“Oh, no, you are mistaken,” Arienna says as I pull out my chair for her. “He only ties me up while he fucks me. I’m not trapped there.”
Half of the room is shocked into silence. The other half –those who tried to talk to her yesterday– don’t hesitate to take their seats. Dragon Bailey even leans forwards and says, “I heard brownie women don’t orgasm. Is that true?”
Arienna laughs. “Not at all. We have toys. I can give you some if your partner isn’t able to finish you off. I don’t need them anymore.” She glances up at me as I stand behind her chair. She isn’t on my lap like Evangeline ordered, but with me standing while everyone else is sitting, I should be able to react faster than the Court. And she is still shielding me for the most part.
Beaming up at me, my queen makes my heart wrench with guilt. “He’s fucking amazing,” she says. “Plus, he has a lot of toys himself. All men should have toys, don’t you think?” She looks back at Bailey.
“Your Majesty,” Petre says sweetly, “as foreign as this might be for you, we have more important things to discuss thansex. Do you understand what will be required of you when you become queen, or has Richard failed to properly educate you?”
“Her knowledge will be irrelevant after she signs the new law,” I cut in, staring her down.
“A queen’s signature cannot be forced.”
“Nor can it be signed in ignorance,” Tanya adds. She has been jostling for Petre’s power over the Court for years. But as much as I hate Petre, I prefer her to be the one in charge. Her attacks are always controlled and cunning, calculated moves in a lethal game. Whereas Tanya is like a bee armed with unsteady explosives. Ruthless, brazen, and too fucking reckless. If she’s the one trying to kill me, she might end up hurting my queen on accident.
My fingers itch for a knife. “She will be following me around as I attend my duties until her coronation,” I say. “By the time it comes for her to sign the law, she will be well educated on the matter at hand.”
“It is impossible for her to learn everything about Raza in that time,” Dragon Coo cuts in.
“She does not need to know it all.”
“If she wants to come in here and rob us of our culture –”
“She is not robbing us.”
“You are not allowed to lie in here,Your Majesty,” Tanya spits. “I was informed this morning, you have brought in thousands of refugees. They’re a threat to our way of life!”
“We are not Brownston!” Dragon Coo roars in rage. “If you want us to be like them so badly, then you should move there!”
As the rest of the Court joins in, I half wish one of them would try killing me just so they’d shut up.
“You brought back more brownies?” Arienna asks as she peers up at me, but I cannot talk about my reasons here. The last thing I need is for the Court to find more ammunition against me. Already, I’m too tense with Fabia being in my queen’s guard.Now I don’t have to just worry about saving myself and my wife; I have to worry about saving her too because I know it’ll devastate Arienna if she dies.
Shit. I haven’t told her about Saragese.
My jaw tight, I look down at her. What was I thinking? She is never going to survive here.
“Do you even know what law we speak of?” Petre cuts in above the noise of her peers. They all quiet as Arienna looks across the round table at her.
“Um… no? You haven’t said…”
“He wishes to kill us,” Tanya sneers.
“What?” She jumps out of her chair this time, then turns to me. Her hands reach for me, but I step back. As much as I wish to let her comfort herself by thinking she can stop me from killing someone by holding my hands, I cannot risk being that vulnerable. Not here.
“That is not the purpose of the law,” I tell her. Looking over her, I address the Court with a sneer. “That is merely an added bonus due to the traditions” –I look back at my wife– “they wish to strangle this kingdom with.”
“Thosetraditionshave kept us alive for two thousand years. Without them, we’d be dead.” Coo glances at my wife. “Or something worse.”
Arienna trips over her feet and falls against my chest. As I take a step back to catch her weight, she grabs my hands. I was a second away from lunging at Coo for the insult she threw at my wife. Yet, Arienna doesn’t even know she was insulted. They’re going to eat her alive once I’m gone.
“Oh nooo,” she says, not at all convincing. “I fell over.” Twisting around, she presses her chest to my back, then reaches for my hands again. She wraps my arms around her while she faces the Court.
Pressing my lips to her ear, I speak softly so only she can hear. “Every second you keep hold of my hands, I will spank your pretty little ass.” Despite my words, I don’t want her to go anywhere. Evangeline will be pissed if she knew how vulnerable I’ve let her make me, locking my hands up like this, but I don’t care. I need to feel her against me right now. Else, I’m liable to kill everyone in here.
Pushing her ass against me, she asks, “So what’s the purpose of this law I’m supposed to sign?”
“One,” I warn under my breath.
