I want answers. I want reasons. I want justification for this absolute violation of another person’s private life. I am theirqueen.
BAD-UM. BAD-UM. BAD-UM.
My fingers drum across the wood, matching the metronome of the grandfather clock behind me. The time passes slowly until I hear the heavy doors creak and, behind them, Felix. He doesn’t say anything, just walks in and takes the seat to my left, his hands clasped out in front of him.
“How could you? I-I,” the words stall, and I press my hand to my chest, feeling my heartbeat quicken. The look I give him is desperate, my voice breaking. “I wasn’t even here.”
“Eveera…”
“NO!” I shout, my hands slamming down, “I was out there –dying. Every day,hekilled me a little more. And despite that? The whole time I was suffering, I was hoping that even if I died, you were safe. That things would be under control. But this?!Marrying me?” His face falters at the words, mouth opening and closing as he struggles to find the words. “I mean, I know I was gone a while, I didn’t exactly keep count, but ha –”
“98 days, 5 hours, and 37 minutes.”
“What?” I snap, irritated that he’s invited himself into this conversation.
He pulls out the chair at the end of the table and sits himself in it, propping his head. “You were gone 98 days, 5 hours, and 37 minutes. That’s 14 weeks by my count. And Ididcount.” His hazel eyes bore into mine, the subtle jab noted.
“Ha. Well, thank the gods someone did. I was a bit preoccupied with being kidnapped. A recurring theme for me and my life since joining up with the likes of you,princeling.”
A smile curls at his full, rosy lips. “King.” He corrects.
The title flares something in me, and I push up from my seat, leaning across the table.
Fine.I think.If that’s how you want to play it, then that’s how we’ll play it.“Ah, yes, how could I forget. Forgive me,husband.” I mean for those last few words to bite. For them to sound as nothing more than a curse he is now burdened with.
His chest shakes with laughter as he steps around the table, the steps weighty as he makes his way to me. I straighten myself, prepared to stand against him. But, before I can pull back, his hand cups my cheek, and those rosy lips find themselves fused to the top of my head.
I freeze, feeling the heat of the gentle kiss as he dips down, hand still holding my face. The warmth of his breath coasts across the shell of my ear, and with all the strength I can muster, I suppress a shiver threatening to travel down my spine.
“You’re forgiven.” He whispers.
Bastard.I wrench from his touch, pushing out of my seat as black bleeds into my vision.I guess slapping him is no longer agood enough reaction.My conscience muses as I reach for my Wield.
Rorin turns his back on me, “save your power for when I sleep. I do so love when you toy with me in bed.”
He slinks back to his seat, and my foot stomps the same as a petulant child’s,“ARGH!”
Felix looks between us, his eyes soft as ever. They're the eyes of a man who became a father without any choice. A man who has remained steadfast and dutiful.
I want to pluck those eyes right out of his head.
“What would you have had me do?” He asks gently, breaking up the tension. His words shouldn’t sting so much. But the pain is his voice, cuts through me all the same.
I rake a hand through my hair and resist the urge to rip out every strand as I slump back down into my chair. “Ha – not marry me, that would have been a novel idea.”
“Eveera–” he sighs, frustrated. “There are bylaws. Bylaws your parents made in the case… in the case they were necessary.” He walks across the room to the bookcases and pulls out a large tome. “You are and always have been the coveted gift of this kingdom. But your parents didn’t make you fragile or naïve. They knew people would come for you one day.”
I steel my resolve. “I do not see what that has to do with you marrying me.Withoutme present.” I emphasize. “A binding Obsidian marriage requires blood, and last I checked, my blood was busy being spilt all over the fucking realm. Not here with you.”
“Marjorie.”
I laugh, “Marjorie is a powerful Wielder and an even more powerful and practiced Mage. But even she cannot forge or fabricate blood.” His eyes drop down to my wrist, and with his gaze, my stomach and eyes drop too. Right to the place where the mark she carved rests under bandages.
The rune. The blood seal. Fucking, Marjorie.I groan, and I swear I feel Vada laughing through our bond at my inner monologue.
“My dear.” Felix starts, his voice bringing me back, “the council and your people wouldn’t have accepted him as regent any other way. With your rumored… affections, we thought you would agree. Too much time was passing with your absence; we had to do something to secure him lest we be left without a ruler.”
My anger bubbles up and out, “he was also gone, and left you to be the regent anyway! He was out there traipsing through different kingdoms, Obsidian be damned, not here ruling in my stead. So what would it have mattered?!”
