She huffed, and he wasn’t sure if it was in amusement or annoyance.
Probably the latter.
“All I want is my arrow. That hardly seems enough to agree to amarriageover,” she mused, stopping to finger a closed flower bud.
“It depends on how badly you want the arrow back, I suppose. You need to be here at night to see those,” he added.
“What?” she asked, her fingers stilling as she looked up at him. Her hair was out of its plait, and midnight strands slipped over her shoulder with the movement.
He nodded at the closed buds. “They are star dahlias. They bloom in the evening, and stay open all night before closing to hide their secrets from the sun.”
Her head tilted as she resumed studying them. “That makes sense for a kingdom that loves the night,” she murmured, more to herself than to him.
She spoke as if she were new to the kingdom and were still learning all their intricacies and customs. Either she’d been incredibly sheltered her entire life, or…
Or she’d come over on one of the ships that had managed to pass through the Wards.
Son of a bitch.
It all fit.
Her sudden appearance. The uncertainty of their customs. Why she wouldn’t say which town she was from.
He opened his mouth to ask her which ship she’d arrived on, then snapped it shut. She didn’t notice. She was still enthralled with the star dahlias. It wouldn’t do any good to ask her anyway. He’d had to coerce her into giving up her godsdamn name. She wasn’t going to simply answer a question about where she’d come from.
But that was fine.
If anything, he was even more intrigued than he had been before. He had other ways to learn more about who she was andwhat secrets she was harboring. If she didn’t want to give them over willingly, he’d take them from her.
He’d get what he wanted from her one way or another.
Chapter 8
Kailia
“So how badly do you want it?” Cethin asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
Her hand dropped to her side, and she turned to face him fully. His hands were clasped behind his back, and his silver eyes were alight with something new. Something she didn’t quite understand.
“How badly do I want what?” she asked.
“Your arrow returned,” he clarified. “What is it going to take to convince you of my proposal?”
He couldn’t be serious. What kind of king made a random female he’d met the night before his queen?
An arrogant one who was used to getting what he wanted by any means necessary, she supposed. Maybe she shouldn’t be surprised at all. She was well aware of what the male was capable of.
Kailia turned to face him fully, looking him up and down. He didn’t shift under the scrutiny. Instead, he was still. Too still. And looking at her with far too much…something she couldn’t place. Social interactions and cues had never been her strength, but even with that weakness, she could swear his demeanor hadshifted to something akin to predatory. And that she had plenty of experience with.
After several moments of silence that the king appeared unaffected by, she finally said, “You want me to be the queen of Avonleya?”
“That is what I said,” he all but drawled.
Asshole.
“And you don’t find that irresponsible or problematic? To ask a female you met last night to rule over your kingdom with you? What if I were trying to kill you?” she pushed, her irritation continuing to grow despite her best efforts to keep it tamped down. She knew better than to let her emotions gain so much control. She was trained better than this.
His lips tipped up into an arrogant smirk that only infuriated her more. “You can’t kill me, tiny fiend.”
