Fae Magic: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Forsaking the Fae Book 1)

by A. M. Hardin

  It’s just as beautiful as I remembered it.

  I turn back to the portal just in time to watch Celeste trip through the portal, landing flat on her face, with Maxwell right behind her. He barely manages to stop himself from tripping over her.

  Jade starts laughing and her laughter brings my own out. Celeste’s cheeks turn pink as she stands and straightens her shirt out.

  “Oh, shut up,” Celeste grumbles, making us laugh harder.

  Ezra chuckles softly, a big grin on his face as he watches us. Levi’s lips twitch as Maxwell just stares at us all, amusement glittering in his eyes, but his expression as stoic as ever.

  Jade and I finally get our laughter under control as we all turn back to the direction we need to go.

  “Welcome home, princess,” Levi murmurs, as he moves close.

  I glance up at him, meeting his gaze for a moment before turning back to the castle in the distance. “It’s not my home, Levi.”

  “It was once,” he counters softly.

  “Never was, never will be.” I meet his eyes, noting the sadness in those blue depths. “It was just the place that I lived. I found my home on Earth. I don’t belong here. Never have.”

  Levi studies me for a very long moment before nodding once, his expression still a little sad. “I understand.”

  “Shall we go see these people that treated our girl so badly?” Celeste asks, a dark undertone to her voice.

  I glance over my shoulder at her and see the guards all frowning at her. “I know you guys want to protect me,” I tell Jade and Celeste, “but you guys need to let me handle everything that happens here.”

  They glare at me. “Why?” Jade asks coldly. “They should pay for what they did.”

  I smile sadly. “It’s just the way things are done, Jade. I’ll handle it. You guys have taught me so much and you know that they won’t be able to get away with that shit anymore.”

  They both grin wickedly, and all three guards’ eyebrows raise as they look from them to me. “We got it,” Celeste says with a smirk. “If you need us, you only need to ask.”

  I grin at them. “Let’s get this over with. The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can go home.”

  “You got that right,” Jade says happily as she skips to my side, threading her arm through mine. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to see their snippy and snooty ass expressions when Celeste and I come waltzing in with their princess.” I look to see a wicked, excited gleam in Jade’s eyes and I automatically know that I’ll see the same if I look in Celeste’s eyes.

  Gods, I love my friends.

  * * *

  I fight the urge to fidget as we are brought into the castle that I left so long ago. Several maids and guards are staring and it’s really fraying my nerves. As if she senses that, Jade’s hand squeezes mine reassuringly and I shoot her a grateful smile.

  Our feet echo around us as we walk inside, and I take a moment to take in the familiar entryway in front of me. The hallway straight ahead and two halls to the side. There are two giant staircases that surround the hallway ahead of us leading upstairs. Everything’s white and shining. There are a mixture of torches, candles, and regular electric lamps all against the walls, strategically placed so that it doesn’t look trashy. The chandelier above us is new though.

  Faerie has all the electric shit that Earth does, but it’s so much more restrictive in Faerie. There isn’t TV. There are phones, but only royals and guards can have them. Even though I am technically, a royal, I was never allowed to have a phone. Not that I needed one. My only friend was Levi and when I made another connection to someone other than him...well, let’s just say that they paid dearly for that.

  A guard steps into our path, drawing our attention. He bows his head a little, his long black hair starting to fall in his face. He straightens and gives a welcoming smile to me and my new guards, but his smile falters slightly when his eyes go to Jade and Celeste. “Welcome home, your highness.” His eyes flick to Eli. “Captain.” He turns his attention back onto me. “Princess, the king and queen have been expecting you. They’re waiting in the drawing room, eager for your return.”

  I’m sure they are.

  I smile at him, trying my hardest to make it not look as bitter as I’m feeling. “Great,” I drawl, unable to keep the sarcasm from my voice.

  Jade and Celeste chuckle but quickly stifle the sound when the guard and a few others that are gathered around glare at them.

