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ASHA WOKE TO THE MOUTHWATERING smell of pork roasting over a fire. A heavy weight was holding her down, but it lifted when she moved. Hexam grinned down at her as she struggled to sit upright. Becoming aware that she was being watched, she looked across the fire to see the hunter was now awake. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
Frowning at the question, he examined her more closely. “I am fine,” he replied. “You are not a human.”
It was a statement rather than a question. “I know,” she replied.
“Then why are you speaking a human language?” he asked.
“I was raised on Earth,” she told him and drew her knees up to her chest. “I’m Asha Trinity. Who are you?”
He hesitated before replying. “You may call me Dalrin,” he told her and gave her a seated bow. He’d decided to give her a false name for reasons he wasn’t even sure of.
“Thank you for saving me from the boar,” she said awkwardly and looked away. She was still shy around strangers and never knew how to act. It was far worse now that she was in a strange land.
“May I ask what manner of being you are?” he enquired.
“I’m half dryad,” she replied.
“And the other half?” His silver eyebrow rose when she hesitated. “Come now, it can’t be all that bad. Dryads aren’t noted for mating with ogres after all.”
“It’s worse than that,” she said in a low voice that he had to strain to hear over the relentless howl of the wind. “My father is the Goblin King.”
He blinked at her, but her sorrowful expression didn’t change. “You are King Lod’s daughter?” he asked incredulously and she nodded morosely. “You are fortunate that you don’t take after him and instead inherited your mother’s beauty.” She flicked him a look, but didn’t respond to his compliment. “If I’m not mistaken, having three different colors in your eyes marks you as dryad royalty, does it not?” he asked.
“So I’ve been told,” she said unhappily.
“Hmm,” he mused. “I doubt either of the fae realms has ever seen your like before. You hail from royalty on both sides. I wonder what your future holds?”
“Queen Wysterial had a vision that I would become the Unseelie Queen.”
Her answer shocked him, but he hid his unease. “Did she now?” he asked and ran a hand through his hair. “Did she happen to mention who would be your King?”
“No. She just told me that I would have to bring unity to the Unseelie lands before the chaos spreads to the other realms and tears this world apart.”
His mind raced as he tried to process this information. While Queen Wysterial wasn’t a Seer, the fae often caught glimpses of the future. Their visions always came true, so this half dryad, half goblin girl would indeed rule the dark realm. From what he knew about dryad royalty, she would become bonded for life with the first man she gave her body to. She looked young, but it was impossible to tell her true age. “Have you become bonded to a male yet?” he asked abruptly.
Asha’s face burned at the far too personal question. The hunter obviously knew the implications if she said no, but there was no point lying. She shook her head and looked down at her feet. “I haven’t met the man I’m supposed to marry yet,” she said, sounding so defeated that Hexam whined and leaned a head on her shoulder. She smiled slightly and reached up to scratch him beneath his chin.
The girl was innocent in more than just her body. She was beautiful and pure and she didn’t belong here. This land would twist her and corrupt her just like it did to everyone and everything that dwelled here. Dacrith found the idea of her becoming like the Unseelie fairies he knew strangely repellent, as if it would be wrong somehow. “What are your plans now that you’ve found yourself in this realm?” he asked.
“I have to travel to the Unseelie palace and present myself to the Court,” she replied, meeting his eyes. She was resigned to her fate, yet she was clearly unhappy.
“No one is forcing you to follow this path,” he told her.
“I don’t have a choice. No one can change their destiny.” She dropped her eyes and her stomach rumbled.
A fresh blush rose on her cheeks when he gave a low chuckle. “Where are my manners?” he said. “Allow me to offer you some food.”
He magically sliced off a hunk of meat that was nicely roasted by now and spitted it on a stick. She reached out to take it from him and delicately bit into it. He watched her in fascination, trying to see the goblin inside her and seeing only her dryad beauty. It occurred to him that they hadn’t met by chance. Destiny had thrown them together for a reason. He was the rightful ruler of this land and Asha was intended to be his queen. Yet something told him it wasn’t going to be easy for them to take their place in the dark palace.
