Rennick stopped and grabbed both sides of her face, forcing her to look at him. “No one will harm a hair on your head or speak ill of you, and if they try, I will mount their heads on the front gate.”
“Stop threatening to kill people,” she whisper-yelled, calming slightly at his touch. “You can’t murder someone for not liking me. You would likely have no kingdom left.”
He straightened and shrugged. “It would be easier to manage.”
22
Amelia’s trepidation made Rennick’s own multiply. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about how the citizens of the fae kingdoms would receive her. Being his mate should extinguish all wariness, but if not, the marriage would, because if it didn’t, he would become the star of their nightmares.
He and his father theorized the fully accepted bond would strengthen her, possibly turn her back into a fae, but they couldn’t be sure.
He meant what he had said to her. If anyone disrespected her, or worse, tried to hurt her, they wouldn’t live to right their wrongs.
Rennick’s father never forgave himself for his wife’s death. He was there inside the hot house, speaking with the gardener, while she was outside tending to a rose bush she was determined to grow. The rebels had climbed the impossibly tall palace walls, and when they recognized Rennick’s mother, they’d gutted her before the guards could save her.
Rennick and his father tracked down the rebels who’d managed to escape over the course of several years, delivering the slow deaths they deserved.
Since then, his father had tall spikes added to the top of the palace walls, rendering it impossible to climb without being impaled, and more guards were stationed around the palace perimeter.
Rennick stopped Amelia at the foot of the stairs. “Do you want a late lunch?”
Her eyes darted to every person who passed. “I’m too nervous to eat.”
“Ren,” a familiar voice said, making him turn.
He squeezed Amelia’s hand and released it, shooting Ora a broad smile. “Hello, princess.”
Ora rolled her eyes with a teasing smile. “Don’t call me that.”
It was a nickname he and Finn gave her when they were teenagers because of her obsession with all things royalty, including the fashion. She adorned herself with jewels and headbands that resembled small tiaras.
Amelia moved back, putting too much distance between him and her for his liking, but he refrained from commenting on it. Ora didn’t know Rennick had retrieved his mate; no one save for a select few did, and he needed to keep it that way until they married.
He trusted Ora, but not enough to gamble Amelia’s life.
Ora’s blue eyes fell on Amelia, and her smile tightened. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” She reached out her hand and widened her smile. “I’m Ora.”
Amelia stepped around Rennick and shook the other woman’s hand. “Amelia.”
“What brings you to our palace?” Ora asked politely, folding her hands in front of her.
If Rennick was the type of man to roll his eyes, he would. She’d always called the palaceherssince she was here daily with her father.
“She’s a friend,” he answered coolly, noticing Amelia’shands clenched behind her back. A dark emotion that was not his own bloomed in his chest.
“A friend?” Ora eyed Amelia up and down. “You’ve never brought any of yourfriendsto the palace before.”
He didn’t miss the insinuation in her tone, but he hadn’t the time or patience to deal with her now. “If you’ll excuse us, I need to show Amelia to her rooms.”
Without waiting for a reply, he held his arm out, indicating for his mate to climb the stairs.
Ora gave him an incredulous look that he countered with one warning her to choose her next words carefully. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight,” she said, glancing at Amelia before she bound down the stairs.
“Yes,wewillsee you then,” he replied, climbing the steps two at a time to catch up with his mate.
When he and Amelia crested the top of the staircase, that dark feeling was gone, and he wondered if he’d imagined it.
He led her up another set of stairs, and asked, “Did Ora make you uncomfortable?”
