Chapter 24 #2
“I know,” he whispered, grabbing my face in his hand as he looked at me, analyzed my every feature.
“We’d been trying to get the curse off you.
The Midnight Palace wouldn’t let me leave, but I was trying to break the curse from the throne room with Vair.
When it finally broke, he took the hit.” My poor heart. “He chose to.”
My eyes closed. A wave of tears slipped from the corners and made a mess of me within seconds. I squeezed the marble in my hand with all my strength until it hurt, and I still didn’t stop.
The asshole.
The fucking asshole!
He knew what would happen. He knew he wouldn’t survive it. Raja barely had when she broke Rune’s curse, and that’s while those dragon bones took most of the hit when the magic fired back. He knew he wouldn’t survive it, and he did it anyway.
“I’m sorry, Wildcat. I was prepared for it, but he didn’t give me a chance.
He absorbed the curse as it came—I couldn’t stop it,” Rune whispered, and I knew that.
He wouldn’t have even known because nobody else could hear Vair speak but me.
But even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to stop it.
Vair was a stubborn creature. He’d have found a way around whatever Rune tried.
God, I was shaking. If he hadn’t held me as tightly as he did, I would have fallen apart limb by limb. I was breaking.
The horse continued to move. The tears didn’t stop coming—couldn’t stop, but it was okay. Rune kept me against his chest, his lips pressed to the top of my head, and he let me come undone, then put myself back together again.
It took a while, but eventually I stopped shaking.
A little longer, and the tears had dried on my cheeks, too.
My face felt swollen. I had no idea how long I’d cried, or how long we’d ridden, or how far we’d come—all I knew was Rune. His arms and his warmth and his scent and his kisses. His whispers in my ear.
When I finally gathered strength to sit upright and look around, the sight of all those soldiers lining both sides of a wide bridge took my breath away.
“Steady,” Rune said—must have felt me freezing. “We’re safe. We’re in the Midnight Court, Wildling. We’re okay.”
I moved.
Holding onto his shoulders, I pushed myself up and to the side, and I sat on his lap with my back to his chest, the saddle just barely wide enough to fit me.
My God, we really were in front of the gates to the Midnight Court. The sky above us was dark, no moon in sight, and behind us was Maera, riding on one of the wolves. One of the two wolves, not four. Only two, which made me think the others had spread out to search for something.
Maera smiled when our eyes met, and it was forced. She was not comfortable, and it was easy to see from the way she held her shoulders.
I tried to smile back before I faced forward again, a little panicked, a lot afraid.
“Rune, are you sure they won’t stop us? They won’t stop Maera?
” Because there were over a dozen soldiers in front of us, on the sides of that bridge that I’d crossed alongside Vair the last time I was in the Midnight Court.
The gates were open, and the soldiers were all armed, all watching us, waiting…
“I’m sure. We’re safe, I promise you. Please don’t be afraid, wildling.”
His every word rang true—and then it hit me.
I turned halfway, looked up at him as he stared ahead, his arms at my sides, a hand on the horse’s reins, the other around my waist, just under my breasts.
“You’re…”
“The king, yes,” Rune said, and again, he flinched, just like before. “We’re going to be okay.”
Yes, because he’s the actual Midnight King.
And the soldiers on the sides of the bridge bowed their heads when we were close enough, while the large gates on the other side opened wider.
Nothing about this place had changed. The border of the kingdom didn’t rise like a wall, but it sank, carved deep into the land for over fifty feet. It wasn’t a river. There was no water here, just a large hole wrapped around the edge of the Midnight Court.
The horse we rode on was as big as all horses I’d seen in the fae realm, except its coat was a black so deep he could have been made out of the night sky itself.
He held his head up and his every step was precise.
Rune made sure I didn’t slip off the saddle, but I was still terrified of what we’d find when we crossed through those large gates.
The Midnight Court was dark.
Last time, there had been only guards and the people who’d come through with their carriages. This time, there were plenty of guards as well, but there was also a huge crowd right off the gates, and they were all there to see Rune.
A bad feeling settled in my gut. I squeezed Rune’s hand over my stomach, and my magic reacted right away, tearing down my arms with such strength I had to grit my teeth to keep the pain inside.
Every alarm in my head was ringing. I expected the worst, of course.
I except to be attacked any second, and…
Then the people stepped back and bowed.
We passed down the wide, cobbled path, and the soldiers remained on either side of it, and behind them the crowds of countless Midnight fae were bowing their heads, their hands to their chests.
Every time I thought I understood the very words coming out of my mouth, I was shocked by the visual proof of them all over again.
Rune was king. He was the Midnight King. He ruled over all these people.
The shock kept my mind blank for a long time.
A sea of black clothes, black heads and dark eyes watching us stretched on either side, and nobody spoke or called or stopped us.
They were there to look, most curious, half smiling, half confused, and more than a few pissed off, if their bloodshot eyes were anything to go by.
The horse never slowed down or sped up as we went deeper, toward the building. Maera and her two wolves remained close behind us, and the fae watched her with even more confusion and curiosity as they did me.
It might have been the longest ride of my life—and it didn’t end there.
The people were curious. Fae in the windows of every single building, on the streets, every few feet, and they’d all stopped whatever they were doing to watch us pass by. To bow when our horse was near them. To whisper among one another, pointing fingers, nodding heads.
