“Figure it out.”
Anger churned, tightening my chest. I straightened up and glared at him. “Fine. I will. Do it, then.”
With a quirk of one finely shaped brow, he shifted back into the crow, and my cheeks got hot when I made a failed grab for him in the air. I didn’t try all that hard—even though I knew it was Lonan, I didn’t want to risk hurting him. I knew how easy it was for bird wings to get damaged.
I growled in frustration as I watched him lazily fly off, not even trying to look like he was worried I’d ever catch him.
“How is this fair?” I shouted after him. “You havemagical powersand I don’t. Why am I being made to play this?”
I shoved my hair back from my face irritably and stalked forwards into the huge clearing, not wanting to just stand there like an idiot while Lonan soared through the sky as a crow.
“This is stupid,” I muttered.
I knew I was being a baby, but I hated being bested. Especially by insolent Folk prince brats who looked at me like I was a lower life form.
I looked around, taking in the long grass and little purple flowers peeking out between the blades. A light breeze carried the faint scent of lavender, and the sky marbled with pinks, blues and violets as the sun rose higher.
But I was too irritable to appreciate it.
I picked a long, feathered blade of grass and began to strip the pods from the end. “What’s even the point of this? And why do I have to do it?”
“Do you give up?”
My heart leapt into my throat at the sound of Lonan’s quiet, throaty voice directly behind me. I jumped, dropping the grass as I spun to face him.
“Jesus! Where did you even come from? I didn’t hear you.”
Lonan shrugged one shoulder, crossing his arms. “Too busy whining to yourself, maybe.”
I scowled. “I wasn’t whining.”
We looked at each other in silence for a few moments. Eventually, Lonan cleared his throat and gave another tiny, bored shrug, looking away like he couldn’t care less.
“So, are you going to try and take it? Or do you forfeit?”
My eyes automatically slid down to the black feather nestled in the hollow of his throat. My competitive spirit—the one dad said always got me in trouble when I was a kid—rose back up with a vengeance, and I shifted my body slightly, getting ready to pounce.
Lonan noticed, because his posture changed too—barely enough for me to really see how, but I knew he was ready for whatever I was about to do.
For a few seconds, neither of us moved. The breeze ruffled Lonan’s hair, making a long dark strand dance across his cheekbone. His black eyes narrowed as he watched me.
But the moment I lunged, black smoke curled up and a big black crow burst from the spot where he’d just been standing. A wing smacked me in the face as he flew across the clearing.
I growled in frustration.
“How am I supposed to eventryand get it?” I shouted after him. “You know I don’t have any magic tricks!”
My temper getting the better of me, I stalked towards the massive oak tree in the centre of the field, trailing my hand over its trunk as I circled it. Then I stopped, feeling distinctly like this was all a game designed to embarrass me—to make me remember that I was less than the Folk.
I spun on my heel and stomped back in the direction we’d come from, intent on marching all the way back to my cottage.
“Forget this,” I called back, even though he was probably too far away to hear me now.
“Fine.”
Lonan’s low, husky voice from behind me made me jump out of my skin. I gritted my teeth, vowing one day to sneak up onhimas I turned and found him lounging against the oak, one booted foot resting against the trunk and leanly muscular arms folded over his chest. Once again looking the picture of bored, brattish royalty.
I took a step towards him. “What?”