Veiled Fae: A Why Choose Fantasy Romance (Fractured Fae Book 2)

by Jarica James

  Bookshelves line one wall and a large map of the realm is tacked to another with large x’s showing the conquered towns. The sight makes me nauseous.

  How could one man be a catalyst for so much chaos?

  It’s only made worse by the fact those conquered towns were where he started his frozen statue collection, an entire captive audience to listen to his every whim.

  “We need paper and pencils for the maps, should we check for anything else?” Andras asks as he walks over to the bookshelves. He glances back at me before rifling through the books and papers stacked there.

  “I wouldn’t mind checking his personal papers or journals if there are any. He must have the location of the stone written down somewhere. With his ranting, there’s no way he didn't write down nonsensical ramblings down somewhere. Maybe we can decipher it. He had stones in his crown, but I doubt he could have inlaid it, Bella needed the Spirits to do that," I reason. Andras nods as he thumbs through the books. I walk to the desk and open the drawers, rifling through each one.

  The first drawer is stuffed full of coins and gems. We haven’t talked about currency in New Faerie, but I make a mental note to tell the council about this. Technically it’s Sebastian’s gold now, though.

  The second drawer is full of parchment. I pulled the stack out and set it aside. The rest of the papers are notices and laws for Winter, each one becoming increasingly more tyrannical as they went on. It’s like the king started to go mad over time, a progression like Sebastian suspected. It’s honestly unsurprising, he literally spent thirteen Earth years in Faerie with only the spirits and his torture victim as company. He was even raging at his frozen son every night like clockwork.

  “Other than laws and money, there isn’t anything else here. Though we do have parchment and pencils on the top of the desk, so it wasn’t a wasted trip," I call over to Andras. He doesn’t respond. He’s staring at a book with a furrowed brow, eyes darting back and forth while he speed reads the contents. Walking up to him doesn’t even break his trance, so I bend low to try and read the cover. Of course, there’s no title.

  “Andras. Aaaandras. ANDRAS!” He jumps when I raise my voice, finally looking up at me. “Sorry, I said your name twice before yelling," I try to hide my chuckle. “What is it?”

  “It’s the king’s personal journal. This whole row is full of them. It’s fascinating reading his perspective. He was clearly insane in the end but this one is mostly coherent. He even mentions that he started the war because he planned on taking over Faerie completely. I’ll get into more of the details tonight, we should get back to the others," he closes the book and tucks it under his arm before we scoop the rest off of the shelves.

  Sighing in frustration, I grab the parchment and pencils. I’m generally a patient man, but this will be a torturous wait.

  Chapter 10

  Bowen

  “This room could work? There are three bedrooms and a bathroom, so it fits us all. Plus, the common room would be fine to have a meeting in," I point out to Jacob.

  “Sure," he says absently as he opens one of the wardrobes lining the wall.

  “Oh! Fancy clothes! I could use to change after a freaking bath. I feel so gross after being frozen for weeks. Plus, I would look dashing in this, don’t you think?” he asks with a wink, holding the formal outfit in front of him and posing.

  “Dashing for sure," I grin. “Anything in there that will make the Queen swoon for her chiseled man candy?” I flex playfully and Jacob fans himself. The two of us are almost as ridiculous as he is with Bella. Almost. Nothing truly compares to their brand of crazy.

  “We could find something, though she was never impressed by the muscled men back home. It’s funny she ended up with four of them," he snickers. Despite it being a joke, the comment stings. There’s still this feeling that won’t go away about our bonding, one that tells me it was forced on her. I hate feeling like she didn’t choose me, that Faerie did.

  “She didn’t really have much choice," I admit quietly. Jacob’s smile drops and he studies me. His face slowly turns hard and I hold up my hands before his mind takes that the wrong way. “Not like that, killer. I’d never force myself on her, and I didn’t take advantage of her or anything. We were just her guards. I may have flirted, but she’s gorgeous, I couldn’t help myself. The Spirit told her when she was given the crown that she would have to find four men after the crown was complete. When she put in the first stone the Spirit of Faerie decided to bond us instead. I’ve lived long enough alone to not care and Bella seemed horrified like it was her fault and I was the one without a choice. We both just kind of went with it, but I worry that she will resent us for having to choose us.”