Fuck, it was so strange I couldn’t wrap my head around it, but we never stopped. There were Midnight soldiers on their black horses ahead, maybe six or seven, leading the way, and there were twice as many behind Maera and the wolves as well, just walking behind us. Following.
Rune didn’t speak. I didn’t make a single sound.
And finally, there was the Midnight Palace.
The memories of the first and last time I’d seen those walls, those dark towers, felt the weight of all that magic over my shoulders, trickled into my mind drop by drop.
I’d been with Vair then, and we’d gone all around those massive walls to try to find a weak spot because they searched people who went through the front gates.
Except now.
Now, the soldiers ahead made our way, and the horse we rode on followed. The magic fell over us little by little, and though it wasn’t painful or even uncomfortable, it was still intense. Thick, like I might be able to touch it if I reached out a hand.
The courtyard was vast and empty save for guards stationed every few feet near the walls and the fae lights that burned just a little brighter inside the walls than they had out there.
There were no trees, no flowers, no benches—only shadows, thicker in the corners, alive, just like the building ahead.
The path was wide and pin straight, no lanes or hedges, no statues or lanterns—nothing but thick square cobbles underneath the hooves of the horse.
And the palace itself was fucking watching through countless windows that were its eyes.
The dark stone glistened like it had been covered in oil. It was tiered with arches and balconies that seemed to go on forever, or simply vanish into the dark sky over us. The windows were mostly tall and narrow, and the glass of them didn’t seem to reflect the lights hovering about in the air.
The massive doors at the end of the wide path were open. In front of them were more guards, and a woman wearing a black velvet dress, with a smile on her face and a crown in her hand.
Rune pulled the reins lightly, and the horse slowed down, then stopped, still a few feet away from the black marble stair the woman stood on.
Two Midnight soldiers were immediately at our sides, and my instincts fired up right away, like always.
But the soldiers merely stood there while Rune jumped off, then turned around and reached his hands for me. I threw myself to the side without really thinking, without hesitation, and he caught me.
Hands around my waist, and my feet were on the ground.
“Take it away,” Rune said, but he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to the soldier.
“Yes, Your Highness,” said the Midnight fae, his eyes flashing when they met mine for a second. Then he grabbed the reins of the horse, and led the animal away, and I felt so fucking naked standing there with the attention of all those guards—and that woman—on me.
Behind us, Maera stood between the wolves, head up, eyes dark, and she was even more uncomfortable than before. Yet when our eyes locked, she nodded at me, as if to say that we were okay.
I wasn’t sure if I believed her, but I faced the woman in front of the gates anyway, and I tried to keep control of my emotions. It was easy when I focused on her face and actually saw her.
Holy shit, she looked so much like Rune.
“Come, Wildcat,” Rune whispered, and he was uncomfortable, too. Every inch of his body was locked tightly, and the way he kept his unblinking eyes forward, and the way his jaws moved as he clenched his teeth—yes, he was just as uncomfortable as me.
Which somehow made perfect sense to me, knowing Rune. He despised attention, and now he was at the very center of it.
“That was a fast trip, brother.” Shivers erupted on my skin when the woman spoke. “Welcome back.”
Rune squeezed my hand in his when we stepped over the marble stair.
“Jasewine,” Rune said, and the tension in his voice alone was enough to let me know that he was more than just uncomfortable—he was on edge.
He was looking at the woman—his sister—like he expected her to grow an extra head—or to attack. That was enough to make my magic go crazy again, and it vibrated inside me, as if it was breaking out of my very bones.
“Is this the mortal?” said the woman, turning to look at me, her smile strangely genuine, though mischievous. It gave me the impression that she was messing with me.
“I’m Nilah,” I said when the silence got to me, still unsure what exactly to expect.
“I’m Princess Jasewine,” the woman said with a slight nod of her head before she turned to Rune again. “And you’ve brought wolves to our doorstep—how very…reckless of you.”
Rune took half a step forward and my heart skipped a beat. “They’re my guests. Is that going to be a problem?”
His every word weighed a thousand pounds, and it settled right over my shoulders. If these people here tried to attack Maera and her pack mates, I was going to fight them. God help me, I was going to try.
But…
“Well, you did trust me with the crown, and it’s my job to make sure the palace remains safe.” The woman raised the crown—the crown of the Midnight King, the same one King Helem had had on his head when I first saw him.
“But…” A big, bright smile was on the woman’s face. Rune refused to move a single inch, and I had no fucking idea how much longer I could take the pressure, when…
“Thank the stars you’re back now, Your Highness.” Fuck, that grin. “Allow me.”
She moved lightning fast, and my magic slipped out of my fingertips on instinct until I realized she’d put the crown right over Rune’s head.
“There. Much better. Welcome home, My King. Shall I see to it that a meal is prepared for your guests? I’d be honored.”
Hands against her chest, the woman blinked all innocently at Rune.
Rune, who had closed his eyes and who was finally breathing.
The woman laughed. “Your face was priceless just now, brother. Come, come. I get bored standing here. Come on, now.” And with a wave of her hand, she turned around and slipped inside the doors, laughing under her breath still.
Why the fuck just happened?
I looked at Rune. He looked at me. Sighed. “Welcome to the Midnight Palace, wildling.”
I shook my head at the small smile on his lips. “I don’t understand.” Which might have been the understatement of the fucking century.
“That’s okay. I’ll try to explain.” He raised my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “Come on in.”
Together, we walked through the doors, and Maera and her wolves followed.