“Trenton,” Drostan murmured. “You andPrinceTrenton were together?”
“That's right,” I growled. “And he would never toss me to his court to punish me. Queen Tana doesn't allow her slaves to be abused. Even if I hadn't been with Trenton, I'd still fare better with the Seelie than I would here.”
“The Seelie can be vicious in more subtle ways,” Drostan muttered. “I'm sorry, Riley. I'm sorry that I punished you when you were innocent, but I was functioning under the information I was fed, and I was...”
“What?” I snapped.
“I was hurt,” he admitted. “Don't you know? Can't you see? I love you, Riley.”
I went still.
“I know that you think you love Prince Trenton, but he's famous for his disregard of women. He would have tossed you aside eventually.”
“No, he wouldn't have,” I protested. “He even told his sister that he loved me. Trenton tried to keep me, but Queen Tana said that you threatened to go to war with Seelie if I wasn't returned.”
“What?” Drostan hissed. “Prince Trenton declared his love for you to his sister? No, that's not possible. Trenton only loves two people; Tana and himself.”
“He's changed,” I said. “Or rather, he has found the strength to be himself.”
“No one can change that much,” Drostan growled.
“You act as if you know him,” I huffed.
“I did,” he snapped. “Once.”
“It doesn't matter,” I said. “I know I'm stuck with you, and I'll accept that, but don't expect me to give you what is already gone. You lost your chance at my heart when you threw me to your court like scraps to your dogs.”
I got up in a surge of water, snatched up a towel, and stomped out of the bathroom. After I dried off, I climbed into bed naked and curled up on my side. I heard Drostan come into the bedroom a moment later, but he didn't get into bed with me. I didn't care. Perhaps it hadn't been his fault that I had ended up in Seelie, but he chose to react the way he did when he found me. It didn't matter that he stopped the attack before it started; he had intended to give me to them. Drostan had destroyed any small piece of affection I may have had for him with that cruel intention. I may not be able to be faithful to Prince Trenton, but he was the only man I loved, and my heart would be his until the day I died. Even if I never saw his handsome face again.
Chapter Thirty-One
The next morning, Drostan was gone. A silent fairy woman came in with a breakfast tray for me and deposited it on the dining table before she left. As I was eating, Hugo dropped onto the table.
“Well, you've made a right mess of things,” he noted as he helped himself to a strawberry.
“You are functioning under false information,” I said before sipping my tea. “I did not run away; Conall kidnapped me.”
“Yeah; I know that,” he said.
“What?”
“King Drostan had to explain why he stopped your punishment so soon,” Hugo said. “He informed the whole court that as they began, he found a letter in his pocket from Conall.”
“He what?” I scowled.
“King Drostan produced the letter, and we all recognized Sir Conall's seal,” Hugo went on. “It saved our king from a mutiny; I'll tell you what.”
“I think mutiny only applies to ships,” I muttered.
“Whatever.” Hugo rolled his eyes as he plopped down on the table. “It saved his ass from disgrace and rebellion. But I know that the King didn't sleep in his bed last night, and that is another type of disgrace. What did you do?”
“I was angry that he tossed me to his court like that!” I nearly shouted. “You saw what he did. Drostan strung me up and let those savages assault me!”
“For like ten seconds,” Hugo huffed. “They barely touched you.”
“They were going to,” I growled. “He even gave them guidelines for how they could do it, Hugo.”
“Yeah, okay,” Hugo gave in. “Still; the King didn't know that you were kidnapped. He thought you had betrayed him. His reaction was appropriate. In fact, most of us thought that it was lenient... or at least it would have been, had he let it happen.”
