Page 13 of The Autumn Prince

No, stop that. I knew why. And it was the right thing to do.

I cleared my throat and closed the book. “Well, since you’ve learned that lesson, why don’t we find somewhere to have lunch?”

He didn’t answer, but I got up and went around to untie him anyway. I was still on my knees with the loosened rope in my hands when he flew away.

Yeah, I probably should’ve anticipated that.

I didn’t race back to the castle to try and snatch Incendis again. He’d heard me and agreed. Whether he could stay away and let his people do their work was up to him. I was confident that he wouldn’t be able to walk in there without now seeing that they didn’t need him checking on them every twenty minutes.

Instead of going back, I explored the village some more. Maybe there were clues to breaking the curse out here amongst the people. I was willing to find out, even if a certain fiery fae wasn’t.

I started at a bakery because of course I had to after reading that book. And I felt a little like I was in the book since this place looked like what I’d imagined while reading. There were thick beams overhead, whitewashed stone walls, and a counter full of paper-wrapped loaves of bread.

I pointed at one and asked, “Are they all made with rice flour?”

The woman transferring loaves from a cart to the counter didn’t look up as she said, “Yeah, of course.”

“Oh, okay. I guess I just wasn’t expecting a gluten-free bakery in the fairy realm.”

Now she looked up at me. Her eyes went wide and she dropped the loaf she’d been holding on the floor. “You’re human!”

I smiled self-consciously as other people looked over, too. “Yeah, I am. I hope that’s okay?”

“Oh. Oh, yes!” She blushed and seemed to physically snap out of it. “I’m sorry. It’s just been forever since I saw one. Of you. A human, I mean.”

I smiled, glad it wasn’t some kind of prejudice. “I guess people don’t fall through fairy rings all that often, huh?”

I flinched back when a man leaned into my personal space. “You came through a ring? When?”

Right, Incendis had said they were all closed off. It probably wasn’t any kind of a secret that they were either. “Um, I did, yeah. Just yesterday in fact.”

Several people gasped. Oh, boy. Was this a bad idea?

“Are you a sorcerer?” a kid asked.

“No,” I said on a laugh. Part of me wanted to skedaddle because the attention was freaking me out, but the rest of me wondered if maybe this was a good thing. “Um, I am here to help Prince Incendis break the curse, though.”

After a shocked beat, everyone started crowding closer and talking all at once. What was I doing? Could they help? Was the king really involved? Had Incendis fallen in love already?

“Wait, hold on.” I reached out to the man who’d asked that last question. “What about Incendis falling in love?”

He looked as uncomfortable as me to be in the spotlight now. “There’s a, uh, rumor that the prince has to get someone to fall in love with him.”

“To break the curse?”

He nodded.

I looked around at the others, many of whom were also nodding.

“Lessons and love,” another woman said. “It’s just that nobody knows which lessons or who might be The One.”

I felt a blush heating my face as I watched some of them debate with each other what kind of enlightenment a prince might need to achieve. Because now I had to wonder if it was some kind of sign that I’d landed on Incendis’s bed. While he was naked. Had it been just my free-loving personality that had had me wanting to jump into bed with him or…maybe not?

Why hadn’t he said anything?

“The human’s blushing!” the baker practically squealed. “Maybe you’re the love interest!”

I shook my head and backed away, definitely sure I didn’t need a bakery full of people to guess what I’d just thought of, too. Especially when they started shoving advice at me.