“I’ll be down momentarily,” she called back.
She wondered if they would be able to tell what she’d done. She hoped not. She imagined how awkward things would be with Orion. How would she ever look him in the eyes again if he found out she had sex with Henry?
She hurried out and down the steps, careful to not let anyone see Henry in her room. She instructed him to leave moments behind her at her signal. They entered the foyer together but kept a good distance between them.
“Hello, Jacob,” she said. She didn’t realize her face was flushed and there was a large hickey on the side of her neck from Henry’s crazed kissing. Freya watched as Jacob’s eyes darted from herself to Henry. He snorted and averted his eyes, careful to not let them know he knew anything, but it was obvious.
“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out.”
She seemed confused. “What do you mean?”
“You know, do something together. Do you have a TV?”
“Yes, we have TVs,” she chuckled. “We have most of the items you have in the human world.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure with the way you were dressed in the gown before,” he said. “It seemed like you were out of date.”
She threw her head back and laughed loudly. “Out of date? Like a stale loaf of bread?”
He chuckled and nodded. “Exactly like that.”
She shook her head at his nonsense and motioned for him to follow her. “Come, I’ll show you the sitting room.”
The room was large and homey. Two huge couches lined the walls, and an oversized chair was positioned between them. A long TV was mounted to the wall and hundreds of DVDs were stacked underneath.
“Whoa.” Jacob stood in amazement, then hurried forward to check out the movies available. He picked one, an action movie, and popped it in the DVD player. “Sit with me?” he asked Freya.
She nodded. Sitting on the edge of the couch and patting the space beside her for him. Henry took the chair. She wasn’t sure what to think of Jacob yet, but she knew the feelings she had for Henry would probably soon surface for Jacob. She wasn’t sure how she would handle them. How was it possible to feel this deeply for more than one person? She didn’t know, but the more she was around them, the more she wanted to be around them.
The movie started and Henry killed the lights so they could all see it better. Freya rested her hands on her legs and head on a pillow. Jacob was close to her, but not too close. She could feel the body heat radiating off of him. He was close enough to touch. Why did she want to touch him? She’d only had sex with Henry moments ago.
Jacob watched Freya from the corner of his eye. Her long brown locks lay in curls around her shoulders and her eyes shone in the light from the TV. He was truly enamored with her. He didn’t like to show his insecurities, but he saw the way her eyes studied Henry. Saw the way Henry looked at her. He wasn’t entirely sure what this mark meant, but it was clear they were attracted to each other.
9
Once the movie was over, Jacob asked Henry for a few moments. He had to know what this mark meant, and it had been days now. Was he meant to be with this woman too?
“Yes?” Henry asked.
“I was wondering if you could explain this mark to me.”
He nodded. “Ah. Yes. Orion didn’t, then?”
Jacob shook his head. “No, and I’m confused. You and Freya seem like a thing. I’m not sure how I fit in this equation.”
Henry motioned for Jacob to sit down on the couch. He sat beside him, twisting his hands together. “It’s complicated. The mark means you are meant for one another, but it doesn’t always mean in a romantic way. It could mean you are meant to protect Freya from Rulissa, or you have some other important role in her life. It’s hard to tell. Freya will tell you if she has feelings for you but be warned she does not want to.”
Perplexed, he asked, “How can we both be meant for her?”
Henry chuckled. “It is not just us. There are four. One from each season and affinity. You are of Earth and Summer. I am of Fire and Winter.”
“Whoa! Whoa. Four? Where are the other two?”
Henry shrugged. “They haven’t found Freya yet.”
The days passed and Freya and Jacob spent time getting to know each other. He was eager to know everything about the princess while she was curious about the mortal realm. It was easy conversation. She spent her days with Jacob and nights with Henry. It was a good setup in her eyes.
The fire in her room crackled and spit sparks as it came to life. Lena’s voice carried through the room. “Freya. Sil wants to speak to you.”
Silvia was of Earth and Summer, so it was easy for her to jump in on the fire conversations. She was the most talented of them all, able to use all affinities as they were all tied to earth. Silvia spoke next. “Sweet sister, will you come and visit me soon?”
Freya stirred and peeled herself from under Henry’s weight. “What, hold on, I was sleeping.”
“This late?” Lena asked. “What in the world?”
Freya glanced at Henry, seeing his open eye as he surveyed the situation. Placing a finger to her lips, she signaled for him to stay quiet. She didn’t need to be teased by her little sisters in this moment.
She grabbed her robe and sat in front of the fire. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she looked at Silvia and Lena with curiosity. “Now what was it?”
“Something is up,” Silvia said. “Tell me.”
She heard Henry slip from the bed and put his clothes on. He silently left the room, leaving her alone with her sisters. “Nothing.” She was a terrible liar.
“Is it Henry?” Lena asked.
“Who is Henry?” Silvia asked. Freya hadn’t spoken to her sister in forever, so she didn’t know she’d mated twice now. Lena only knew of Henry.
“He’s my mate. I have another, too. Jacob.” She said each word with carefulness. She didn’t want to alert them to anything else happening.
