Feeling the crows circling overhead already, I focus back on my queen. On the peace she gives me. “We can build up to bloodplay if you want,” I say.
“What if I want to do it now?”
I shake my head as we move down the hall, towards a group of fairies loading up a cart of goods. My eyes flicker across them, judging their risk to my queen before we pass. One catches my eye and nudges the other. Abandoning their job, they stand against the wall and bow.
“Your first session was last night,” I say as we pass, “and that was too rough. I never should’ve pushed you that hard.
“I wanted –”
“I took advantage of your naivety and ignorance,” I cut in. “You didn’t know enough to know what you wanted.”
She stops, then tugs me to face her. “I trusted you.” Her eyes searching mine, she lifts my hand to her heart, where I carved my initials into her skin with the prong of my belt. Where I whipped her raw and left her covered in bruises. There is a flashof pain in her eyes, but when I go to pull back, she grips my fingers tighter. “I understood how to say yes and no and all the colours in-between,” she says softly but firmly. “You made sure of that. I just didn’t want to.”
I stiffen, uncomfortable with being this open in front of anyone who isn’t Jace. But I force myself not to pull away. If I want peace between our kingdoms, the first step to that is by showing everyone we can trust each other. ThatItrust our enemies to know my one weakness.
Even so, I check for Jace in my peripheral. Seeing he’s on guard yet relaxed, I lean in and kiss my wife. Her lips part for me, her tongue darting out to dance with mine. Cupping her breast, I breathe into her, feeling her chest expand withme. Her nipple pushes into my palm. She’s so easy, my wife. Too trusting, too pure for this fucked up world I’ve dragged her into.How long until Raza breaks her?
“Incoming,” Jace murmurs.
I pull back from my queen immediately and turn to greet the unofficial head of my Court. Her long black hair is piled atop her head in her signature bun, complete with lethal hair pins stabbed through it. Her dark-red jumpsuit matches the bloodlust in her eyes.
“Your Majesty,” Dragon Petre says as she stops in front of my wife and raises her hands in greeting – bending them at the elbow, then flipping them over to show empty palms. “I was hoping you’d have lunch with the Court today, while King Morningstar is at the market.”
Arienna blinks. “But I’m going to the market too.”
She smiles. “Of course.” She inclines her head. “I meant after the opening ceremony.”
“Oh. Well, thank you for the invitation… baby, but I was hoping to browse the stalls with him.”
Arienna’s use of a nickname because she can’t remember Petre’s actual name isn’t lost on me, and I’m suddenly quite happy my wife is so shit at lying.
Though I must hand it to Petre. She doesn’t so much as purse her lips at the insult. She merely says, “As a member of the Court, it is my job to make sure you do not make a fool of yourself. I would not advise you being there today.”
“And why is that?” I cut in softly. I already know she’s trying to separate us so she can whisper poison in my wife’s ear, but what if there’s another reason?
King Dravr and his wife will be walking the market with me today. If the Court wants to take us all out together, it would be the perfect time to strike. Especially with Arienna –a queen they can manipulate– safe at their side.
“Look at the tension in this hall, Your Majesty. You and King Dravr hand-picked these people as the ones least likely to attack each other, and still, revenge bleeds in every eye. How many loved ones have we lost to the Vylians? How many have they –”
“Enough.” If it’s anger she wants to stir, she’ll have to try harder than that. “Six Dragons will walk the market with us. If you wish to talk to Arienna, you may do so there.” And if thereisan attack, I’ll shove them into the crossfire.
She smiles sweetly, no fear in her silver-and-green eyes. But she always was good at lying. “Of course, Your Majesty. I shall let the others know so we may change our plans.”
She leaves us, and I carry on down the hall. I need to find King Dravr, Echo, and Prince Nicholas before the opening ceremony. My brother is overlooking the organisation of the market stalls, and he’s been stressing over it for weeks. The Vylians can’t be on the outskirts of the square or it’ll look like they’re not wanted here; then Razians might get it into their heads that it’s okay to antagonise them. But their stalls can’t be closed in by Razians on all sides either or they’ll feel too threatened; then they’ll seedanger everywhere and will lash out in fear. Desperate to solve the puzzle, Nicholas was still tweaking the layout of his plans this morning at breakfast.
I find my brother in the stock room, making sure there weren’t any thieves in the night. The Vylian merchants arrived at the castle yesterday, before the celebratory ball, with all their wares in tow. They stayed here as our guests. I did not trust them to be put up in any of our hotels. Did not trust them to walk our branches and survive until morn.
Peace, it seems, is still going to require us to fight a war. Just a colder one – hopefully.
“Are there any issues?” I ask as we approach.
Nicholas shakes his head. He keeps his eyes down, his focus on the notebook he has in his hand. He writes down a number, then looks up at me. “So far, everything’s here, but I’m not quite done yet.”
“We don’t have long until it opens.”
“I know.”
“The merchants will need access to their wares.”
