Chapter 16
Noth
Ikept my smug smile firmly on my face as we tromped back downstairs. Not only because the sex with Maggie was actually the best of my life, but because the annoyed expressions around the table were just a delight. I still couldn’t quite believe Maggie let my Nightmare do that to her. And she enjoyed it. It also kept any pesky fears from leaking out when I needed to be at the top of my game for what I had in mind for Severin.
The man himself turned in his chair to give me a satisfactory glare. “Can’t your ridiculous powers swallow sound, Leaf Licker?”
“Don’t be mad, mine are sobig, Twinkles.” I held my hands about a foot apart because we were definitely measuring dicks. “I’m sure yours works just fine.” My finger stroked alongeach piercing in my ear for good measure.
“They do,” he said as Yaya poured him another cup of tea.
She winked at me in what I hoped was a ‘good job’ kind of way.
Maggie sat at the table, her usual collected self, as if we hadn’t been fucking like monsters upstairs. I slapped a piece of Yaya’s breakfast cake on a plate and took it to her. I could breathe again when she looked up at me with an emotion I didn’t want to name. The world narrowed to her expression until she yanked the plate out of my hands and wordlessly started devouring cake.
I crashed into the chair next to her, mentally making my chess moves. This fellow King fell into my lap. I could definitely use him but not for his fighting skills.
I smiled wide, just to get under his skin. “How about you go back to the palace then and let Brad coddle you into complacency?”
Severin stiffened. “Manipulation? Really? That human has to die. He’s going to destroy the Harrowlands. Evenyouare better than that.”
“Was that a compliment? Aw, I had a whole ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend’ speech ready.” That would certainly be better than crashing into Brad myself. Maybe they would take each other out. An Elf could dream.
How could a man sneer and not move his face? “This is pathetic. You didn’t finish the job, witch.”
I felt Maggie’s claws digging hard enough into my leg to draw blood before I realized I was halfway across thetable. Yaya had wisely slid Severin, chair and all, out of my reach. I didn’t like his knowing smile as I sat back down. ‘Attachments were weaknesses’was hard to drive from my brain after so many years as King. I knew Maggie could handle herself, mostly. I just didn't know how she would fit into this - my world of politics and deadly intent.
“The spell worked,” Maggie said, wiping the crumbs from her mouth that I was immediately jealous of. “But we all might have underestimated him.”
“I would have taken the Siren beaches of Morran before I killed the sniveling fool.” Severin was heated if he was blurting out his plans. A vein pulsing in his temple was usually his only expression of ire.
“I won't help you wage war against the Siren Queen, but I hear a trading opportunity has just opened up in Portsgrave Harbor.”
Maggie watched me from under her lashes, doing her best to contain her smile. I had centuries of practice but she did pretty well. I kissed her to ensure everyone thought she was smiling at me, not my play to keep the Fae busy with the Siren Queen if Brad couldn't take him. If it covered my little breach of her territory, so much the better.
“That nowhere spot in the South?” Severin asked.
That was right. He was too young to remember when it was a bustling harbor.
“It’s been renovated,” I told him. “In times gone by, itwas a prime location for exporting Oco Gorse, fishing and pirate activity. With applied pressure, you could be a part of the ground floor trade rebuilding there.”
Maggie looked at me like I grew an extra head. Did she think I just sulked in my territory all day like I had at Ward’s keep? I knew how to negotiate a treaty, even with a Fae. Luckily, I had Severin as King and not his brother, a more typical, irrational Fae. I heard the man already had four wives or concubines or something. I looked at Maggie. What did one do with four wives? I shuddered. Well, I would be dead.
Severin tapped on the table to regain my attention. “And why wouldn’t you keep this for yourself?”
“I’m generous like that,” I told him.
“He’ll want your blood oath,” Maggie said bluntly.
The Fae scoffed. “She speaks for you now, Leaf Licker?”
Yaya’s mouth formed the word ‘mate’, but my glare had her scurrying to the oven to bring more tea and cake.
“Dick measuring has been all well and good these past hundreds of years we’ve been at it, but Brad is a different creature. He doesn’t stop. We’ve already tried to kill him multiple times now.” Maggie folded her arms over her chest, disappointed with herself.
I unfolded them and put her hand in my lap.
“Yeah, no use dick measuring, Twinkles.” Playing with Maggie was fun. Her bluntness was a valuable counterpoint to the maneuvering I usually had to do. “Anda harbor will be more useful and easier to defend than a beach. Offer going once…”
