Little Red (Not Quite the Fairy Tale #5) by May Sage Read Free Book Online Page A

boredom.
    “Let me help,” she heard Jaya beg the cook, when she passed by the kitchen “I’ll just prep some vegetables for you, that’s all.”
    “No! We’re the help, you’re a guest. Go away.”
    Everywhere, from the gardens to the bedrooms, similar arguments were breaking on a regular basis. Lana hadn’t had the inclination to dismiss the servants who’d worked for the castle; that meant that there was no chore left for her people.
    “It’s only temporary,” she ensured them at dinner the first night. “When we move, things will be different… but it’s time to choose what you want to do. Jaya, if you want to carry on cooking, perhaps you’d like to study with a chef?”
    No one had said much at first, but gradually, the confessions came.
    Vera, who had the voice of an angle, wanted to take singing lessons. Ryss loved math, and wondered if he could possibly become an accountant, with the right training. Jaya turned out to be a closet artist – there were hundreds of different professions they wished to try out; a lot of things that they could never have pursued confined to the old pack territory.
    There was only one problem really: their wolves.
    They were on edge, not only because they couldn’t shift at will everywhere, but also because they didn’t have a home.
    Their animals were territorial by nature, they needed to own their land, and do whatever they wished to there. Renting an estate wasn’t cutting it. Lana felt even more uncomfortable than the others; she hadn’t shared Chase Hunter’s opinion, so she alone knew that they weren’t welcome in the kingdom.
    She hadn’t lied to reassure them: their stay was only temporary. If plan A didn’t fall into place by the end of the month, they’d prepared for plan B: travelling around Europa until she found a place they could call theirs.
     
    Five days after sending Tarik, probably just after he’d made it to the other side of the continent, right at the tip of Europa, plan A appeared before her eyes as she walked down the main street of Crystalia.
    Lana’s sense of smell always alerted her of those around her, but there was no warning this time; they materialized out of thin air, around a bit of cold foggy mist, just to make their entrance that little bit more dramatic.
    The couple was stunning beyond belief; her, willowy and exotic, with a darker complexion set off against the bluest of eyes, and him, as big as your average dominant Wilderling, and taller than most. Taking in the pointed ears under his dark hair, Lana could confirm that she was indubitably standing before Eira, the Snow Queen and Kai, the elven King.

 
    Chapter Eight
    Escape route
     
    Her eyes widened in surprise. Holy shit. It was only then that she fully acknowledged that she really hadn’t really counted on plan A working out. Why would two prominent monarchs – not to mention, deities – bother with her?
    But here they were.
    “You must be Lana Vermeille,” the goddess guessed with a little bow.
    It hit here that she was probably supposed to curtsy or something. As she had no clue how to do that, she popped her hand up to her forehead and saluted.
    “Hi. I kinda wasn’t expecting you…” she could have said ever, instead she cleared her throat, leaving it at that.
    “What, you assumed I would not wish to respond to a non-human minority seeking a homeland?”
    The elf was smiling indulgently; if the stories were true, he’d spent hundreds of years trying his best to care of his people by himself – which kind of was why Lana had thought of them, first.
    “Is there a coffee shop, somewhere?” Eira asked, “I want hot chocolate. We can talk there.”
    “We’re in May, wife,” Kai replied, shaking his head. “And it’s not even remotely cold here.”
    “ I want hot chocolate, Kai Eldorian. You will provide it for me.”
    Strangely, the man didn’t shiver and cry, despite the fact that the goddess’s voice had made the earth tremble under their feet