His brow arches, and he leans in closer, the gold thread on his vest catching the sunlight. “Andthatis why I find this so hard to believe, my darling. Not once in our many weeks together have youeverinitiated contact with me.” His smile is razor thin, and it jabs between my ribs and straight to my broken heart. “Don’t mistake my curiosity for disappointment. It is always a pleasure to see the sun shining down on your beautiful face.”
I force myself to smile. “It seems time has done what you hoped it might.”
King Dolian tilts his head as doubt etches itself over his brow. “And what is it that you think I hoped for?”
“For me to bend to your will,” I answer, keeping my lips upturned. “For a pliant fiancée.”
He chuckles before taking a drink, his tongue darting out to lick his lips after. “Pliant. Is that what you think I want? Better yet, is thattrulywhat you think I’ll believe?”
I knew he wouldneverpresume I’ve suddenly had a change of heart, but I also know that despite the king’s bravado and the way he presents himself to the world, his ego has been damaged by the fact that I still love Nox. That I have never uttered those three words to him. I decide to use that to my advantage, sacrificing whatever remains of myself in the process. “I know you have heard about the mage prince becoming king and getting engaged.”
He traces his finger slowly over the rim of his cup. “You see now that I was right about his intentions with you. His supposeddevotion.”
I give a rueful nod. “Yes.”
“So, what? You come to me now that you can’t have him?”
His defensiveness surprises me, but then again, everything between us has always been a game to him. This act is nothing more than getting what he wants from me—total submission. The admission that he was right and I was woefully wrong. “I come to you now in understanding,” I lie, grateful for my voice coming out steady. For the fact that I can hide within layers of myself even if I can still acutely feel his gaze moving over me like malicious strokes of a paint brush. “I come asyourfuture queen.”
He laughs, leaning back in his chair as his fingers drag over his lips. “Clever woman.” His amusement quickly shifts into something darker—somethingcruel. “Tell me you no longer love him.”
The lie I spew next is one of the worst I’ve ever told, and it rots me from within. “I don’t love him.”
“Ah, ah, darling,” he says, pushing his chair back to stand before rounding the small table. I push my chair out as well, buthe orders me to stay put, instead spinning the chair around so that I’m facing him with his fingers gripping the armrests. “Let’s see if you speak the truth.”
“I am—”
“Do you still love Prince Nox?”
My fear spikes as the magic forces me to give the answer both the king and I know to be true between gasps. “Ye-yes.”
I brace for his anger and the physical punishment it will dole out on my body. But it never comes. Instead, the king lifts a hand and cups the side of my face, his eyes blazing with something between lust and possession. “I understand now,” he whispers, leaning in until I can feel the scratch of his beard at my cheek. I close my eyes, every sense overwhelmed by his proximity. “Youwantto forget him.”
My heart thunders in my chest, shame a dizzying wave that leaves my palms clammy and stomach churning. “Yes. I want to forget.”
“I can help.” His mouth is warm at my neck, and though my shredded resolve protests at the touch, at the wrongness of it, I arch my neck to give him better access. He growls in approval, his teeth scraping and tongue lashing while I imagine myself in a pool of darkness, water surrounding me on all sides until I’m submerged. His voice sounds distant when he speaks next. “Do you know that they didn’t fight me when I told them I wanted you back? Their council had written to me, telling me they intercepted my letter to the king, but that they would be willing to negotiate. Though I’m sure my threat of using my army against their small border towns likely helped with that. I told them it would all go away if they just returned what was taken from me. And they didn’t fight it. The king’s council agreed to hand you over as if you were as insignificant to them as theirprinceis to me.”
My eyes open, one single word making it through my numbed fog.Council. The council had been in contact with King Dolian? “How…” I trail off, unsure of what to even ask.
“How did they know it was you? How did they agree to give in to another king’s demands?” I feel him shrug against me, a hand trailing down my arm. “I told them to return the woman with golden hair and green eyes. The one who arrived with a male named Flynn. Apparently, those details alone were enough to identify you. And, as you have seen, my army has no match. Spell in place or not, healed guards or not, we are a formidable force compared to those who are losing their magic. Even as we lose some to the Cruel Death.”
I nearly ask how he knows about the dwindling magic in the Mage Kingdom, but of course he knows. He has aspythere, after all.
“So, you see, that is why they don’t answer my summons now. That is why no one has come for you. They recognize the truth in what I’ve always told you, Rhea. Youbelonghere, with me. You always have, and you always will.” King Dolian leans back just enough so I can see his face, his lips swollen from his assault at my neck. “Do you finally see it now?”
There is no magic behind the question, so I only nod. When lust overtakes the distrust in his gaze, I know I’ve done what I needed to. His face hovers over mine, but before he can crash his lips down on my own, I say, “There is one favor I would like to ask of you.”
He tangles a hand in my hair, gripping the strands tightly enough that my eyes water. “I am not a man of favors, Rhea.”
“I know,” I respond quickly, wincing when he tugs my head back. “But this is small and easily within your power as my king to do.”
He lets out a slow exhale, drawing so near to me that I can smell his cologne, the scent stinging my nostrils. “Humor me, then, darling.”
“Eve,” I whisper, licking my lips and sinking back down into myself when his gaze tracks the movement. “I would like for you to let her return home to her family for a short time.”
“Eve,” he repeats, eyes bouncing between mine. “You don’t want her here for the wedding?”
“She misses her family, and there are plenty of other servants available to help me.” It is a small thing, but Eve deserves time with her family after being forced away from them for so long. Even if only for a week or two, it surely wouldn’t be enough to disrupt the daily happenings at the castle. But beyond that, I simply want the opportunity to doonegood thing while I can. Before the chance is taken from me fully. “She has worked hard, and deserves the time off.”
