21. Thea
Chapter twenty-one
Thea
The Autumn Court
I had a pile of papers at my desk, but The Beast distracted me. The ambrosia oak timber was warm beneath my hands because I’d sat still so long staring at his profile while he read a leather-bound book. If a word or line caught his attention, he’d furrow his brows for the briefest moment that if I wasn’t watching him so very much, I’d have missed it.
He flicked the page and peered up. His tasty lips spread into a grin, then he winked at me. I dropped my attention to the papers otherwise I’d get up from the desk, walk across the hallway and drop to my knees in front of him.
Enticing thought that it was, I had duties to perform as the siren queen before my duties to a mate. Another reason sirens avoided taking a mate. We were fierce, independent women. Men were just an accessory we disposed of when they’d become useless. I couldn’t imagine the Beast would ever be useless. In fact, I had a lot of uses for him right now.
“Thea.”
I fumbled the quill. His deep voice was so close to me that he startled me. How did he sneak over here without my awareness? I scooped up the quill and placed it in the inkwell. The long, white swan’s feather wobbled for a split second, then settled. I pressed my fingers to my forehead. I’d finished taking care of the papers, but they’d taken longer than they should have.
Dropping my hand, I peered up. “Yes.”
His lips quirked as he chuckled. “You smudged a little ink on your face.”
I groaned and flopped backward in the chair. “Raelin will curse me.”
His laughter stopped and his expression became hard as though I carved him from the wood making his bed in the Winter Court. Dark. Ominous. A portent for the rage lurking inside him.
“Not literally.” I rolled my eyes.
Footsteps echoed along the stone hallway. The Beast spun so fast that he was a blur. In an instant, his leathery wings swooped out of his back and snapped forward talons ready to strike a foe.
The young siren who’d failed to sing paused in front of the doorway. Her luminous green eyes widened as she stumbled back a step.
“Your… Majesty,” she stuttered.
“Yes.” I rose an eyebrow and peered around the Beast.
“Your sister sent me to say the yellow moon has risen, and it’s time for you to get ready for the ceremony.” She stared at the floor as she spoke.
She feared the Beast, as she should. He was an imposing sight. Taking him as my mate was for the best. Not only was he a tremendous lover, but my heart fluttered whenever he was near. Perhaps I might have the type of love my mother and father shared. I was keen to find out. Even more excited to discover if our lives together would be happy.
I rose from the chair and went to step around the Beast. His arm snapped out and tugged me to his side.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“My bedchambers to bathe, change, and ready myself for the claiming and coronation ceremony.”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you look beautiful as is.”
I placed a hand on his cheek, cupping the warmth of his flesh. “Thank you, but appearances mean a great deal.” I slid my palm higher until my fingers almost touched his horns.
He snatched my hand away before I reached my prize.
“I’ll come and watch you prepare.”
I wasn’t about to argue, but the young siren stepped forward and gushed, “Oh, no, sir, we have to prepare you, too. We have a room allocated for your use and two eager handmaidens waiting to serve you.”
My insides burned with a white-hot jealous rage.
The Beast stopped breathing. His entire being paused, as though a predator had scented his prey. The tiny twitch of his nostrils was the only sign he was alive.
“No handmaidens,” he scraped out through clenched teeth.
“But—”
“No,” he growled.
She ducked backward, curtsying as she departed. “Very well.” She turned. “Follow me.”
“Go.” I untangled his arm from mine. “I’ll see you in a little while.”
“I don’t enjoy leaving you, little mate.” His brow furrowed into a deep frown.
I stretched up on tippy toes and kissed his forehead. “Your possessiveness is a little impractical.”
“You love it.” He cupped my face and lowered his lips to mine.
With one touch of his lips, my body burst into an inferno of desire. Every limb, every nerve, and beat of my heart throbbed with the painful need to have him closer still. His tongue swept inside my mouth. We dueled like enemies advancing and retreating with every blow of desire from our kiss knowing now wasn’t the time we could give into our carnal desires, but the teasing was worth it. It wasn’t torture at all, it was so pleasurable.
The young siren cleared her throat.
