“No. You have your debate in a few minutes. And then you’ll disappear like you did after the market.”
“Arienna –”
She shakes her head as she peers up at me. Cupping my cheek, she giggles. “I love you. But you have duties. And I need to see Fabia. She’s my duty. So I want the belt on. That way, you can be with me even when you’re away.”
Leaning in, I kiss her. My chest tightens. Then expands, blossoming with a rapidness that scares me.I love you.
“I –” I start.
The door opens, and I turn.
Coward.
My heart pounding, I look at Jace as he takes the supplies I requested off the guard at the door. He lays them on the desk. Iorder Arienna to sit beside them and spread her legs. After I heal the little redness that’s there, I toss the wand back at Jace so he can fix his own wounds.
As I wash and dry the chastity belt, Arienna runs her fingers through my hair. “I love you,” she says so easily.
I swallow as I try to turn my own feelings into sound. But defeating the Vylians was easier than this. The last time those words nearly came to be was the last dinner I shared with my sister. She mouthed them to me, forgiving me for killing her.Thankingme as she drank from that fucking poisoned glass.
Now they’re wrapped around that horror, and I don’t know how to say them without dragging up that pain. My queen deserves more than that. She deserves to hear them on their own and not with all the baggage attached.
And yet, I want to say them. I want her to know.
But when I open my mouth, the words that come out are, “You’ll need to stand for me to put the belt back on.”
My throat burns with my cowardice. My hands, though, are steady and efficient as I dress my queen, altering the fit a bit so it hopefully will not rub. I’m suited to war, not what comes after. But perhaps in time… I can learn what it means to be a husband rather than just a king.
She looks at me and smiles.
I l–
A knock at the door sounds. Echo enters. “Evangeline will see you after the debate,” she says.
I nod, she leaves, and I turn back to my queen. “I do not have time to have lunch with you,” I say. “And I might miss dinner. When you take the belt off, check yourself for sores. If it’s red, use a wand. If I’m not back in time for dinner, clean it before it goes back on.”
She nods. I kiss her on the forehead, then step around her. “Stay with her,” I tell Jace. “Echo will be at the debate.”
“She was with you on the ride over –”
“So were you.” I reach the door. “Stay with my wife.”
If Evangeline’s plan was to attack Arienna to see which Court member would risk everything to protect her, then Petre’s our traitor. And if she is, then fucking half the Court is too because her sway with the others is strong.What if it’s all of them? After all, it’s all their lives on the line...
I pause at the door, fucking terrified of leaving her alone. Jace won’t be enough to stop them. They might want her alive, but they could kidnap her. Threaten her life to get me to give up mine.
And I’d do it. Even if I know they’re bluffing, I wouldn’t be able to risk it.
I can’t lose her.
“Jace,” I say without turning.
“I’ll protect her as if she was Aurelia,” he says softly.
Despite knowing all that means is I’ll lose both of them if the Court attacks, I nod, then step out into the hall. The best place for her is far away from me. The best defence is me figuring out how to kill the entire Court at once. At least while we debate, they’ll be in the same room with me, so if they make a move against my wife, I can kill them all.
“Echo,” I say as she walks beside me.
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
