Fae Read Free

at night, when my inner soul waged its private battle, I did not believe him.
    I stared at her again. Found her easily. It was difficult to fathom that this tomboyish child was to ascend a throne and become a powerful, indomitable queen.
    A queen that was already promised to a warrior king.
    A queen that would fall in love, and with that would make the greatest sacrifice.
    Her life.
    She would leave a brokenhearted husband behind and live in the minds of her loyal subjects for centuries to come. She, the queen of all queens, would save her kingdom from ruin, and for this honor she would give her life.
    All of this, her future, was written in the heavens before this girl was even born. I wondered if she sensed her greater purpose as she sat on the bleachers with her head held high, without a care in the world. I wondered if she knew deep down that there was something unique about her.
    Special.
    Did she know what her fate was to be?
    A queen.
    And I was to be her king.
C
    I continued to stare, wondering if he noticed me at all in the crowd. Hoping that I stood out among the masses of girls staring at him in utter lust. My mind raced as I thought back to conversations I had heard earlier in the week.
    I think I remembered hearing his name mentioned around school that week. I wish that I paid closer attention to what was said about him. But I never paid attention to gossip. Especially because half the time it was mean-spirited. No one had anything nice to say anymore.
    It was just then that Teddy turned to me and answered some of the questions running through my mind. He could probably tell that I was gawking. But everyone was gawking, so at least I wasn’t alone.
    â€œYou know the rumors don’t you?”
    â€œNo,” I answered trying to sound as uninterested as possible.
    â€œHe was forced to leave Camden County High,” Teddy said turning to me.
    Manteo High School’s eternal rival.
    â€œSupposedly he got together with another player’s girlfriend. Real scandalous. It got so bad in school that he had to leave.” Teddy excitedly told me as he gossiped away.
    For some strange reason I felt sick to my stomach. “Fact or fiction?” I asked a bit defensively.
    Teddy shrugged, “Who cares? It makes for the beginning of a great story.”
    Not to me, it doesn’t. I didn’t share that sentiment out loud. Teddy was impressed, though, by the obvious hype as he continued his story.
    â€œThis guy is a supposedly a legend over there. He’s like one of the best quarterbacks our state has ever seen,” Teddy continued.
    I stared openly at him again. Yes, everything about him screamed legend. You could tell in his past life he had probably been a great warrior. Not that I believed in that sort of thing, but if I were to believe, I’d bet he was the leader of a great army that was unbeatable… Oh Lord, my fantasies were sure taking a turn for the strange.
    â€œIf he’s such a legend, why would they let him go?” I asked desperately trying to poke holes in Teddy’s story.
    â€œHe apparently decided to leave on his own,” Teddy said with a hint of sarcasm. “What a martyr.”
    â€œI’m sure there’s a lot more to the story,” I added trying very hard to sound indifferent. “People always leave out the most important details, you know. Like the truth.”
    â€œWell you know what they say, behind ever rumor there’s a bit of truth,” he reminded me with a laugh as he rolled his eyes.
    â€œI mean take a look at Brian Baker. He looks like he’s been hit in the gut. He must be pissed that this guy is just coming in and taking his place as quarterback,” Teddy continued as he all but pointed.
    I glanced at Brian. He definitely looked like he’d been hit by a truck.
    Poor Brian. He wasn’t the type of guy to forgive and forget this slight. And he’d see it as one even if Coach Brown was the one who had