* * *
“Didyou see to your new pet?” the King asks as I join him in his favorite sitting room.
I sink down onto thick cushions and accept the whiskey one of the servants hands me. “I did. She drank from my cup, and the room is ready for her. She will fail your task, and when I offer her a second bargain, she will have no choice but to agree.”
“Noelle!” My father’s booming voice fills the room, and a moment later, the woman who birthed me rushes in. She is not my mother. Not truly. I did not even meet her until I had passed into adulthood.
“Yes, my King?” She keeps her eyes downcast, her hands clasped in front of her. Even at the human age of two hundred twenty and four, she looks only slightly older than my soon-to-be-bride. Thanks to my father’s magic.
“Sit.”
She hesitates for only a moment before taking her place on his lap, and I roll my eyes at the obvious display of power. His fingers dig into her hip, and she stifles a wince. “My precious, we have a new guest in the tower room. She is to be our son’s bride.”
Noelle turns her head and glares at my father. “You swore to me you would never take another by force—“
“I did no such thing.” He squeezes her tighter, and she makes a sharp, pained noise. “The girl traded her freedom for the life of her worthless father. I offered her a bargain, and she took it. You understand how that works.”
“How could you?” she whispers and swipes a tear from her cheek. “She will never leave this place, and her life will be nothing but misery and pain.”
“Like yours, I suppose?” Father shoves her off his lap and onto the floor. “You will live centuries because of what I give you. You have the finest clothing, the richest wine, and the softest bed in the realm.”
“You took my sons!” she cries. “You locked Adrian in chains and minutes after he was born, you had your guards take Rumpel—“
My father backhands her, sending her tumbling, and she starts to sob. “I took the boy from you to save him, so he would not end up like his worthless brother,” the King growls. “And I offered you a bargain in exchange. You would live to see him grown, have everything you wish for—save freedom—and be revered by all who make their home in this castle. And you would retain the use of your tongue. Provided you never spoke his name again.”
Her eyes go wide, and she clamps her hands over her mouth.
“You have violated our bargain, and so you will suffer the consequences.” He hauls her up by her wrist and drags her from the room as I finish my drink and pour myself another.
The pleading look she gives me as he takes her away should affect me. But instead, her fear gives me a burst of power, and I relish in it. I am a trickster, immortal, and above all—my father’s favorite son.
My brother will never see freedom again, all because I had father’s ear and Noelle corrupted Adrian with uselesshumanemotions. If Father had let her raise me, I am certain I would be as useless as Adrian. Thankfully, Father forbade her from even seeing me until I was grown, not wanting me to suffer the pitiful trappings of empathy and love.
And I am stronger for it.
Chapter Five
Roarke
Darkness is finally close, though it is well past midnight. This time of year, the night rules for mere hours, and the sun bathes the realm in warmth long past the time most settle in to sleep and long before they wake.
I cannot to go to Aurelia in the castle tonight as much as I want to. I need information, time to plan, and rest. But I will not return to my cottage until I speak to the idiot who condemned her to three days in hell—with an option on eternity.
My knock goes unanswered. So I pound harder. The shuffling sound of drunken footsteps angers me, and I huff out a breath that escapes in a puff of steam. My beast wants Abbott to pay for ever putting Aurelia in this position. The man does as well, but he knows there is a time for violence and a time for understanding, and I must resist beating the man to a bloody pulp or burning him alive. For now.
Though I am not ruling out the eventuality.
“Who’re you?” Aurelia’s father slurs as he leans against the door jamb.
“The man who wanted to claim your daughter as his mate and protect her forever. Untilyourstupidity put her life in peril.” I push past him and enter my love’s home. It smells of her. Of wool and dye and lavender. And the town’s cheapest beer.
Abbot trudges after me, his shoulders slumped and his gait uneven. “She is gone. The Prince will never release her.”
“He will. If only because I will remove his head. But I need information before I try to breach the castle. I do not have run-ins with the Prince. The Fae do not bother those of us with…certain abilities.”
Sinking down onto an old, rickety chair, Abbot squints up at me. “What abilities?”
“Are you that daft? I am a magic bearer. As long as I feed some of my power into the ley lines that traverse this realm, lines the Fae tap into whenever they wish, they leave me be. You never knew this?” Frowning, I search the small room for a suitable place to sit. There isn’t one. Not really. A rickety table with three chairs, a threadbare sofa that clearly doubles as Aurelia’s bed, and the floor.
