So, he wasn’t my mate.
My lips pouted as I put an assortment of cupcakes on my plate. He can like me, and I can like him. People do date, but they have to know, going into it, that their mates are out there. Wouldn’t that make it messy?
I huffed and grabbed another plate.
No, I couldn’t do that. No matter how curious I was about kissing, touching and… the Hokey Pokey, I couldn’t do anything like that. It’s kinda like cheating.
I felt a nudge at my leg, and I looked down to see Simon. He let out a bleat and nudged me again.
“You got me in trouble, kid, but I made a new friend.” I shrugged my shoulders and held the two plates in my hand. Simon tilted his head in the direction of Leave, and when I turned to bring his plate, his back was to me and he was walking away.
“Leave?” I muttered and watched as he continued to walk further away.
Uncle Osirus had his lips pressed into a thin line as he followed Leave to the door. Aunt Melina came toward me instead, with a smile on her face.
“Did you make me a plate?” Her colorful wings fluttered, and I blinked back the warm tears threatening to fall.
I knew I was different. I knew being a human in the Golden Light Kingdom was rare. There were a lot of humans who lived in the Cerulean Moon Kingdom, with a parent from previous relationships, and were stuck being human while their parent changed into their mate’s designation.
But here? It was rare.
And I was the king and queen's favorite. You would think other fae, fairies and pixies would want to be my friend, but they didn’t.
I couldn’t help it that I found everything interesting and fun. I felt like I was seeing the world for the first time every day. What was the big deal, enjoying every light source rise like it was a gift? To smile when a flower bloomed and to chase after the fireflies?
At least I had Simon.
He didn’t judge me or care what species I was. He’d been there for the longest that I could remember.
The people who cared about me—my mom and dad—Uncle Osirus and Aunt Melina, I loved them to pieces, but I also knew they did too much for me. They hid me from the world and being the sensitive girl I was, I let them do it for too long.
“Uh, yeah. Here.” I handed Aunt Melina the plate, and her eyes dazzled. “This just looks delicious, and I see you have your favorite here.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
I took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on my face, trying to hide the knot of discomfort in my stomach. Even though I wasn’t starving anymore, I acted excited as Melina urged me to eat. The party was still going strong and would continue until dawn.
Melina continued to talk as we ate our food. She was excited that I had come down, and she and Osirus had broken no vows to my parents. I was here, on my own, and enjoying a party that I should have been coming to for years.
I forced a smile, refusing to glance back at Leave who had walked to the door. The pain was overwhelming, almost impossible to bear. The shattered remnants of the notion that a male, especially an orc, could feel any attraction towards me weighed heavily on my heart.
Maybe he just had to pee.
I wrinkled my nose.
Laugher grew louder over the music, and a rowdy group of orcs approached us, interrupting Melina’s long-winded story about Karma already being let out of the dungeon because of good behavior and swearing to leave me alone.
Which was fine… Karma was just…Karma.
I would get my revenge.
“She is so small. I think this one is a fairy!” One orc raised his goblet of orc ale, and it sloshed onto the floor toward me.
“Yes, I think so, too,” said another. “Her pink hair gives it away, also. I don’t think the fae could create such a beautiful color with their genetics.”
Heat flooded my face, and I suddenly stared at the floor.
“That’s enough!” A slimmer orc pushed through the crowd. He was wearing a pink tunic with ruffles going down the middle. He stood out from the rest with the bright smile he wore. “Hello. I’m Sugha, and we need to settle a debate.”
The other orcs nodded and elbowed each other in agreement.
