That fae’s bodyguards showed up behind him, swords whirling. Tarian’s were hurrying toward them.
Get her the fuck out of here!Tarian yelled.The princess is attacking her with everything she has, and someone is helping her do it.
Faelynn knelt for Daisy, hands out to heal.
No!Daisy shouted, pulling at that magic, offering it up to Tarian. Gorlan filled in the space, staff whirling, iron decorated with runes.Don’t show me attention. They’ll question why you would save me over him. That’ll raise questions. I’m alive. Helphim!
Faelynn hesitated. Then she quickly stood and brandished a knife, as though she’d gotten it out of an ankle harness. It was a terrible cover, but hopefully in all the excitement no one would notice she’d initially knelt to Daisy. Gorlan stuck his staff into the chest of a bodyguard. Faelynn got behind and dug her blade into the back of the fae’s neck. He went down fast.
Tarian’s wylds-made blade whirled in a beautiful array of light. He stepped and struck, then ducked and struck again. The fae was bleeding all over, and his limbs didn’t want to hold him, but he wouldn’t go down. He was fueled by the panic-stricken need to kill the thing stealing his magic. Her. He’d instinctively figured out who it was.
Tarian must’ve realized it, because he stepped into the fae’s way each time and acted as though the blows were meantforhim and not to getbyhim.
She pulled in the last of the magic as another bodyguard was felled by Gorlan’s and Faelynn’s blades. Tarian sliced across the fae’s neck even as he was wilting. The death would look like Tarian had done it.
The head slammed down onto the floor in a swirl of nightmare black. Its sightless eyes looked her way accusingly. She wished he could see her returned look ofYou got what was coming to you.
The shadowy magic stabbed her, surrounding her. With Tarian’s efforts, it peeled away slowly…and then in a rush. Gorgeous golden hues and rose and chartreuse danced within the black. Tarian’s magic cut through the attack until she could suck in another lungful of air.
She spasmed in a fit of coughing, still holding her stomach. Faelynn dropped down beside her.
“Let me see,” she murmured, pulling at Daisy’s dress. Blood still seeped from her wounds, her Demigod’s gift working as fast as it could to stitch her up, but she was losing a lot of blood. “It’s okay. This’ll be okay. I’ve got you.”
Faelynn’s hands pushed against her skin, and Daisy stopped herself from crying out in pain.
Take from the well of magic she has stored up,Tarian directed her. He grabbed the collar of the fallen fae’s shirt and the waist of his pants. He yanked the fae into the air like he weighed nothing and threw the body out into the middle of the dance floor.
Nobility screamed or shouted in surprise, having stopped their dancing to watch. They scattered out of the way as the bloodied body slid across the marble floor, leaving a glistening red trail in its wake. Flesh screeched as the body lost momentum and stopped fifteen feet from the princess’s slightly elevated chair. From the floor, though, Daisy couldn’t see the expression on the princess’s face.
“Elamorna, you dare attack my champion?” Tarian hollered. His foot twisted as his focus switched. “What sort of court are you presiding over here,Highness?Haveallyour rules stopped counting for anything? Is there noorder to be had anymore?”
The princess’s voice was mocking. “But she is not your champion, is she, Tarian? She is your taboo little toy. You didn’t want an equal in your bed. You wanted a sniveling little creature to dominate. You wanted a creature that made you feel godly?—”
“Enough,” the king said, and the court fell into uneasy silence.
There we are,Faelynn said, closing the wounds, chasing away the pain.
Leave the pain.Daisy winced.I need to know what is still hurting and how much. You can chase it away when we’re safe again.
“You do not understand, Elamorna,” the king said, sounding amused. “That is because you’ve never been with a human. They are so easily broken that they, in themselves, are a game. How hard can you ride them before you kill them? How can you twist them just right that their spasms of pain milk your pleasure? How can you prolong their death until you are well and truly ready to break them? It’s an art, keeping a human alive. Tarian is learning that art. He is starting to crave it. He will join us yet.”
He paused and fabric swished, the princess frustrated but unwilling to defy her father.
He spoke again, this time to Tarian. “I do uphold the rules of the court, my dear lad. Of course I do. The fae that attacked you within the court, for example, would have been sentenced to death. Given you had no choice but to take care of that, in defense, I will kill his mate. As for your human, she is not fae, and therefore she is not subject to our rules. She is below them. But I will guarantee her protection in court and in the games…for now. I wouldn’t deny myself the pleasure of a human, after all. It’s been so long since I’ve had one. Now, you may go and see to her, if you wish. I know what a sad thing it is for someone else to break your toy before you are done playing with it.”
Faelynn sat Daisy up gradually, and pain radiated from deep within Daisy’s body. Her dress didn’t have any holes in it, but it felt like her skin still did.
“Yes, sire,” Tarian said tightly.
He turned on his heel, and Daisy expected him to stalk out of the court, leaving her to hisFallenlike in times past. Instead, he bent and scooped her up, cradling her gently to his chest.
“Careful,” Faelynn murmured, her hand flowing over Daisy’s legs.
I’m okay,she told them as Tarian walked toward the dais and around a seat grouping.Humans aren’tthatbreakable. Not when they have the Demigod’s blood magic.
Thank fuck for that,Gorlan murmured.
Tarian stared directly at Princess Elamorna.I warned you,he said in a deathly quiet mental voice.I warned you what would happen if you touched my property. Now you will know true sorrow.
