“Oh. Sorry. I know how much you want to be a guard.”
“Thank you.” Fabia sighs. But she shoots a quick look at my brother when she thinks no one is looking.
And he still hasn’t left the room despite still standing at the table.
I smile, loving how much change my beautiful queen is bringing to Raza already.
Perhaps…
Maybe…
Maybe my world won’t break her.
Maybeshewill break it.
Sixteen
The Court is a queen’s worst adversary. It is also her greatest ally.
Fuck them all.
- King Richard
It goes against everything I am to sit down in the queen’s chair when we start our royal duties in the Throne Room. Pulling Arienna onto my lap, I try not to think about her dead in front of me. There is no reason for the Court to kill her; in fact, they need her alive. If we both die, the throne will fall to Nicholas. He’s soft enough to manipulate, but he’s still a hel of a lot harder to control than my wife.
Wriggling her ass on my cock, Arienna looks over her shoulder. Her eyes are bright with mischief. “Am I going to get the same bet today?”
“No.”
She starts to look nervous. “Are you going to fuck me in front of everyone?”
“That depends.”
She sucks in a breath. “On?”
“Whether or not you behave yourself.” I nudge her head around as Jace and Irin open the large double doors of the Throne Room. Light pours in from outside, washing over the carving of the raven and snake that’s entangled on the floor.
She wriggles her ass on me. I wrap my arm around her waist. She wriggles again, but then stills as soon as the man who enters starts talking about taxes.
I explain things to her as much as I can. I don’t know how much she’s taking in, but she’s quiet and thoughtful, and the morning goes much quicker with her here.
Nudging her up, I walk with her down the stairs. There are splinters in my ass from our combined weight pressing me down onto that thorn-carved throne, but I relish in the discomfort. Use it to keep myself sharp.
My eyes flicker up to my throne as we reach the bottom of the dais. Did someone lace it with poison, hoping one of those thorns would administer it into my blood? Or has this morning truly passed without an attempt on my life?
But even if the latter is true, it doesn’t make me relax any. Because the next thing on our schedule is a meeting with the Court.
Leaving our five guards outside the door to the Council Room, I usher Arienna into the bird’s nest.
The twelve Dragons of Kholar stand as one, and the urge to kill them all to find the traitor is making me itch with the need to pull a knife. Something I know they’re all feeling too, especially the six that joined us at the market.Though, I note as we make our way to my chair,not one of them is sporting any injuries.
Were they outside of the blast because they knew where it would be? Or did they just get lucky?
“Your Majesty,” the Dragons all say as they bow low at my queen. It’s a blatant ‘fuck you’ to me. Given she isn’t crowned yet, I should have been greeted first. But it’s the wholesynchronised shit that’s making my skin crawl. Was the Court member who took out the hit on me the same one who let the witches into the castle to spell the Vylian wares to explode? Or are they all fucking in on it?
I can survive one, maybe even a third of the Court being brazen enough to try to assassinate me. But all twelve? Even if Jace, Echo, and Evangeline can keep me safe – what will remain of Raza? What will happen to my sister’s vision of this place that I’m trying so hard to honour?
“We are pleased to see you here today,” Petre says as she straightens. Instead of a bow, she raises her arms at the elbows to me. As she shows me her empty palms, the rest follow suit. “We did not think you’d come given how keen King Morningstar is to keep you trapped in your rooms.”
