soon as they flew out the window, the brother put his hand on his father’s shoulder and they both inhaled then exhaled again.

“Should I—?”

“No,” his father said, “the blue and red are inconsequential. They follow love. Especially love from the pagan.” His frown was heavy as he looked between Wyrn and Vadde again. “You two have even summoned the fairies.”

Wyrn’s face was crimson with a blush.

Now, he hung his head, but this situation was far from over.

“And all of that would be remarkable,” the man went on, “if she weren’t a princess.” This time when he spoke to his son, he did so gently. “Think of this prince. This same prince you wanted me to summon. Can you imagine if he’d come and realized what we are?”

Once Wyrn’s posture sagged, even the gentle squeeze of Vadde’s hand did nothing to invigorate him again.

“Imagine the stories he could tell about besting one of us. Especially in this weakened form. For what would be the alternative? Cast off our iron and unleash our power? To what end? To cause a cascading effect when everyone who sees us does the same, preparing for battle, and the~~who people have believed were long gone can reveal that they’ve been hiding in plain sight all this time?”

“That’s a silly argument,” Wyrn muttered. He didn’t pick his head up, however. “If we’re hiding, how will he know us?” His grip on Vadde’s hand tightened. “We’ve got spells upon spells. Anyone who’s our mortal enemy cannot even utter our names or hear it! Or are those worn out?”

Vadde’s eyes widened but she blinked in hopes of masking her guilt and surprise, but that spinning world came back again, full force.

So which was it? She was cursed and could not know them, or she was their mortal enemy and could not know them? Or both?

“No,” his father admitted, “those seals are still very much active. But they won’t last beyond this domain! It’s still a risk.”

But while the bickering went back and forth, Aggu was Vadde’s concern. She’d expected—hoped—to have the woman on her side. That wasn’t the case. Wyrn’s mother looked equally worried.

A fist slamming down onto the table had the room shaking. “That doesn’t change the fact that she’s a princess! A princess given to a~~”

The man caught himself and shut up, remaining in a temper nonetheless.

“Why don’t you say it?” Wyrn asked, looking up from the table. He got to his feet as well. “Say it! Say what it is I am and what it is you see. And say that you think it’s a lie that I won. That I was able to best those princes and walk away with a wife. Say it.” At their silence, he searched their sheepish expressions. “I dare any of you to say it.”

“He let you compete,” his father muttered. “Why take that chance? If not—”

The hesitation that time lasted ages as Wyrn only stared him down.

Finally, Wyrn asked, “So that is how you think? That for someone like me to get, and even keep, someone like her, it would be because there was something wrong with her?”

His father’s embarrassment was palpable as he struggled to answer, “I did not say that—”

“But you’re thinking it.” Wyrn’s voice betrayed his hurt. “You’re all thinking it. And that’s why you had the midwife examine a woman I never said I wanted. So, what was it you were looking for? A pregnancy she was trying to hide? Is that why you told me to not go after her? So that if we hadn’t consummated, there’d be no confusion? Well, it’s been six months now, so at least that much can put you at ease, you old fool!”

His father lunged. Brother after brother held him back.

“I was trying to protect you.”

“By mocking me?”

Vadde stood in an effort to keep Wyrn from leaping over the table as well.

“For building me a shield rather than a cape? For giving me a dagger for a sword! That was your protection?”

By now, both men seethed. Aggu, who’s gaze never left Vadde, stood and eased her husband back down to sit.

Finally, she said, “Have her say the oath and accept her. We can do little else.”

“No.”

Aggu turned to him and cried, “That is the law.”

“She’s a princess. Princesses bring armies and plagues. No!”

Face set in a stone scowl, Aggu sat up. “I do not need you to officiate it.”

Her husband’s fist landed on the table yet again. “I forbid it. It must come from one of us. No marriage from a~~is valid without the word of a~~”

Aggu ignored him and told Vadde, “Repeat after me, dear. I, Vadde, swear my loyalty to my husband, Wyrndol of the~~”

Vadde’s body pulsed. All blood rushed to her gut which grew heavy. What the hell were they?

Still, with the eyes on her, she opened her mouth to try.

“Even you?” Wyrn asked his mother, hurt. “That is not her real name, and you know it, and swearing by something untrue would unmake a marriage, not solidify it!”

The woman’s face lost all color.

With that, Wyrn stood, pulled Vadde with him, and said, “If you do not want us here, we will go.”

Vadde longed to plant her feet. She longed to beg Wyrn to think with a cooler head, but she didn’t dare oppose him in public. What was he doing? Throwing his family, is life, away for trash like her?

They reached the door before a voice thundered. “Wait.”

Wyrn held the knob, but Vadde stilled his hand. The way he didn’t resist her very light touch told her he needed the excuse to hear his father out.

“Wait.” After a moment, the man said, “You are right. And I am wrong. You’ve found love. Even the Fae covet your affection. They come to bask in it because it’s so pure. We can’t deny that.”

Body trembling, Wyrn kept his hand on the door.

“Let us accept the marriage.” Wyrn’s father apologized yet again and said, “We will hold a proper ceremony and welcome her into the tribes of the Jaffo. But know that if it fails, we wash our hands of what’ll become of her.”

Vadde’s breath hitched but Wyrn’s frown reversed until he wore a big smile, one which he gave Vadde.

Swallowing hard, Vadde, in turn, struggled to return that proud grin.