The Hunchback's Reluctant Bride ✔

BONUS 2

And what had Wyrn meant? It sounded farfetched but when Jeze started her trek once more, Rihetha found truth in Wyrn's words.

"She's been here nonstop," Matax said, sounding the gentlest Rihetha had ever heard him, "refusing to take care of me."

The final complaint had Rihetha whipping her head around to face him.

Bastard. He was serious.

"Therefore," Matax said, turning to face them both, "you are to help me put her back to normal."

Wyrn narrowed his brows. "Normal?"

"Yes. Normal. Absolutely normal."

Rihetha hazarded a guess, but praied she was wrong. "As your bedfellow?"

"Well, of course." Matax propped his hands on his hips. "Right where she belongs."

Rihetha's mouth hung open but it was Wyrn who said, "You can't."

Matax nearly fell out of the air, but he regained his ability to flutter his wings.

"And what's that mean?" he demanded.

Wyrn tightened his grip on Rihetha's hand as he watched on. "She was locked in another realm with my wings. Suppressed in darkness for days. When she left, she probably left with all feelings of happiness stripped. It took me months to fly because of that spell. Imagine what it did to an actual fae."

Rather than consider that, Matax stared at him. His jaw clenched often until he said, "We had a deal." Wyrn's gaze had him recorrecting his tone. "Your...Your Majesty, your wife and I had a deal. Help me get her back and we're done."

"There's no getting her back," Wyrn told him. "That's why she's at the forgotten lake. She's looking for that feeling again and nothing's going to give it back to her. Nothing."

Anger was written on Matax's face at first, then disappointment and Rihetha suggested, "How about getting a new bedfellow. I've heard that male fairies can. They can have several."

Matax's eyes fell to Wyrn again who dipped in the air then regained his balance.

"That was a long time ago," Wyrn insisted. His grip on Rihetha's hand tightened to the point it was painful. "I only want my wife."

Rihetha was sure to shift the focus back to Matax. "But you—"

"No," he muttered, "no. I've tried that." Puffing out his chest, he looked bolder when he boasted, "It's been four years. You don't think I've been waiting around for her to get better, have you?"

The bragging didn't match his saddened expression.

Finally, Matax turned to watch Jeze on her next pass across the water.

"Night or day, she doesn't stop. She only let me close to her once. After that, she's just cried and cried. But she'd never cried when I touched her before."

Next it was Rihetha squeezing Wyrn's hand tight for assurance.

She was still confused, however, "Why do you—why did you think we could help?"

Matax kept his back to them and said nothing for some time. When he spoke, his voice no longer held the arrogance he was known for.

"Fairy kings and fairy queens aren't like humans. They are selected to tend to the forest. The kings defend it, the queens nurture it. They are partners, but rarely lovers." He turned to face them. "And certainly never a couple."

Wyrn's discomfort made Rihetha pay attention. He'd never told her this.

"In fact," Matax went on, "they hate one another usually. All the ones I've ever met or heard of. And it's said because the first couple hated one another and it kept on that way. No one was shocked when the last queen gave her heart to a Jaffo. But no matter what lovers they took, the king still saw her as his, and he was unforgiving. Until now." Matax's brown eyes settled on Rihetha, "Until—"