“You mated?!” Silvia screeched. “You didn’t tell me!”
“I’ve been busy. I was attacked by Rulissa in the mortal realm, and we had to train Jacob.”
“You went to the mortal realm!” Silvia screeched again. Her mind was blown by the information being provided to her in this conversation.
Freya crossed her legs and grabbed the blanket from the bed. She knew this was going to be a very long conversation now. “Yes, we had to find Jacob after I felt the pull to him.”
“You’re the first of us to be mated.”
“I know.”
“How does it feel?” Silvia asked.
“It’s weird. I have a lot of feelings. Confusing and overwhelming urges. I don’t know what to do with them.” She hadn’t admitted this to anyone, and it felt good to get it off her chest.
“What kind of confusing feelings?” Lena teased. “Do you like them?” She stretched out the word dramatically.
“Shut up,” she giggled. “You are so immature.”
“I’m twenty-one. What do you expect?”
“I know you are. I hope you don’t find your mate anytime soon. I don’t want you to feel these things.” Or jump in bed with anyone, she thought. “But yeah, I kind of have feelings for Henry. And I’m getting to know Jacob. He’s really funny.”
“What does he look like?” Lena asked.
“What do they both look like?” Silvia asked.
She described both men to her sisters and they replied with oohs and ahhs. She was proud of the reaction, knowing she had two attractive men who were mated to her. For life. She got to gaze at their handsome faces for the rest of her life.
“Did you sleep with either of them?” Silvia asked. She was a middle sister, just under Freya at age twenty-three. She had to find her frollick soon or she would be cursed to forever spring.
“Sil!” Freya screamed. “What the hell?”
“What? I want to know,” she laughed. “Come on. I think you have cause you haven’t said no.”
Freya rolled her eyes. Th
ey could see the outline of her in the fire, but she doubted the connection was good enough to see her facial expressions. “I mean...maybe. With one of them.”
“I knew it!” Silvia said excitedly. “Which one? I think it’s Henry.”
Was she a psychic now? “Yes, okay, yes.” Freya was getting nervous talking about this. It made her uncomfortable. She felt like what they did together was between them and she didn’t want to share.
“I won’t ask for details because I know I won’t get them,” Silvia sighed. “Can you at least tell me if it was any good?”
How did one define good sex anyways? She had nothing to compare it to. “Yeah, whatever, Sil. It was.”
She giggled and Freya heard her clapping her hands in the background. “Who wanted me to visit and why?”
Silvia made a noise of excitement and started talking really fast. “It was me. I want you to come visit because you have been in Winter too long and I miss you, but now I know you have mated, I want to meet them. So, will you please come visit your sister soon? Like next week?”
Freya thought about what they had to do and figured they could work on Jacob’s training anywhere. “Okay. We can do that. I’ll see you next week.”
Silvia clapped again and they said their goodbyes. Freya had to break it to Jacob and Henry they were meeting her sister next week. They had no idea what they were in for.
“She can’t be that bad,” Henry chuckled. “Siblings are pests, but we love them for a reason.”
“She might ask about our sex,” Freya said. “She wanted details.”
Henry choked on his water and coughed a few times. Freya beat on his back when it went on too long and couldn’t help but laugh. She’d got him with that one.
“I won’t answer any of those questions.”
“I wouldn’t either,” Freya told him. “She’s nosy.”
“I see.” Henry nodded and then stopped. “What if she asks in front of Jacob? Do you think it will make him uncomfortable?”
Shit. She hadn’t thought about that particular situation. “Yeah, it makes me uncomfortable.”
“We should tell him.”
“Tell him what?” she asked. “It’s not really any of his business. And he shouldn’t care.”
Henry shook his head. “No. He’s not like us. He wasn’t raised with this, Freya. He was raised in the mortal realm and everything is different there. Multiple mates are not acceptable there.”
“It isn’t?” she asked. She hadn’t realized it wasn’t something common everywhere.
“It’s done, but not often and it’s not taken well when it is. Most people are very judgmental and rude to people with multiple mates.”
“Do you think he will care?”
“I don’t know. I believe he has feelings for you. Or is developing them,” Henry admitted. “But I already told him you did not have to return the feelings in this mating.”
She smiled, remembering the conversation after the movie. “I know. I was listening.”
His mouth dropped open. “You little sneak.”
She grinned. “Yeah, so?”
He laughed at her and pulled her to him, kissing her on the forehead. “I forgive you.”
“Oh, good. I was so worried,” she teased.
“I bet you were,” he chuckled. “We should tell him.” His voice was gentle.
“Okay. I’ll talk to him today. See what he’s feeling.”
“Good,” he said, rubbing his hand across her back. “I’ll leave you to it.”
She didn’t know what Henry did most of the day. He disappeared with Orion more days than not, and she wondered if they were planning fights with Rulissa. She knew they both worried for her safety.
Freya grabbed her jacket, though the cold didn’t really bother her much, but it kept her dry, and went to find Jacob. She wasn’t sure what she would say to him but hoped it wasn’t an awkward conversation.