  “Stop being dramatic," Jacob scoffs, like I’ve lost my mind. “Let me tell you a little something about my best friend. Never once has she done anything she didn’t want to do. If she flirts back it’s because she genuinely feels it. She is the opposite of me, she’s not a flirty person with just anyone. And, she has an insanely open mind. She accepted me and the fae in a world that didn’t accept either of us. If she knew those were the circumstances and she already felt connected to you, then I think she did what she does. Accepted it, made it her bitch, and moved on. You should too. You guys make her happier than I’ve ever seen her. It might not have been intentional that day, but she chooses you every single day.”

  “And I choose her,” I admit. Even from that first moment I saw her stand and speak to us, I knew she was going to be amazing, a force to be reckoned with. She has a genuine kindness about her, but it’s rivaled by her fierce nature. The moment we traveled together and really spoke, I knew I wanted her, though I thought I had no chance. She was a queen after all. But now that we are all connected, and I see how perfectly we work, I know it’s fate. Even if I can’t shake this one negative thought. Though Jacob’s words helped. Because if she hadn’t wanted this, she never would have taken it as far as she did.

  Letting out a sigh, I stand and brush off my serious thoughts. “We should find more blankets for the people in the ballroom. And scope out some rooms, I doubt they want to sleep on a stone floor for long once they are conscious.”

  “Do castles have linen closets? That would make this so much easier," Jacob says, heading down the hall.

  We search the halls and find more rooms, but not enough blankets to make a dent in the amount of fae we need them for.

  Deeper into the castle, it’s more of the same. Corridors of rooms with no more than a huge quilt that would be impossible to transport.

  “If this room isn’t something different, I’m burning this bitch down,” Jacob growls, yanking a small door at the end of our current hall. We both sigh in relief at the sight of the servant’s quarters. Because with servants, come supplies.

  The simplicity of the room is such a vast contrast to the guest rooms. Each tiny space has a bed, a wardrobe, and a small table and chair. They are lined up side by side, finally ending in a large storage room on one end and the kitchen on the other.

  “The kitchen! Yes!” Jacob does a happy dance at finding one of the most important rooms of the castle.

  “You cook much?” I ask and he laughs. I guess I can take that as a yes.

  “Queenie and I cooked together all the time. Other than karaoke, it was our thing," he says with a big smile as he takes in the room.

  “Karaoke? Why haven’t I heard this! I’m an amazing singer!” I say in mock outrage.

  He shoves me playfully and rolls his eyes. “What songs could you possibly Karaoke? Fae ballads?”

  He clearly forgot that we were stuck in his realm for thirteen years. I immediately launch into Bohemian Rhapsody. Jacob’s mouth falls open as I belt it out with as much flair as Freddy Mercury himself. He’s still for all of one verse before he regains his senses and joins in. It’s not exactly a song you can listen to and not sing along.

  When we finish, we’re breathless but it feels like the weight of our previous conversation is officially gone.


  “I needed that. You are full of surprises, ginger king," he says as he hoists himself up on the counter to catch his breath.

  We glance around the immense kitchen. The high ceilings and insanely large room were great for singing acoustics, but now that it was over we realized how awful it smelled. Clearly, he’d let food rot in here and not cared to throw it out.

  “We can’t stay here,” Jacob groans, holding his nose and pulling me out of the room.

  “Come on,” I agree once he lets go, leading him to the storage room. There’s an entire cupboard full of smaller blankets that would be perfect. “We can grab these blankets and direct the ones who are conscious to the bedrooms. I’m done with this never-ending scavenger hunt.”

  We wind our way back through the halls. I’m thankful the king was a pompous asshole for once, the decorations letting us know we’re getting close. When they start to border on gaudy, we know we found the ballroom again.

