He was dressed differently than the Fae Guard. The material wasn’t molded to his body and leather-like. The cream shirt was tucked into dark trousers. The fabric looked soft and breathable, similar to the dress Cora wore. It looked akin to cotton in the human world.
“Uh, hi?” I couldn’t help the suspicious edge to my gaze as I stared him down.
“I am Tyran. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you.” He held his hand out in a very human gesture, but my eyesight was good enough to detect the slight feline grace to his movements.
Tyran… Tyran. It sounded super familiar.
I slid my hand into his. “You were trusted by the Queen.”
His warm chocolate eyes shuttered, but not before I saw the flash of pain. “Yes. I was a close advisor.”
Guilt stung me. What was wrong with me? Of course, these people would be grieving.
“Sorry for your loss.” Feeling like a jerk, I cleared my throat, and my eyes wandered away from his. He squeezed my hand and wrapped it in both of his, long enough for me to bring my gaze back to his. There was a gentleness to him that automatically put me at ease.
“Do not worry yourself too much, my Queen,” he said gently.
“C-call me Rae.”
He smiled as if he found me funny. My pride pricked at that look, but I forced myself not to roll my eyes. “I came to see if you would like to go for a walk.”
I was stunned. It was such a simple request, and so out of the ordinary since all this crap began, that it left me speechless.
My nod answered for me. He took a step back and flourished a hand forward to wave me ahead of him. The slight suspicion that bubbled up when I initially saw him subsided.
“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up, but you had seemed to be in a coma-like sleep—”
I took a step to the side and plastered my back against the wall as I fully faced him. Waiting for me? Had he been spying on me or something? Was I going to be stuck with more crazy freaks? Maybe all Fae were like Sabine and Roark. Selfish and cruel. My heart thumped against my chest, harsh and scared, like a bird fruitlessly beating its wings in a cage.
“Have you been spying on me?” I asked tightly. He paused and tilted his head as he observed me. “Have. You. Been. Spying. On. Me.”
“No, not at all—”
“Then how did you know I was awake!”
“The sky, it finally changed.” His dark gaze went up as he surveyed the sky through the glass ceiling. “Or as much as it could.” He muttered the last part.
What the hell did he mean by that? I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I’m not explaining properly,” he muttered again. He turned to me, and his hands went up. I flinched, but he just waved them down as if talking to a scared horse. “Your emotions are mirrored by the weather. You were in a deep sleep. Cora tried waking you, but you wouldn’t come to. It’s been two weeks since you first arrived—”
“Two weeks,” I repeated with a rasp. My heart felt like it was going to flutter out of my chest. I’d missed two entire weeks. I gripped the doorknob for balance as the room whirled. That was impossible. I pinched the base of my nose as Tyran kept talking.
“We had a healing Fae check on you. He said you were in a healing stasis. The influx of Luz’s magic had an effect on your changing human body.” He cleared his throat. “It wasn’t until today that the blizzard stopped. Cora would have come, but she was otherwise engaged.” His face pinkened, and his eyes flicked to the side.
The Queen had caused the same type of snow when she was asleep, but it was because she’d lost her mate. My shoulders tensed as I realized I wasn’t too far off the mark. I looked up and found a pitying gaze fixed on me. I’d been in a damn healing stasis coma for two weeks. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Just add that little fact onto the rest of the crap pile.
“C-can I control it like she did?”
His lips pursed. “You can be trained to, yes. If you are able to control the little magic you have at your disposal, you could use it to clear the skies. That was what Luz did.”
“Crap.” I was screwed. How would I control something if I didn’t know how it worked?
Tyran eyed me, and his slight smile faded. “I wanted to personally offer my apologies at the pain you’ve endured at the hands of Sabine and Roark. We are not all like them.” He sneered slightly, eyes flicking away from me again.
I badly wanted to believe him, but it was all words. I’d come a long way from trusting anything that crossed my path. I’d never even let my father’s misdeeds change me. I yearned for the days when the only worry I had was about my next exam.
But now, I was full-on damaged.
I inhaled and offered him a nod. It was the best I could do. His answering smile was understanding. Turning on his heels, he went on as I trailed a step behind him.
“I know you are leery of my kind after what you’ve witnessed. The rebel camp Sabine and Roark built was ran differently than how Luz maintained order. Her main goal was peace and safety.” He paused. “I want to show you we are worth fighting for. Our species is slowly dying off. Since we are immortal, there have been feuding throughout Faerie between various groups that have dwindled our numbers.