  A tic in the guards’ cheek is noticeable as he forces himself to stop glaring at my friends. It’s honestly hard not to laugh at this point. However, his next words take all the amusement out of me. “They want to see you alone, highness. Of course, your guards are welcome, but we will show your friends to their rooms.”

  A growl from Jade brings everyone’s gazes back to her. “Like. Fucking. Hell. They. Will,” she bites out.

  “I beg your pardon?” The guard stares at her, stunned.

  “You can beg all you want, big boy,” Celeste says, throwing him a wink and a seductive smile, even though I know she’s not attracted to the guy, she just likes trolling people that piss her off. “However, we will still be going with her.”

  He sputters for a minute, making me laugh. I move around the guard, the others following close behind. Lifting a hand and waving to the crowd behind us I say loud enough for the entire room to hear, “Don’t worry about it. They’ll behave.”

  Jade snorts. “We’ll try.”

  I snicker. “You will. You can come but don’t speak, please. Either of you,” I say, my eyes going to each of them.

  Celeste sighs. “Fine. We’ll behave around your parents.”

  I smirk, knowing the giant ass loophole she gave them. They’ll behave around my parents, but bets are off around all others.

  Chapter Six

  Crystal

  As we approach my parents’ drawing room, my heart slams in my chest and my mouth goes dry from nerves.

  Licking my lips and desperate for a distraction, I glance at my friends beside me. “What do you think? Should we knock first?”

  Jade smirks evilly. “Hell no. You go in there like you own this place. They don’t own you, Crystal. You need to show their ‘holier than thou’ asses that.”

  “Crystal,” Levi says, a warning note in his voice. “That is not wise.”

  I sigh. “You’re no fun, Levi.”

  Jade growls under her breath. “They don’t deserve any type of curtesy from Crystal after the way they treated her.”

  Levi sighs. “I don’t disagree with that, but the fact is that they are the king and queen, as well as her parents. To behave otherwise, it’ll come back to bite Crystal in the ass.”

  Jade opens her mouth, most likely to continue arguing, but stops when Celeste places a hand on her shoulder. “He’s right, Jade. While we’re here, we need to play as nice as we can. We can’t support Crystal if we are sent back home.”

  “Yeah,” Jade concedes, “but—”

  “Jade,” I interrupt. “It’s fine.” She calmed me down and that was exactly what I needed. A distraction from my nerves of seeing my family for the first time in years.

  Two guards are standing on either side of the door. Both of them are familiar, but I really only know the female’s name. I frown. “That’s new,” I mutter to myself.

  “It’s a precaution,” Ezra explains, drawing my attention away from the sneers the guards are throwing my way.

  That’s not at all surprising. My parents’ and sisters’ guards all looked down on me when I was last here. And, I’m sure there are several people who are pissed at the disappearing act I pulled.

  “Princess Crystal to see the king and queen,” Levi says, his voice flat and to the point.

  The female guard runs her eyes over our group for a moment before speaking. “The princess and her new guard are all that are permitted to enter, Captain. They—” she sneers the word, “—need to wait out here.”

  I roll my eyes. “They come with
me, Shanna.”

  Shanna’s sharp eyes meet mine, anger and bitterness shining through, though I can tell she’s trying to hide it. “No. They don’t. They are to wait outside the office.”

  I smirk. “I don’t care. They are here for me. Either they come in too, or I leave, and we go back home.” I look to Celeste and Jade, shrugging. “Honestly, I’d rather go home, anyway.”

  “This is your home, your highness,” Shanna snaps.

  I sigh tiredly. “This is pointless.” I glare at her. “Open the damn door, Shanna. You really don’t want me to go through you.”

  She snickers. “I’d like to see you try.”

  Bursts of laughter peel out of Jade and Celeste as soon as those words leave Shanna’s mouth. Levi, Ezra, Maxwell, Shanna, and the other guard, whose name I can’t recall, look confused as they look between my two friends

  Indignant anger quickly rises on Shanna’s face. In a heartbeat, a gust of wind surges around us. Guess she plans on showing us her powers to get us to back down.