The Beast kept kissing me. I didn’t think to object. Thinking was not an option. He bent me backward over the desk and my heart raced for him to take me as he had last night over a desk, but he inched down my body, pressing his hard muscles against me as he dropped to his knees at my feet.
“After you, my Majesty.” He swept his arm to the door and shuffled to the side.
I stifled my laughter. Oh, he was good at pretending I was the one in control, but we both knew he could have taken me there and then with no objection from me. My control was absent in the face of the man making me feel emotions other than lust. I straightened and swept out of the room without a backward glance.
Yes, I was the queen.
I was in control.
My subjects needed to see that. Otherwise, anarchy would reign across the Autumn Court.
I swept into my bedchambers keeping my haughty air alive and vibrant. Raelin rushed out of the bathroom, a waft of steam following in her wake. She beamed at me and closed the door behind me. I almost let the mask go, but I spun around so she could untie my dress.
I sighed.
“Is everything all right, your majesty?”
I peeked over my shoulder. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You seem a little preoccupied.”
“Thinking.”
“About your handsome Beast, no doubt.” She tugged the last ribbon free.
I shrugged out of my gown. “He is handsome and fierce.”
“He makes you smile and laugh.” She picked my gown up off the floor. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you happy.”
I removed my crown and lay it on the mantlepiece over the fire. The rubies winked at me as though they saw my secrets.
“Me either,” I sighed.
I recalled my childhood being full of laughter with parents who loved and doted on us twins. Those days changed the moment we discovered our father dead. The shock had changed all of us.
“It’s a good thing, this Beast of yours.” She ushered me into the bath.
I sank under the rose petal water, the saccharine scent soaking into my skin.
“I believe so.”
“The Winter Court differed from what I expected.” She poured water onto my hair and lathered the long strands with soap. “The demons too.”
“They know how to party,” I agreed.
“That wasn’t what I meant.” She massaged my scalp, helping to ease my tension. “I expected them to be as vicious as us, but they were warm and welcoming.”
I chuckled. “They are more vicious than sirens. Don’t let that party fool you.”
She rinsed my hair in quiet sullenness.
“Raelin don’t sulk. I couldn’t bear to have you upset for tonight.”
She squeezed my fingers. “I don’t want to contradict my queen, but they did not fool me. If anything, they opened my eyes to another way of being.”
“You know as well as I do, those sirens would go on a murdering spree if left unchecked.”
“Perhaps in time you and the Beast will show them another way of being.”
“Mayhap, Raelin. Let me claim him first and place a crown on his horned head.”
Raelin blushed. “Is what they say true about their horns?”
I grinned. “Very true.”
Her face turned crimson to match the rose petals floating in the bathwater. A knock rapped on my bedchamber’s door, saving her from further embarrassment.
“That will be your gown.” She beamed. “It’s the most gorgeous dress I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m looking forward to wearing it.” I patted her hand.
She pushed off the floor and left the bathing room. I sank back into the water. Would the Beast and I be happy together? Love each other? If I was honest with myself, I’d say those small sparks of feelings associated with love were already starting. Would he feel the same way about me? Could I make him happy? Would he be content to live as the siren king? With me as the ruler? And him as a lesser royalty? Or would his royal lineage demand he took the power from me?
I hadn’t sensed that desire in him.
No, the only desire I’d sensed coming from him was for sex. He’d exceeded himself there. My body hummed with anticipation of our union tonight. Of me claiming him in front of the royal council, and my meager family. And placing a crown on his head and giving him the authority to help me rule the sirens. Could we change the ways of the Autumn Court and sirens?
I’d aimed for a mate, an heir, but now I wanted it. Wanted him. More than just for a ruthless partner in this hostile world, but to have him as mine. A lover and friend, protector and confidant, a mate to love.
Love?
I sat up with a start.
Was love possible between us?
The friction we generated was delicious. Perhaps that was why we’d combusted in passion so well together.
“Raelin?” I called out. I’d expected her back to wash my body before dragging me out of the bath.
When she didn’t come rushing into the bathroom, my skin prickled in a warning. I sloshed out of the bath, wrapped a robe around my damp body, and walked into my bedroom. I jerked to a stop.
