The Fated Fire Princess

Not the Physical Kind

Nell’s POV

“Can you tell me more about Kenton Crowley?”

Our daughter’s words cut me like a knife. My insides clench as tightly as my fingers when I hear her question, and I turn to look at Milo, eyes wide and afraid. He told me, of course, about his little visit with Kenton; he tells me everything.

But I didn’t expect Kenton to come to Harper.

“Did he come to you?” Milo asks her sharply. I reach out a hand to calm him—partially because we don’t know what Kenton did or didn’t say to her yet, and partially because Jack is here, too, and we have to be very careful with our words.

“Not exactly.” Harper glances sideways at Jack, frowning. “It could be anyone, really. We’ve just both noticed… well, it’s sort of been like someone’s… watching us. Blue eyes; blond hair. I remembered that image of him from the Museum, and today we went back, and, sure enough, it looked a lot like him.”

Better than I feared, I suppose. He didn’t actually approach her. Still, not good. “You should stay away from him, Harp,” I warn. “He’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous, how?” asks Jack, who sounds more concerned than curious. Not fearful, though—at least, not for himself. 

I part my lips to answer him, but I can’t quite find the words. Before I can try, Harper speaks again. “Effie says Aunt Sadie was in love with him… and that he was in love with you.”

I bite my lip, glancing at Milo to let him take over.

“Effie’s right, for a change,” Milo jokes weakly. “But it wasn’t quite that simple. Kenton did love your mother, but he also loved his queen—Queen Ava, who was nearly as corrupt and cruel as my father in the end. Kenton wasn’t in love with Ava, but he was fiercely loyal to her. Some of the things he did under her command… Well, they were bad things. Bad for your mother.”

She looks confused. “Did he hurt you?” she asks me.

I sigh. How am I supposed to explain it? Any of it? “Not physically, but he did many things to serve his greater purpose—things that were bad for me emotionally and bad for our world as a whole. He tried to keep me and your father apart—convinced him that the best thing for both of us was for him to leave. He even… Well, we found out later that he was slipping me moon tea—trying to keep me from becoming pregnant, without my consent.”

It’s hard to tell who looks more baffled, Harper or Jack. Jack is the first to speak. “Where is he now? That is, you know—assuming he’s not lurking somewhere in our backyards?”

“Last I checked, he and his brother Benji settled into Prague. They reached out to us about moving here, but…” I trail off, not wanting to say too much. I can tell from Milo’s expression that he thinks it’s the right call.

“I get it,” Harper says, to my surprise. “I wouldn’t want a guy anywhere near me after he tried to control my ovaries without my permission.”

I can’t help but heave a sigh of relief.

“Do you think it’s possible he’s the one watching us, though?” Jack asks me. “That he’s still so in love with you after all this time, he’s watching your daughter?”

This is where it becomes a whole lot harder to be honest with them.

“We’ll put out some cameras,” Milo says, swooping in to save me, as usual. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions without gathering more information. In the meantime, try not to worry. Kenton was always problematic, but he was never truly dangerous. If he is lurking, we have no reason to believe he means you harm.”

At least, not the physical kind, I think as a lump forms in my throat.

- - - - -

“Are you sure about this?”

Harper and Jack are gone—we sent them off to Lana and Ace’s to hang out with Effie while we attempt to come up with some sort of plan for handling this new hurdle.

My idea, of course, was to go confront Kenton directly. We know where he lives; the Farnethia HQ has almost all the addresses of Farnethians on file, especially ones as prominent as Kenton Crowley. 

“I don’t see what choice we have,” I tell my husband. “If he’s lurking around here after having spoken with you, it must mean he’s devising a plan to tell her the truth. Right? So we have to stop him.”

He nods, but he looks reluctant. “We have to at least try, I agree. But even if we think we’ve convinced him, will we really be sure? Would it not be better to just… tell her?”

I bite my lip again. It would, of course. It’s the smart thing to do. 

And yet…

“I really wanted her to have that last year,” I can’t help but admit. “It’s already been nearly two months since her sixteenth birthday. The time flies so quickly… Can we really take away those last ten months of freedom from her?”

If he were to say yes—if he were to push that we have to tell her—I’d concede.

But he doesn’t want the weight of the world on our daughter’s shoulders any more than I do.

“You’re right,” he says. “Let’s go.”

So I take his hand, and we teleport to Prague.