Dryads were different from fairies, especially their royals. They chose their mates carefully and would never settle for just anyone. He’d seen firsthand that Lord Nicolaia and King Lod, both advisors to the throne, had been scheming together to oust his father. If they knew about Asha, they would have a plan to wed her to the man of their choice.
Asha watched Dalrin as his expression became introspective. His brow furrowed slightly, but it did nothing to detract from his handsomeness. It must have been a shock to one of his kind to realize she would be his ruler soon. Frankly, she’d expected a vastly different reaction to her presence from an Unseelie fae. As far as she knew, they were all evil, selfish and manipulative. “Are you an Unseelie fairy?” she asked just to be sure.
“I am, my lady,” he said. “All fairies in this realm are Unseelie. Why do you ask?”
“You’re not what I expected,” she replied awkwardly.
“Ah. Did you expect me to ravish you, perhaps?” he asked playfully.
Her tone was sorrowful when she replied. “You wouldn’t be the first man to try.”
“Fear not, fair maiden,” he told her, brandishing his meat on a stick as if it was a sword. “I will protect you from any scum who would dare lay their hands upon our future Queen.” Hexam let out a woof of agreement, tongues lolling in amusement. “The beast will also ensure your welfare,” he added.
“His name is Hexam,” Asha told him.
Surprised by her knowledge, he lifted his brows. “How do you know his name?”
“My friend, Jake Everett, became friends with Hexam in the goblin dungeon. They managed to escape, but Jake didn’t know what happened to the Cerberus.”
“He ended up here, in my cave,” Dacrith told her, quietly amazed that they both knew Jake. Again, it couldn’t be a coincidence and it added to his hunch that they’d been brought together for a reason. “It was quite a surprise to see the hound,” he added. “He was badly wounded and looked like he’d been burned nearly to death.” That was a half-truth, but the dryad didn’t pick up on it. He was glad neither tree nymphs nor goblins could detect lies since she shared both of their blood.
“You took care of him?” she asked, stroking the dog’s furry side. Jake had told her he’d left the dog and his second in command behind after pretending to kill the warrior known as death. Clearly, the pair had split up after escaping from the dungeon if the hound had ended up in this cave with the hunter.
“I kept him safe from the storm and fed him,” he replied. He still wasn’t sure why he’d taken the beast with him when he’d escaped from the labyrinth. Perhaps it had been fate guiding his hands.
“Do you know how far it is to the Unseelie palace?” she asked.
“On foot, it would take several weeks to reach it.”
“Could you teleport me there?”
His expression became rueful. “I’m afraid my magic has gone awry,” he lied. “It seems I can no longer teleport since the realm became unbalanced.” Come to think of it, maybe it wasn’t a lie after all. Even performing simple magical tasks was becoming harder. He’d thought it was because he was so badly out of practice, but now he wondered if that was the reason at all.
“That’s okay,” she said with a sigh. “I guess I’ll walk then. Can you point me in the right direction?”
He’d already reached the decision that he wasn’t about to let his future wife out of his sight. “I shall escort you to the palace myself, my lady,” he offered with a bow.
“Why?” she asked suspiciously, proving she wasn’t as naïve as she seemed.
“Perhaps I seek redemption,” he mused, straightening up again. “I was banished from the Court long ago and have been alone for eons.” He’d actually been surrounded by Unseelie traitors and other monsters during his incarceration, but he’d felt alone anyway.
“Is that why you’re living in this cave?” she asked in sympathy.
“Yes,” he lied. “It is my hope that if I escort you to the palace unharmed, I might be forgiven and reinstated in my former position as a soldier.”
Looking up at the Cerberus, Asha saw couldn’t see any mistrust for the fairy in him. “If Hexam trusts you, I can trust you,” she decided.
Dacrith had to smother a triumphant grin that his plan was working. Winning the dryad’s trust was paramount to becoming her king. Now all he had to do was keep up the ruse that he wasn’t as evil as every other Unseelie fairy in their realm until they were wed. Once he’d bedded her, she would be his and so would the entire realm.
