With dawning horror, she got onto all fours and leaned down to pick up a sweetmeat with her teeth. The king nodded his approval as she humiliated herself. He did it because of me, testing to see if I’d come to her defense. Much as I wanted to, I also knew that would only make it worse for her.
He was looking for weaknesses, the worst of which was kindness. To be kind to this woman would be to show him that he could hurt me by doing worse to her. I stopped watching her, forcing myself to pretend she really was nothing more than a dog.
The king narrowed his eyes, annoyed I hadn’t fallen for his old tricks. “You know why I made the alliance with the Vikings. There’s peace between the kingdoms now.”
“I don’t believe that was your entire motive. Why Sigrid?” It was the most I’d ever spoken back to him, so I was on thin ice, but this whole situation didn’t make sense.
“The Shrikes are practically at my front door, and the people are frightened. I can’t afford to fight two wars at the same time. We need peace with the Vikings to get our own affairs in order.”
“Why have you let the Shrikes to go unchallenged?”
He slammed a fist down on the arm of his chair, making the pitiable woman yelp and drop more food. “All you need to worry about is producing an heir, which won’t happen if you don’t actually fuck your wife.”
I stiffened, letting him have exactly the reaction he was looking for.
“I know everything that happens in this castle, boy. If I don’t have word of an heir by the next moon, I’ll know it’s for lack of trying. Berserkers are more fertile than normal humans, and you’re in your prime.”
I opened my mouth to argue with such a nonsensical timeline, but he held up a hand.
“We already know you’re a coward. Are you afraid of your wife?”
“How can you expect me to bed her, knowing the things she’s done?” I let the disgust I felt for him come out in my tone.
“Are you somehow incapable of completing the act? Perhaps you should prove you’re able to rise to the occasion.” He looked meaningfully at the woman beneath the table.
“There’s nothing wrong with my prick.”You sick fuck.Nausea swirled in my stomach. It wasn’t an idle threat. He’d done worse.
“If you can’t complete the act, I’ll be forced to do it myself. I’ll have a royal heir from the bitch one way or another.”
Fury churned in my guts, murderous, bloodthirsty fury that made my hands shake, revealing exactly what I’d been trying to conceal. He couldn’t know my true feelings for Sigrid.
Cruel laughter rolled out of him. “Oh, you don’t like that idea, do you, boy?”
I didn’t mean to expose the depth of my feelings, but I couldn’t stop the trembling rage that coursed through me. “She’ll kill you.”
Now he truly laughed. “She can’t.”
Alarm swept away my rage. The certainty with which he said it, the way he fingered the cuff on his arm that linked him to her, the dark amusement on his face. What exactly had he done when he leashed her berserker?
He flicked his wrist, dismissing me just as easily as he had his advisors, like he hadn’t just revealed the full extent of what he’d taken from Sigrid. Like he hadn’t just threatened to force himself on her. “Get out while I decide whether to punish you for your unlawful killing. One more step out of line, and I’ll have to send a messenger to the Viking king, let him know the two of you aren’t fully cooperating.”
I closed my mouth and bowed, knowing better than to argue with that tone. He’d follow through on his threat and make sure something brutal happened to Layla.
I was a warrior and a pirate, the former quartermaster of the Onyx, one of the most notorious crews to ever sail. I could lead my crew and defend my friends without fear…but this man, this monster who wanted us to believe he was a man…he struck terror into me, not for myself, but for everyone I cared about.
Because that’s what truly made him monstrous. He was a master at hurting people via their loved ones rather than hurting them directly. There was something twisted about living with the guilt of the awful things he did to people and wishing he’d just done them to you instead.
By the time I got back to our chamber, it was well after supper. I could see they’d sent an elaborate meal up to our rooms, as I’d asked, but it was untouched, and Sigrid was nowhere to be found.
Did she escape?
Did someone harm her?
She was in a court swarming with enemies, and even if she could handle herself in a fight, she’d be expected not to harmher attackers. Panic was a vise around my chest as I paced the room, wondering if searching for her would only alert others to her absence. If she was still in the castle, she could be anywhere, but if someone located her, they’d look for me here. The best I could do was wait and be ready for whatever chaos she was sure to be stirring.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SIGRID
