Betrothed by Wanda Wiltshire Page A

be like if you expect me to just whip my top off.’
    Leif laughed. ‘You are a Fae girl, Marla.’
    ‘More Earth girl than you realise, obviously.’
    ‘I concede your time in the human world must have had an effect.’
    ‘Do you know anything about my world?’
    ‘I’ve read a little, heard a little, learned a few human languages.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Yes. Which is yours?’
    ‘English,’ I said, surprised he didn’t know. ‘By the way, how come I know your language?’
    ‘Because I am prince and I willed it so,’ he said, in English. His accent was musical and old world and impossibly charming.
    ‘Oh, that was cute! Say something else.’
    He grinned and in English said, ‘What would you like me to say?’
    ‘Tell me what else you know about Earth?’
    ‘I know it’s a harsh place. I worry for you, Marla; I don’t know how you endure it.’
    ‘It’s not easy.’ I said quietly.
    ‘Tell me,’ Leif said, picking up my hand again and squeezing my fingers in his.
    ‘I’m allergic to nearly everything. The only good thing is I can’t eat meat.’ I screwed up my nose. ‘So revolting.’
    He chuckled. ‘I agree completely.’
    ‘You don’t eat meat either?’
    ‘No Fae do.’
    I sighed. ‘If it were just meat it would be okay, but there are so many other things too.’
    Leif let go my hand and trailed his fingers slowly around my hairline. ‘I will find a way to rescue you, Marla.’
    I caught his eyes with mine and smiled. He returned it with a heart-melting smile of his own and then stood, bringing me to my feet with him.
    ‘Come, you keep changing the subject, but I will not be swayed. Are you ready to learn how to open your wings?’
    ‘Oh, why not,’ I relented. ‘None of this is real anyway. It’s all just a dream. My perfect man, my prince, you exist only in my mind. It’s not like you’re really standing there to see me undress.’ I started to lift my top.
    ‘Stop,’ he said, and took my face between his hands. ‘Do you not believe this, Marla? Do you not accept what I’ve been telling you as truth?’
    ‘I want to—even with the crazy father out to get me. But how can it be? I’m lying in my bed, fast asleep, and if I have any doubt about that now, when I wake the flood of disappointment will confirm it. Besides, you’re too perfect. You’re everything I want. Someone like you couldn’t really exist.’
    ‘I am prince, Marla, and you are my betrothed, that’s what makes this connection possible. It is a meeting of our minds—I called for you and you answered. I thought you understood.’
    ‘Leif, it does feel real, and more than anything I wish it were—’
    ‘I don’t believe what I’m hearing. I need to find another way.’ Leif was watching the ground, but then he lifted his eyes to mine.‘Marla, I have just realised I know nothing of your life. Tell me of it now.’
    ‘It’s not very interesting.’
    ‘Tell me,’ he insisted.
    ‘Well, in my world—the real world—my name is not Marla, it’s Amy Smith. My father’s name is Lewis. He’s nice, Leif, never angry, but not a pushover either.’
    ‘Pushover?’
    ‘It means you can’t get away with stuff with him. If he says something it pretty much goes. But he has this way of making you want to please him. If he’s upset with Ashleigh or me . . . ’
    ‘Ashleigh?’
    ‘My sister—anyway, if Dad’s not happy with us, he gets this disappointed look and it’s enough to make you want to do the right thing.’ I shook my head, not really understanding my dad’s knack for getting his way. I shrugged. ‘I guess it’s his talent.’
    ‘And your mother?’
    ‘Her name is Karen and she’s the opposite of my father. She’s feisty and everyone knows not to mess with her. She’s nice though. You’d like her.’
    ‘Tell me about your home.’
    ‘We live in a block of apartments in Caringbah. The street is full of them, but there are lots of trees and a huge park across the road, so it’s all