  Maddox strides toward us as soon as we enter the room. He reaches out for blankets and we hand over a portion, before we all distribute them to the still sleeping fae. Our arms were full when we walked in, but now I worry that won’t be enough. Thankfully more are awake now than before.

  “Anyone awake can go with Jacob to the bedrooms, the rest can join tomorrow. If anyone unconscious doesn’t have a blanket, we have a few left," I yell over the noise of the crowd. The ones awake who don’t have a loved one sleeping, join us.

  “Is anyone a healer?” Maddox asks the crowd. He stops so abruptly that a few almost fall into him and he mumbles a hasty apology. A woman and man step forward without hesitation. I love that the fae trait of helping others isn’t as dead as the land. “I would like you two in the closest rooms, in case one of our pregnant ladies or children need you. Is that alright?” They nod with wide eyes and hurry over to the waiting line.

  “Alright ladies and gentle-fae. My name is Jacob and I will be your tour guide," he puts on his best announcer voice and leads the group out of the room. Thankfully the tired crowd doesn’t have far to go. We had to delve deeper to find supplies, but the standard rooms in the surrounding corridors were good enough for now.

  “Take your dagger!” Maddox bellows after him as they start to exit the ballroom.

  “I like to live dangerously, Dad!” Jacob yells back, laughing loudly.

  “He’s a mess," Maddox groans, but there’s no fire in his words. His eyes can’t hide how much he likes Jacob.

  “He has a way of lighting up the room, and he makes Bella happy," I counter him, both of us smiling softly and glancing at our sleeping queen. She’d be so proud of how well he’s handling everything. He even has some of the fae laughing along with him as they walk out, their laughter echoing down the hall. And considering the circumstances, that’s quite a feat.

  The ballroom falls into a welcome, calming quiet as most of the crowd leaves. It’s definitely a contrast from the chaos and confusion before. Most who stayed behind are still unconscious, the rest the fae who stayed behind to watch over them.

  I can’t even count the number of suspicious stares we get as we walk around and check in with them, but it’s alright. No one can blame the survivors after what the king did to them. Countless years of being frozen in place until their minds just shut down. A forced magical coma isn’t an easy thing to forget. But we’ll work our asses off to prove that we’re trustworthy and this is going to be a new era for Faerie.

  Emrick, Sebastian, and two other men walk into the room right as we finish our rounds. They’re pulling a large rolling cart behind them full of food and water pitchers. It’s mainly vegetables, apparently the former king actually took care of his personal gardens.

  Emrick walks ahead and sets up a table so Sebastian can unload. By the time they’re done it looks like we have a feast. I’ll take it, these poor souls deserve some peace of mind.

  “If we can find the kitchens, we could probably get some bread baking. The flour and dry goods shouldn’t be affected either," Emrick says as he joins us.

  Sebastian nods at the suggestion, his long silver hair shining in the torchlight. “I agree. I’m not a baker but between all of these people, someone has to be.”

  “We actually found the kitchen today. Didn’t you grow up here? You don’t know where it is?” I ask, confused by his lack of knowledge on the castle’s layout.

  “I was the prince of a pompous king. Meals were served in our rooms. I can map out the main castle, and I only know where the greenhouse is because I snuck in there occasionally as a kid," he says with an embarrassed shoulder shrug.

  “No worries,” I say quickly, not meaning to embarrass him. Sometimes my mouth is faster than my brain, as Maddox likes to remind me.

  Emrick is already gazing at Bella, his shoulders tense. He’s already checked out of our conversation.

  “Alright, enough of this. I’m taking Bella to the suite. You guys found one, right?”

  “Yes, we did. It has three rooms. For us, Andras and Jacob, and Sebastian and Allura. It has a washroom and a common room. I think it was for royal visitors or something," I explain. Emrick nods sharply before stomping over to Bella and lifting her up. I have to practically run to catch up as he stalks to the door. I jog in front of him so I can lead the way, not willing to stop Emrick when he’s on a mission.

  Sebastian trails behind us with Allura in his arms. Once they’re both settled in, I return to the ballroom. I’m hoping Andras and Gerwyn get back soon so I can get to the room and relax, bathe and change clothes. I could have stayed, but Emrick was in desperate need of some alone time.

