Freed (Imprisoned by the Fae 3)

A nonchalant shrug. “He was a soldier. A favorite of the Fae Queen until his own needs outweighed his loyalty to Melisandre. The soothsayer earned her death, though he didn’t realize his mistake until much later.”

His mistake?

I’m suddenly reminded of something Helix said. How something was foretold about Rys, and how Rys later admitted that he’d been touched by a soothsayer.

And you know what? That sounded like a prophecy to me.

Rys’s?

I have to know. “That woman… what was she talking about?”

“A prophecy,” Saxon confirms. “Especially for Rysdan. It was about his mate. His ffrindau.”

My stomach goes tight.

Surrounded by sunshine and sky… I’m a natural blonde, with dark blue eyes, and let’s not forget the teal streaks in my hair. Yellow sunshine and blue sky? It’s a reach.

Painted skin, and a thread of daisies… Um. I’ve got an elaborate daisy chain tattooed on my side, from boob to hip. And Rys always seemed entranced by it whenever he saw me naked.

Freed by a lie… Well, that doesn’t sound so great.

Even so—

“Me?”

“He met the human he thought would be his mate when she was very young. She had blonde hair. Blue eyes.” He gives me a pointed look. Yes, Saxon. I’ve got a mirror. I know what I look like. “She had human blood. She fit the prophecy, especially when Rysdan was unable to charm her. She refused him again and again, eventually choosing another mate.”

“I know about all that,” I admit. “He told me about her.”

“Did he also tell you that she ended up with her ffrindau? She was never meant to be Rysdan’s. No matter what, she was fated to be with someone else. Just like he was fated to claim you.”

“But he didn’t.”

Saxon makes a non-committal sound. Could be yes. Could be no.

Okay. What does that mean?

“Rysdan has always been the most stubborn of us all. He pursued the other human because he wanted to prove that fate didn’t have control of him. Especially since the last few lines of the prophecy were lost when he killed the soothsayer before she finished it. He went after the human, knowing deep down that she wouldn’t accept him, because enough of the prophecy made it clear that he’d never have her. That, if she really was his, he was cursed to lose her regardless. Still, he was loyal to her until the end, though he shouldn’t have been.” Saxon looks at me, an unreadable expression on his wan face. “Do you understand?”

“Saxon, I…” Why is he telling me this? It’s bad enough that I want Rys and can’t have him. Now that Jim’s here, I know it’s impossible. Does he really need to rub salt in the wound like this by bringing up that other woman? “I don’t want to talk about this.”

He doesn’t seem to care. “Rysdan was loyal to a woman who wasn’t the Fae Queen. When Melisandre figured out that he was compromised, she threw him in prison.” He pauses for a beat. “Where he met you, Elle. Where fate led him to his true soul mate.”

You know, I always wondered how Rys ended up in Siúcra. I guess I never thought I’d find out from Saxon.

“But I’m not his soul mate,” I argue. I have to cling to that because, if I don’t, I’ll only hope for something I know I can’t have.

If that strange recording is right, then I really can’t have him.

Cursed to love, cursed to lose…

Yeah. That’s about right.

“So says the prophecy,” Saxon agrees solemnly, almost as if he’s reading my mind. “Now, ask yourself why he used the last of my debt to him to bring your human here.”

What does that have to do with anything? “He said it was a gift.”

“And I told you that it’s my way to make amends. Both of those can be true. But ask yourself this then: if he knows that his mate is prophesied to choose another, what does he expect to happen now that you have a choice?”