10
“Jacob!” she called as she ran across the courtyard to him. He was sweaty from practicing his magic and reached for a water bottle on the ground.
“Freya,” he smiled. “What are you doing here?” He took a swig of water and swallowed. She couldn’t help but watch him, his handsome face so focused from training he had lines across his forehead. He may have been thrown into the fae world, but it welcomed him, and he was thriving.
“I thought we could practice using our magic together.” She decided in the moment to practice with him and hoped he would go for it. It would make talking to him much easier if they had something else to focus on.
“Okay!” he said excitedly. His blue eyes danced under the sunlight and he rubbed his hands together in delight. “Let’s go.”
She chuckled and lifted her palm, faced it forward, and shot a stream of water. It instantly turned to ice she then shaped into a fountain. Within minutes, the fountain was large and daunting as it loomed over them. She grinned and stopped, stepping back to stand behind Jacob. “I want you to make the earth swallow it.”
He gulped and stared at her wide-eyed. “You what?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
He wasn’t sure how to do this but felt confident he could figure it out. He pulled on his magic, feeling it swirl in the depths of his belly and brought it forward. Holding his hands out before him, he called to the earth, bending it to his will. The power sparked and shot from his palms, creating a crack in the earth beneath the fountain. It opened wider and wider until the fountain fell to the core and the earth stood parted before them.
Jacob sweated and struggled with the power. He turned to Freya and screamed, “I have no control!”
The wind howled around them and she pulled her hair from her face. “Yes, you do,” she yelled back. “Reign it in. Pull it back to you. Pull it back in you.”
He struggled but nodded in response. He pulled it back, like a string coming toward him slowly. The magic bucked against him and rumbled the ground in response. Freya swayed on her feet, struggling to keep her balance. Jacob called it again, more forcefully this time, and it gave. Slowly and deliberately, the magic flowed back into his body and closed the earth behind it.
Freya sighed. “That was awesome!”
He balked and stepped back. “Are you crazy? You could have gotten hurt or died!”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No. I trust you. You had it. You used so much it felt out of control.” She placed her hand on his arm, feeling a swarm of butterflies in her belly at the touch. She closed her eyes, realizing every ounce of her felt for him as she did Henry. The feelings were automatic and there, whether she wanted them or not.
“Let’s sit,” she said, guiding him to the steps behind them. They sat and breathed heavily as the emotions and excitement from the past few minutes swirled through them. Jacob was worried, it was evident, and she was sad he felt that way. He needed to feel confident in his magic and hoped he would soon feel like it was a natural part of him like she did.
Her magic was a part of her. Always there, always stirring. She didn’t have to call it as it was always ready, she simply had to tell it what to do.
“So did you want to practice?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, and talk.”
“About what?”
“I know Henry talked to you about the frollick. I was wondering if you had any questions I could answer.”
He pondered her question and appeared uncomfortable. “I dunno.”
“It’s okay. You can ask anything. I know it’s confusing for you. I didn’t realize this wasn’t the norm in the mortal realm.”
“Definitely not the norm,” he laughed. “You can go to jail for it.”
“What!?” She was shocked and appalled.
“Yeah, being married to more than one person is a jailable offense. I guess people can date more than one, but it can’t be a marriage.”
“So, no ceremonies?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“Well, I wanted you to know I have dev
eloped strong feelings for Henry. And I am beginning to feel those for you.”
He glanced down at his shoes and kicked at the snow on the step below them. “Really?”
She nodded but didn’t say anything. She wanted him to take in what she’d revealed.
“What do you mean? You want to date me too?”
She giggled. “I’m not dating anyone. We are mated for life. I simply have feelings for you. We can explore them or not, it’s up to you at this point. I’m unsure of how to navigate having feelings for one person, much less two. So, it’s a learning experience for me too.”
“I get jealous sometimes,” he admitted. “When I hear you and Henry in the hall on the way to your room.”
She could understand why he would feel that way and said so.
“I don’t like it,” he told her.
“Well, maybe we can spend more time together.”
His face lit up and he smiled. His smile was beautiful and tugged at her heart. “Really?”
“Yeah, why don’t we hang out tonight?”
He agreed, but stated he needed to shower the day away.
She entered the castle, parting ways with Jacob as he went to clean himself and wandered off in search of Henry.
“Henry!” she called when she found him. “Can we chat?” She hoped he wouldn’t feel jealous too. She didn’t know how to handle jealousy among men. Hell, she didn’t know how to handle men in general.
“Yes, of course. What is it?”
“I’m going to be hanging out with Jacob tonight,” she told him. “He needs some one-on-one time with me I believe. He says he feels jealous, so can you find something to do?”
“Of course, Princess. I will watch a movie in my room.” He didn’t sound jealous when he said it, but she worried.
She patted his arm and left the room, making her way to the sitting room. There, she found a pitcher of water and used it to contact her sister, Silvia. Waving her fingers over the liquid, she called out to the closest liquid to Silvia, a pool, and sent a message. “We will see you within the next three days. Remember, we cannot stay long.”
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