Deirdre’s lips purse in disapproval.
“You are dismissed.”
She bows sharply. “Thank you, Your Majesties.”
As she starts to leave, I call out, “Wait, please. I have a question I didn’t get to ask yet.”
She spins back around gracefully. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Does cum count as a soul?”
She blinks.
Remembering that no one can know that my king just survived an assassination attempt or else the Court will execute Fabia, I add, “Just out of curiosity.” I swallow, the lie burning on my tongue. “Because in Brownston… we keep everyone’s cum... in jars.” I wince.Idiot! We have too many orgies! That’d be insane!“The jars are really starting to take up a lot of space, as you can imagine given how much sex we have. There are whole shops now just covered in cum-filled jars. All the way to the ceiling.”
Richard’s fingers dig into my hip.
“And I told them” –I shake my head– “that I don’t think it works like that, so we can start... eating them to clear up some space,” I choke out, “but they don’t believe me. So I told them the next chance I get, I’ll ask a necromancer. And well, here you are. So… uh, do you need to feed people their cum to bring them back from the dead?”
I hold my eyes open wide as I wait for her to answer.
Her gaze flickers to Richard, then drifts back to me. “No, Your Majesty.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes… I don’t have to wank corpses or finger them before resurrecting them.”
“Ah. Ah, yes, of course not.” That sounds so obvious now that she’s said it. But at the time, terrified of losing Richard, I would’ve tried anything. Swallowing, I nod. “That is all, Deirdre. Thank you.”
A smile splits her face. “No, Your Majesty,thank you.”
Bowing low, she takes her leave.
As she disappears into the crowd outside, I exhale as I sag, thankful she believed me. I would feel terrible if I got Fabia killed.
Four
A fairy’s promise is magically binding.
Never make a deal you can’t win.
- King Richard
Fuck.I need to teach Arienna how to lie. Deirdre might look like a warm, caring hippy, but her heart is as twisted as the magic she practices. Once she gets a whiff of something she can potentially blackmail someone with, she digs until she finds their bones.
And we have a lot of fucking bones.
If Jace can’t convince Deirdre there’s nothing to find the next time they play throwing knives, I’ll have to deal with her in a way no one can bring her back from the dead. With her hailing from one of the richest families in Raza, from the strongest line of necromancers our kingdom has ever known, that means I’d have to kill her inside a fairy ring.
But if I step into one again, there’s a damn good chance I won’t come back. Even though Deirdre is only an average fighter, relying on necromancy to make her name, I have pushed my luck in the ring too many times.
Entering a fairy ring once is a high risk. Only one person can leave; the other gets their soul trapped inside it for all eternity.Entering it twice is fucking stupid as the soul of your previous fight attacks you too. Entering it a third time is nothing short of a death wish. Every soul in it will try to drag you down.
If I step into one again, it will be my fourth time. But I’d risk my very soul to save my queen. If she’s the reason her best friend gets executed, it’ll break her.
Feeling the crows already circling around my wife, I look at Jace. I signal to him, telling him we will see three more people before we leave. I want to check the security at the market to make sure it’s safe before I arrive with my queen.
He nods, and I turn my attention to the man who enters. After he says his piece and leaves, Arienna glances over her shoulder at me. “So… you and Jace, huh?” she says as she wriggles against me. “Is that a common thing?”