  Finally, after another hour of waiting, they return. Before they can even set anything down, I turn them around and lead them back to the room.

  “Listen, we found a suite, Bella is already there and we need to clean up and catch-up,” I explain. They don’t even bother to offer a word of protest, both looking dead on their feet.

  When we walk in, Sebastian is carrying a clean and changed Allura out of the room. She looks like an entirely different person now, beautiful and confident, though in desperate need of rest and food. Emrick immediately picks up Bella and walks into the bathroom next, all of us following quickly like she’s a magnet, drawing us to her.

  Seeing our strong mate so helpless is unnerving. She’s always been so fierce and motivated that it doesn't feel right. But I’m so fucking proud of her for surviving all she did.

  “Has she woken up at all?” Gerwyn asks, concern in his tone. Emrick shakes his head no and holds her a bit tighter than before. Maddox has the water running while Gerwyn finds some soaps and a towel. I help undress Bella as Emrick holds her. I know he won’t even consider letting her go. We all gasp at the bruising that lines her torso, arms, and legs. The king didn’t hold back on her at all, his own flesh and blood.

  “He was ruthless with that chair. It was the worst thing I have ever had to witness. I tried everything to break out of that spell to save her, but it was useless. I just had to watch him try to kill her. She was so strong though, fire in her eyes as she took it until she could finally fight back. Our girl is a warrior," Gerwyn whispers in the most haunting voice I’ve ever heard. Maddox squeezes his shoulder to comfort him and I step up to his side, shoulder to shoulder so he doesn’t have to relive that alone. I can’t imagine having to watch that scene unfold.

  Knowing words are useless, I turn my attention back to getting her clean. No one will feel better until she looks like herself again.

  “I can get in the bath with her, so you can wash her without having to worry about her slipping in?” I offer. Emrick eyes me for a second before he nods in agreement. I roll my eyes at his papa bear demeanor. I’m just as concerned as the rest of us. Just because I try to keep the mood light doesn’t mean I take her safety any less seriously.

  With a smirk, I strip off my clothes, making sure to wiggle my bare ass at the others before sinking into the amazingly warm water. The others groan at my antics but it’s not the
first time they’ve seen my ass.

  “Something isn’t right in that head of yours, brother," Maddox chuckles. Emrick hands Bella over and delicately adjusts her in my arms. He washes off the blood while growling the entire time. It’s a low rumble in his throat that I don’t even think he realizes he’s doing. But each of our faces are murderous at the sight.

  On top of the dried blood, she’s filthy thanks to her time in the dungeon. I shift her so Emrick can wash her hair and we can get out of this filthy water. After her body is properly clean, the bruising doesn't look quite as bad.

  Maddox reaches in and activates the panel, draining the water and refilling the tub with fresh water. We rinse her off before Emrick pulls her out of the tub for Maddox to dry her, all of us working in tandem. I take advantage of the fresh water and wash myself, relishing the feeling of being clean again. I’d love to soak, but we don’t have time to linger, we have to talk about this mindfuck we’ve walked into.

  After everyone is clean and fed, we gather around the tables in the common room. Gerwyn has parchment waiting and Jacob is sitting with his pencil in hand.

  “First let’s make sure we have introductions. Sebastian is Bella’s father. This is Andras and Jacob, I believe you know Bowen, Emrick, Gerwyn, and myself. Allura is her mother, she is resting too," Maddox points out each of us in turn.

  “Now let me understand this. My daughter has four mates?” Sebastian’s voice is curious and a bit incredulous. I can tell from the way he eyes us that he’s been rolling this one around his head for a bit now. “From my understanding it happened quickly, and you were strangers. Explain," he demands. I hold back laughter, because that wouldn’t help any of us. It’s just funny how quickly his fatherly instincts kicked in. Even funnier that he looks the same age as us.

  “Spirits of Faerie," Emrick grunts out. Always so eloquent. With that I lose my battle with trying to not crack up, a bark of laughter escaping.