More gasps and cries fill the colossal chamber as Aeson’s declaration fills it. I swear I even see someone off to the side faint. The commander doesn’t meet my gaze despite having just publicly claimed me. I think it’s safe to say that he’s pissed, the question is overwhatexactly.
The anger radiating off of him makes my stomach drop and my heart feel like lead. Is it the deal in general he’s mad about? Did the king tell him about the Syphon Glass? Or did Karis already tattle about the unauthorized call I’m still trying to figure out how to cover up? The possibilities are endless.
“The Crown accepts this claim and thus this Naming is complete,” the king declares, pulling me from my thoughts. “Tomorrow I will sit with the heads of state and discuss the details of how all of this came to be. But tonight we celebrate the Named and honor her newfound place among us. You now belong to The Horde, Ever, and The Horde belongs to you. Welcome!”
The approving roar that fills the hall rocks me to my core. Chills ripple through me at the wave of acceptance that blasts over me like a summer gale. The power that felt so heavy and thick before now feels almost…comforting.
The aisle I traversed to get to the dais disappears in an instant as The Horde hurriedly converges. Their excitement is surprisingly contagious, and I feel a laugh bubble up my throat as the room erupts with awe and celebration. Before the dais can be overrun, a wall of stone-faced guards move to stand between the royal family and The Horde.
I turn and see Lorn. He’s watching me, concern swimming in his eyes. His jaw is clenched with what looks like frustration, but before I can ask him what’s wrong, I’m being herded away.
It’s chaos as everyone tries to press closer. I spot Chastain and Sondar in the contingent of muscle keeping The Horde at bay. Other familiar faces from this morning move in and out of my line of sight as I’m hurried to the side of the throne room.
Shouted orders ricochet all around me, and I’m taken through a doorway and into some kind of antechamber. Everything shifts so quickly from silent to raucous and back again, that it takes me a minute to notice the guards around me yelping and cursing.
I look around and watch as several of them hurry away from me, or more specifically the butterflies that are viciously attacking them.
What the fuck? I thought Karis turned them off.
And then it hits me. Of course the butterflies wouldn’t attack the king; that’d be treason. Nixy would have accounted for that and must have programmed them not to react to the royal family.
“Leave us!” Aeson snarls out of nowhere.
I flinch as the command booms through the long room, bouncing off the white stone walls and floor. I have no idea if this space is used for storage or if it’s some kind of pass-through, but it’s long, fairly wide, and empty.
Warily, I study the commander from where I’m standing at the opposite end of the room. He surveys me with equal intensity, his eyes bright with anger and his hands fisted at his side. I’m not sure what to make of it, but there must be something seriously wrong with me because, instead of being scared, an ember of excitement settles deep in my core and starts to simmer.
When the last guard disappears through the door, Aeson slowly and methodically starts to prowl closer.
“Mind telling me what the fuck is going on…mate?” he growls, his long strides quickly erasing the distance between us.
I retreat a few feet as he continues to cross the room, but as soon as I realize what I’m doing, I force myself not to give him one more step. My trapped dragon hums its approval.
“You were there, so if you really don’t know…we might have a problem,” I answer, going for light and quippy but only managing startled and uneasy.
“Oh, we most definitely have a problem, because when the fuck did you meet my father, let alone have time to broker a deal with him,mate?”
“Stop saying that,” I snap, irritation drowning out the caution I should be proceeding with. I don’t know if it’s his tone or his use of that word that’s grating on my last nerve, but whatever it is, I just hit my limit.
“Stop saying what? Mate?” he asks incredulously. “But isn’t that what you are? My lying, deceiving, infuriating little mate?”
“I don’t know aboutlyinganddeceiving,” I lie. “And the second part sounds like a you problem…but, yes, I agreed to be your mate, so stop saying it like it’s a dirty word.”
His eyes flare with both need and fury. It’s anyone’s guess which one is going to come out on top, but he’s more than halfway across the room now and gaining.
“Come now, mate. I thought you liked my dirty mouth,” he purrs, and I swear I feel it in my fucking clit. “Now answer my question. When did you make a deal with my father, and more importantly, why? I want every single detail, or so help me, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” I growl, more than ready to meet him head-on. “Lock me in my room? Monitor my calls? Control my every move? Oh oh, I know,” I eagerly chirp, a saccharine grin spread wide across my face. “How about you’ll manipulate me to get what you want? News flash, Commander, you already do all of that and then some.”
The fake smile drops from my face, and I glower at him before continuing.
“And don’t pretend that you didn’t start this. You put me in your rookery. You locked me up in your mating suite. It was your Wing that told me to play along. So what’s your problem? It’s all fun and games until the game turns on you?”
He stops a few feet away from me, and for a second, I hold my breath, unsure if I want the razor-winged butterflies to intervene on my behalf or let the scion sidle closer. This might be easier if he wasn’t so fucking beautiful. I could fuck him up without also wanting to fuck him if I didn’t know how good his hands felt on my body, how soft his lips are, or what he tastes like.
“Everything I did was a necessary precaution. Necessary until we know you can be trusted,” he defends. “At this rate, if you don’t start leveling with me, they’ll bepermanentfixtures in your life. Is that what you want?”
I bark out a laugh, but there isn’t a drop of genuine humor in it. “WhatIwant? When has anyone in this forsaken keep given two shits about what I want?” I demand. “When have any of you even bothered to ask? But I’ll make you a deal, Commander—and don’t worry, we can cut your daddy out of this one. I’ll start leveling with you when you do the same with me. Until then, you and your demands can fuck right off.”
