Suddenly he vanishes before my eyes in a burst of slithering smoke, then in an instant I hear the sharp boom that signifies he has appeared elsewhere, but before I can turn I feel his warmth against my back and my skin prickles.
“I am powerful on my own,” he mutters in my ear. “In all manner of things.”
I close my eyes as he lays his callused hands upon my shoulders, his fingers kneading at my flesh. His breath is hot as his lips brush against the curve of my neck.
“Why do you do this?” I utter breathlessly.
Daedalus freezes. “What do you mean?”
“Which Mordorin prince are you?” I gulp. “The one who takes pleasure in insulting and frightening me, or the one who whispers his needs and wants so softly in my ear.”
“Which do you prefer?” he asks, his nose against my nape.
It takes all the will I have to not surrender to him. To instead remember the reason I am here. Something far more important than whatever fleeting moment of empty desire he offers.
“I want the warrior who will protect my people from the Legion of Saints,” I reply firmly.
His hands slip from my shoulders. I feel the intensity of his eyes as he circles me, but I cannot look at him. If I look at him, my resolve will crumble.
“Do you know when I first learned of the bargain?” Daedalus asks.
I am only brave enough to give him a fleeting glimpse and shake of my head.
“You were already on the ship to Baev’kalath when the king and queen informed me I was to be wed,” he answers. His face hardens. “The deal you made is with them.Not with me.”
The ire snapping at my heels breaks the hold of his charms. “I do not care which of you fulfills the bargain. All I know is a price was paid.”
Daedalus’ throat quivers and smoke rolls within his eyes. “What could you possibly understand of prices to be paid? The Tenders of The Grove,” he scoffs. “Holding hands and singing songs in the forest. Praying to beings you call gods who were no more than servants and pets to the First Fae.”
“Do not assume to know anything about me or what I have suffered,” I hiss under my breath, my hands balling into fists at my side.
“Suffered?” The prince throws his head back and bellows an arrogant laugh that fuels my anger. “Because of humans like you, humans who refused to fight alongside us after centuries of peace…”
“We were your slaves!” I snap bitterly, not allowing him to think for a second we were anything else. “Toys to be played with and broken and disposed of whenever you pleased. All we wanted was to be leftalone. For you to keep your war far from our forests.”
Daedalus lowers his chin at me and glares. “Do you know how many Fae died? Some with souls so ancient they could still recall the faces of the First. Their lights extinguished, their bodies left butchered and bloody on the battlefield, crushed under the filthy boots of the Legion of Saints as they marched onward.”
I grit my teeth and turn from him.
Is he expecting me to feel sorry for him?
But before I can eagerly widen the space between us, he snatches my wrist and yanks me back. I gasp, flinging my indignant gaze at him over my shoulder, only to find the smoke no longer contained in his eyes. It drifts and singes the air around him.
“House Velastral; burnt to the ground. House Caelithar; all dead.” His bitter glower finds my necklace. “House Maledannan, guardians of nature and healing, wiped clean from his plane.”
If he is trying to prise some sort of guilt response from me for the fate of these Fae houses, he is truly delusional. Instead, I go for the throat. Matching cruelty for cruelty.
“It is a shame only three of the six perished,” I say coldly, my lips a tight, straight line.
He snarls at my audacity. “Driven from their lands, lands infused with the souls of the First, I do not expect House Taramethos and House Ithranor to last long wherever they are.”
“We humans can only hope the same fate falls upon House Mordorin,” I spit with venom.
Daedalus’ broad hand closes around my wrist and he drags me closer to him, and even though I plant my feet, he shifts me with ease. I keep my head down, pressed against my chest, but he pinches my chin between his fingers and lifts it sharply to meet his stare.
“Why, in my domain where no one can help you, alone with me in this room, knowing that I could tear you to pieces with my bare hands, would youdarespeak to your prince like that?”
I do not look away from him now. Instead, I meet his gaze eagerly, and I hope my eyes convey the oceans of hatred that storm within me.
