He does that thing with his brow bone that tells me he’s giving me a skeptical look, even though he doesn’t have eyebrows. “Would you disagree?”
I shrug. “I suppose it depends on your definition. I just plant flowers. I’m not exactly a useful contributor to the community.”
He regards me for a moment. “Flowers are nice.” I shrug again, and I can tell he doesn’t like it because he heaves a heavy sigh. “I asked you here because I have a proposition for you.”
I just scowl at him. I’m not really sure what to think. Is he…asking me for a favor? “What kind of proposition?”
He sits up straight, not slouching in that cocky way that he does, and I watch his chest rise and fall as he takes a deep breath. “A political proposition.”
“Oh.” Now I’m even more confused. How am I going to help him politically? “And you’re sure I’m the right person to ask?”
“I’m certain of it.”
There’s so much confidence in his voice that I start to feel confident as well. Whatever it is, he wouldn’t be asking me if he didn’t think I could do it. “Okay. What is it?”
“I need a wife.”
I feel like someone just splashed me with cold water. I just blink at him, my brain trying to process his words. “I’m sorry, I don’t really understand. What does that have to do with me?” I mean, if he wants a wife, can’t he just…go out and pick one? I’m sure any of the Isiriel females would be happy to marry King Cage and have his beautiful fire-breathing babies.
He taps his long, clawed fingers on the armrest of his throne, over and over, a littleclick-click-click-click. “I need to marry a human woman.”
“Why is that?”
“There’s been a rift between the Isiriel and the humans. Some of the humans believe it’s unfair that I should rule over them. They want their own human rulers. I don’t want to split the kingdom, but the throne belongs to someone of my line, someone with Isiriel blood.”
“Your people were here first, weren’t they?”
He smiles, and I’m fairly certain it’s the first time I’ve seen his perfectly white teeth, so stark against his dark skin. “So, you do understand then.”
I feel a shock of something in my stomach, something like…pride. That he’s speaking to me like I’m on his level, even though I’m as far from his level as anyone in this realm could possibly be. That he’s discussing such important matters with me. It makesmefeel important.
“I feel that marrying a human, allowing a human to take the role of queen, could repair some of the friction between your people and mine. They would feel they have a voice and a place here, a true place.”
“So, you’d like me to help you find the right wife then? Be a mediator between you and the humans?”
“No.”
I want to groan and demand that he just spit it out then, but I have to be polite. He’s a king, after all. “Then what—” I start, but he cuts me off.
“I wantyouto be my wife.”
I’ve heard him wrong. I know I’ve heard him wrong. That wasn’t what he meant to say. Maybe he mixed up his English. Kale still does that sometimes, even though all the Isiriel speak it fluently. But he’s looking at me so expectantly, and I know he didn’t use the wrong words.
“I…But…You don’t even know me.” He does that thing where he raises one eyebrow without actually having eyebrows. “...my king,” I add to the end of my sentence, the way Annaleigh and Kale are so fond of doing.
King Cage rises from his throne and steps toward me. I resist the urge to take a step back as he gets closer, towering over me and radiating so much heat that just standing this close to him, close enough that I have to tip my head back to look up at him, is making me sweat even more. He bends, until I’m almost blinded, looking into those two small flames in his head.
“I do know you, Alice. I know that you’re stubborn and strong-willed and very bad at being obedient. I believe you’ll make a good ruler. You would, of course, always answer to me, but you would be queen over human and Isiriel alike, and I need someone who can put an Isiriel male in his place as easily as disciplining a dog.”
My heart thumps in my ears so loud I know he can hear it. He has to be able to hear it. But what irrationally comes out of my mouth is, “You have dogs here?”
His mouth curls up, and I find my eyes glued to his lips. I see Isiriel males all the time, walking around the village or the mountain, but never, not once, have I wondered what it would be like to kiss one of them. Until now.
“I’ll give you time to consider my offer.” He straightens away from me and turns back to his throne. “You’re dismissed.”
Three
“His wife!”