  “Shanna! Enough!” Levi barks, sounding angry.

  She ignores him, letting the wind whip our hair and our clothes around our bodies and into our faces. She continues assaulting us with the wind growing stronger with each passing second.

  “Don’t bother, Levi,” I tell him simply, needing to shout to be heard over the wind.

  Shanna takes a threatening step forward, coming in close to my friends who are still laughing their asses off. Fucking hyenas, they are.

  Shanna continues moving and not liking how close she is to my girls, I move. In the blink of an eye, I’m standing between her and my friends, my hand wrapped tightly around her throat. Shanna gasps, her hand going to my wrist in a pitiful attempt to pull my hand away.

  “I fucking warned you,” I growl before pushing her backward.

  The wind ends abruptly as she flies back into the door she’s supposed to be guarding. The door crashes to the floor with Shanna laying limply on top, groaning softly.

  All guards in the hall stare at me, completely stupefied, while my friends finally gain control of themselves, wiping the tears from their eyes and gasping for the breath they lost while laughing.

  “What is the meaning of this?!” my father’s voice booms.

  I roll my eyes at the male guard as he continues to stare at me, eyes wide, mouth gaped open. “I told her to let us pass,” I answer as I enter the drawing room, stepping over the door and Shanna. My companions follow close behind me. “She wouldn’t. So, I made her.”

  My parents stay quiet, which is actually a first. I’ve never surprised them this way.

  My mother is beautiful with long white hair. Her hair is currently in some fancy up-do that allows her to wear her crown. She’d be even more beautiful if she were to truly smile and if she didn’t have the ugliness inside her that can make even the meanest motherfucker in the room shrink away.

  My father stares at me with the same eyes as mine, his blonde hair cut short and his expression filled with distaste as he takes me in.

  Sick of the silence, I speak first. “Hello, mother. Father.”

  My dad glares at me as my mother blinks, as if coming out of a trance. It doesn’t take longer than a heartbeat for her judgmental eyes to burn through me as she studies me from head to toe.

  “You’ve gotten fat,” she says with a haughty sniff.

  I bite my tongue to keep from saying anything negative the way I would absolutely love to. The sharp intakes of breath I hear are coming from more than just my friends. In effort to ignore our audience, and the words my mother spoke, I simply say, “Yes, mother. It’s wonderful to see you as well.”

  My mother rolls her eyes and sighs heavily, her gaze falling on her fallen guard. “I find it hard to believe that a little lamb such as yourself could have taken out Shanna.”

  I snicker. “I’ve taken her out before, remember? And that was without magic.”

  My mother purses her lips as she thinks about that. “I suppose. In any case, welcome home, Crystal. Rita will be delighted to see you.”

  What an outright lie. My sister will be pissed to learn that I’ve come back.

  “With all due respect, this is not my home.”

  My father finally speaks. “It is very much your home, Crystal. You won’t be returning to the human world. We won’t have it.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “What do you mean, ‘you won’t have it’? I’m only here because Levi said that mother was sick.” I glance at her with an eyebrow raised. “Unsurprisingly, mother, you don’t look ill at all.”

  She shrugs daintily. “I had to do some acting to make it somewhat believable in order to convince Levi to bring you back to us.” She glares at the guard behind me. “He refused when he was simply asked, then flat out denied any knowledge of your whereabouts when ordered to bring you home.”

  Levi steps beside me, his arm across his chest, his hand in a fist as he bows his head “Your majesty, the princess had moved several times since last I knew of her whereabouts. I did not lie, nor did I mislead you.”

  She waves that away. “In any case, I’m certain that you, at the very least, kept some type of watch out for my daughter. What I am concerned about however, is the fact that we have two banished dark fae in our home. I trust you have a good explanation for that, Captain. Or did we, perhaps, misjudge you when we chose you to become Captain of the royal guard?”

