Reaching Answers (Artemis University #8) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,13
his throat when I nodded. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
“Thank you for trying tonight, really, but we’re not friends, Neldor. You’ve had weeks to try and… Thank you, but no.”
He was quiet several minutes as we kept eating. “You’re right, we’re not friends, but I am the only fairy around so for the moment, I am the only one who can help you with things. You said something the night it happened that I caught, and while I didn’t understand it—I still might not—I’ve heard you say it before.” He sighed when I didn’t answer. “You aren’t like dark fairies, Tamsin.”
Ahhh, that. I sighed. It was actually fair to bring this up in case it was an issue later. “I am actually. There’s… I had a theory—a valid one—that maybe I was smuggled out because my parents were light and dark, one of each, and if they died in the war, I would be in big trouble. I know who my mother is, but the more I think about it, maybe I shouldn’t throw out that theory just yet.”
Neldor lost his princely composure and actually dropped his chopsticks into his container. The dark prince was completely gobsmacked. It took him a few minutes to even try to make his mouth work. “You might not be wrong there. It makes sense that was why Queen Meira hid who her mate was, but I cannot for the life of me start to even have a clue how she met and fell in love with a dark fairy.”
I shrugged. “I’m not saying we try for problems we don’t know if true when we have so many, but there are a lot of attributes I have of dark fairies. I know light and dark aren’t really all that different, simply a matter of perspective, but that night, I didn’t mean like dark fairies.” I cleared my throat and looked away. “I meant darkness in my heart and thought about your mother. I didn’t know you were there.”
He sighed. “You weren’t taking a shot at her, but your own head was clouded. I understand. I cannot defend what she did. It’s unforgivable, of course. She wasn’t always like that though. She was once… She wasn’t all bad, and her mother was fairly twisted. We’ve had a lot of that in both of our family trees. Ruling is not an easy job.”
Of course not. He didn’t need to explain that to me. People didn’t need to be raised as royals to understand wearing the crown and having all that responsibility was difficult.
Like no shit.
“I believe you, but I really don’t want to get into all of that, Neldor. What did you want to talk about?”
He sighed. “The vampire is too much of a bother on you.”
“He’s not, and he’s one of the only reasons I’ve kept my sanity at all, so please just drop it. What did you need?”
He sighed again, heavier this time. “There’s something I wanted to show you after we eat. I also wanted you to spend more time here. We should, as fairies. I know you’ve only spent time here with the world in pain and seeing it in this condition kills me as well—”
I snorted. “This is nothing Neldor. When I first came through, there was a tiny, tiny circle around the portal and everything else was that caustic darkness. It took me months to even get the sun back. All life died here. Only the grass was really left, but there weren’t even trees or flowers until a few months before I found you.” I pulled my knees to my chest as I kept eating.
“You suffered a lot more than I realized fixing our world,” he murmured, focused hard on his food when I glanced at him in shock. “It’s truly disconcerting to even hear about. I cannot imagine what you describe, and yet I know it to be the truth.”
“Because your mother did it?” I asked gently.
“No, though that hurts me, of course. No, it’s because Faerie is magical, more vibrant and alive than the bluest and most gorgeous ocean in their world. You have seen nothing of the life and glory our world truly is.”
“I look forward to it,” I mumbled.
“I don’t think you do and that’s my fault,” he whispered.
I didn’t know what to say to that. There wasn’t really anything to say that wouldn’t start a fight or cause trouble.
Because he wasn’t wrong. It was his fault that I had basically given up