“Melanie? Where did Raelin go?”
My sister rose from the wingback chair that had always been her place to sit in my bedchambers. The same chair the Beast now sat in.
“She had something to attend for the ceremony.” Melanie brandished her hand at the bed. “Your dress is here.”
I walked over to the bed, my damp feet making a wet slapping noise on the floorboards. On the bed lay a stunning gown of gold fabric shining lustrously under the sparkle of the chandelier. My fingers itched to trace the intricate silver and gold stitched pattern on the bodice.
“It’s exquisite.” I traced one line of stitching, giving into the urge. Would the Beast do the same thing?
“Isn’t it? Let’s toast to your night before you put on the gown and risk spilling wine down it.”
I laughed. “Could you imagine the seamstress’s face if I did that?”
Melanie smirked. “She’d probably die of shock.”
I sat opposite her in the wingback chair as we had so many times before. The mirror image of my twin stared back at me. Melanie handed me the glass of wine sitting on the table, another glass already clutched in her hand.
“To your claiming.” She clinked her glass against mine.
I sipped the red wine from the crystal goblet.
She smiled and sipped her wine. Then she raised her glass again. “To your dress.”
“Oh, yes, that deserves a toast.” I clinked my glass to hers and sipped.
She sipped too. “What else should we toast to? I know, to your soon-to-be king.”
I eagerly clinked my glass to hers and drank deeper this time. “He is mighty fine. He’ll make a fabulous king for the sirens.”
“I think so too.” She grinned. “Is there a toast you’d like to make?”
“No, I think you covered them all.”
Melanie scowled.
“What?”
She slammed her glass on the table, shattering the delicate stem and spilling red wine across the timber table and onto the woolen rug underneath.
“It’s always about you. You’re the eldest. You’re the queen. It’s your claiming ceremony. Why can’t it ever be about me?”
“Melanie.” I fumbled for her hand, but I fell off the chair and landed on my knees. The room spun in a kaleidoscope of colors. “What? You’re my sister, I love you.”
“But it’s not enough.” She dropped to her knees in front of me. “I’m sorry, but this was the only way.”
“What are you talking about?” Along with my eyes seeing colors that weren’t there before the inside of my brain swirled in a pattern that made it hard to concentrate.
“I love you too. That’s why I’m doing this. It could have been worse. Much worse. At least you get to live this way.”
“Melanie?” I gasped.
Her mouth muttered a spell. Not something sirens usually dabbled in. Spells were witches’ territory, but they often sold their wares for the right price. Power hummed in the air as a circle formed. I struggled to scramble away from the swirling vortex, but the power sucked me in as though it called to the liquid inside my stomach. I spun and spun. My body flipped over and bounced against the sides of the vortex tunnel until bruises and cuts stung my flesh. I fell out the other side onto the cold, damp grass.
Groaning, I touched a hand on my head. My ears rang and pounding echoed inside my skull. I pried open my eyes and squinted at the gloomy blue-gray sky. Clouds trundled in the soft breeze forming shapes that were there one minute and disintegrated the next. I rolled to my side. Tall trees formed a forest. Should I go that way? Did I come from there? Where was I? The pounding and ringing eased, so I rolled to the other side. Green fields stretched across the hills. In the distance, a figure rushed across the lush grass. A woman. She ran across the land to my side. Did I come from her direction? Why couldn’t I remember?
“Lady, are you all right?” she asked, kneeling at my side.
“I… I think so.” I sat up and patted my body, testing my limbs. A few jerked in pain, but how did I hurt myself?
“You have cuts all over you.” She tutted.
I glanced around. Did I fall? Trip? What happened?
“Where am I?” I asked.
“Ireland. I’m Cara. A fae. Who are you?”
“I’m…”
Who was I?
My head ached again. I brushed a hand over my temple and flinched at the tenderness.
“I’m…”
What was I? I knew there were different beings, but when I tried to recall what I was, my head pounded with pain.
“You must have bumped your head, love. Come, I’ll take you home and take care of these bruises until you figure things out.”
I clasped her hand. “Cara, what if I never do?”