  Levi goes to speak, but I hold my hand up, stopping him. “Don’t blame, Levi, mother. I refused to come without them.”

  My father raises an eyebrow at that. “And why have you brought them here? They certainly aren’t doing you any favors.”

  I grind my teeth but do my best to keep my composure. “I assure you, father, they have done me many favors. They taught me how to use my magic, they taught me how to live in the human world. Without them, I would most likely have died long before now.”

  “Hmm,” my mother hums, not looking impressed. I’m pretty sure she’d have preferred for Jade and Celeste to leave me to rot, but, then, she can’t outright say that. I’m sure my friends can see that too because I can hear Celeste telling Jade in a barely audible voice to calm the hell down.

  My father continues as though I haven’t said a word. “You should have come home long before now. Six years is too long, Crystal. This is your home. You shouldn’t have left to begin with. Creeping out like a thief in the night. That is not something that your mother or I taught you.”

  I bite the inside of my cheek, seeking the right words to respond. “I felt that I would grow and prosper more, if I were to leave. There was no one to teach me how to use my magic, because I didn’t have the same type of magic you or mother have, and no one was to know of my magic. So, I sought help in the human world in hopes of gaining control.”

  “Hm, yes, that does make sense. In any case, your mother and I have some more things to attend to. We will see you at dinner in two hours. I trust you’ll be dressed appropriately.”

  Yeah, no. I’m not wearing a damn dress just to eat dinner. That’s going a bit far. Parties and going out? Sure. Just for dinner? No.

  “I will see you at dinner,” I respond politely, bowing my head slightly, careful not to say anything in response to being dressed appropriately.

  “You will do well to heed your father on your wardrobe, Crystal. After all, you don’t want to look like a beggar now, do you?”

  “I’ll see you at dinner,” I repeat, smiling sweetly.

  My mother glares at me but before she can say anything I’m already walking out of their office, leading the others away from my parents as quickly as I can without looking like I’m running away.

  Chapter Seven

  Maxwell

  Levi groans as we walk into the princess’s room. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.

  Running a brush through her blonde hair, Crystal stands in front of the vanity in a pair of skinny jeans with rips strategically placed throughout—there’s a slice pla
ced at the curve of her ass and thigh on both legs. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it—and a t-shirt that cuts off above her bellybutton, showcasing the shimmering diamond fairy dangling there.

  “Damn it, Crystal,” Levi practically shouts, sounding annoyed. “I should have known you’d pull some shit like this when you didn’t comment on what your parents wanted you to wear.”

  Shocking me, Crystal doesn’t raise her voice back at him. Instead, she simple stares at him, looking bored as she continues to brush her hair. “Are you done?”

  Levi’s teeth grind audibly, and Ezra and I exchange an amused glance. Levi seriously looks like he’s about to lose his mind. In all the years I’ve known him, Levi has never been as flustered or as exasperated as the last two days around Crystal. It’s kind of funny to see.

  Levi growls. “You’re not being cute right now, Crystal.”

  I can’t stop the chuckle from escaping when Crystal’s lip curl in a seductive smile. She slowly walks to Levi and pokes him on his nose. “I am very cute. You’re just butthurt that I’m not the same, docile little bird I used to be.”

  Levi takes a step back, a scowl on his face. “I am not butthurt that you’ve grown up, Crystal. You’re not a child. However, dressing to piss off your parents is childish.”

  Crystal laughs humorlessly, an almost bitter look on her face. “I don’t dress like this to piss my parents off, Levi.” She motions to her body, drawing my attention to the delectable curves she possesses. I force my gaze back up to her face because I know if I look too long, the affect her sensual body has on me will be all too noticeable. Glancing to the side, I notice Ezra gazing at the ceiling, as if he can’t even look at her right now. Maybe I’m not alone in that.

  “I dress like this because it makes me feel good. It makes me happy. I don’t wear the kind of dresses my parents forced me to wear when I was younger if I can avoid it. I’ll do as my mother asks when it’s a party or ball or whatever, but not for a damn dinner.”