Chapter 18
Eighteen
A good brownie… never eats children.
That should be a rule, right? How is that not a rule? - Arienna
Oh.
Dear.
Gods.
That man can kiss.
Raising a hand to my swollen lips, I wonder how I made it twenty-seven years without ever having been kissed like that. Karl’s idea was all tongue and teeth and no lips. And he definitely never did that hand thing.
I trail my fingers down to my neck and swallow, feeling my pulse against the tips. Feeling the ghost of his touch still branding my throat.
My eyes land on King Richard’s ass as he walks away. Between his wasp-like wings and his pitch-black waistcoat, my eyes can’t see much of it, but my mind doesn’t seem to have the same issue.
Hot.
Damn.
That man is fine.
All the things I’m going to do to him. All the things he’s going to –
“Ow!” I flinch away, rubbing at my ribs where Fabia just elbowed me.
“He’s a warmonger, remember?” she hisses as he and Jace disappear through the doors.
My brain says, “Yes.” My heart says, “No.” And my pussy says, “Oh, baby,” as it imagines him destroying me like he has so many villages. Oh gods, I want him.
“Arienna!” She tugs on my arm.
“What?” I ask in exasperation.
“He’s a mass murderer,” she reminds me. “And a child killer. Remember the Massacre of Yanaho? Not even the newborns survived. He gutted them all himself. And all because he couldn’t be bothered listening to them cry for their mothers and fathers – people he had killed.”
I wince. The heat in my blood starts to cool.
“And then there’s the Feast of Kulther. They lined up all the orphaned children, and he picked which ones he wanted to eat. They say he preferred the young ones for their more tender meat. Which means he deliberately killed more than necessary to make up the difference in food.”
“More than necessary?” Nicholas asks dryly.
“It’s simple maths,” she snaps, “something I’m sure your brain would struggle with.”
“Fabia!” I gasp. “That’s rude. You should apologise.” Not to mention, she also sucks at maths; she once asked me what 132 times 43 is.
“Rude? What’s rude is killing unarmed people without giving them a trial.” Her voice breaks on that sentence, but she doesn’t look away from the cold eyes of the fairy. “And in case you haven’t noticed, Arienna, we’re no longer in Brownston. The rules don’t apply anymore.”
“Yes, they do. They’re the rules regardless of where –”
“A good brownie always aims for peace.” Ripping her eyes away from Nicholas, she grabs both of my arms. “You are queen of the fairies now, Arienna. They are the most vicious monsters out there, worse than centipedes. Their king is a tyrant, who is hated so much by his own people, they want to kill him. What do you think he wants with you? Do you think he needs you to sign a peace treaty? Are you really that naive?”
Ignoring the sting of her words, I shrug out of her hold.
“Naivety is just something pessimists say to crush the souls of the good. What’s wrong with seeing the best in people?
” Stepping back, I add, “Also, he’s not as toxic as some of the men you write about.
At least he hasn’t taken a barbed dick to my sto–”
“That’s fiction, Arienna.” She rolls her eyes, then quickly glances at Nicholas. “Just because I write about it doesn’t mean I actually want it.” She looks back at me. “Just like you reading about it doesn’t mean you actually want it, right?”
Well, maybe not the stabbing snail dicks stuff. But… My hand feathers to my neck again. Maybe the rest?
She groans. “You are hopelessly brainwashed.” Sighing, she shoves my shoulder. “Just don’t give him your heart, okay? He doesn’t deserve it.”
Before I can respond, Nicholas gestures to the guards. “Take Fabia to her chambers.” Glancing at me, he ushers me towards the door. “I’ll show you to yours.”
“For the consummation?” I grin. A shiver slides down my spine as I follow him down the hall, to this floor’s balcony.
I am so consumed with my thoughts, I’m only 90% terrified when Nicholas picks me up in his arms. The rest of me is focused on wondering what my king tastes like. Feels like. Thrusts like.
But then I imagine his sword thrusting into a woman.
“I slit one’s throat and stabbed another in the heart.”
“He’s a mass murderer and a child killer.”
“Do you think he needs you to sign a peace treaty? Are you really that naive?”
As we touch down on the next floor up, I blurt, “What does Richard want with me?”
Four female guards stand at attention at the opening of the balcony, their miens fierce.
Nerves flutter through me, but I find the courage to smile at them anyway.
They don’t smile back nor acknowledge me at all.
And Nicholas doesn’t answer as he guides me between them, then down the hall, where more guards stand.
The silence stretches until it becomes unbearable. Is Fabia right? Am I going to help a tyrant commit another act of madness? Am I too naive? Is it that wrong to believe there’s good in someone? Even a warmongering tyrant?
As my thoughts run wide, Nicholas stops in front of two more guards. They stand on either side of an ornate door. The carvings in the wood are beautiful, and were I not torn over what to do, I would’ve studied them in great detail.
Instead, I face my new brother-in-law. My chin up. My back straight.
I try to ignore the hammering of my heart.
I swallow past my suddenly dry throat.
What if Richard is, in fact, a monster?
But not, like, a cute one like Hyatt. Not a misunderstood ball of fluff. But an actual monster.
Before I can speak, Nicholas pulls me inside and shuts the door behind us.
“We don’t eat children,” he says as he walks around the room, glancing around the furniture as if he’s looking for something.
Relief floods me. Then I shake my head, remembering all the nightmarish tales whispered throughout our town. “Yes, you do. Everyone knows –”
“No. We really don’t.” He pokes his head through the open door of the bathroom.
“But everyone says –”
“They’re just stories. Morbid exaggerations told by our enemies. Some spread by us as a fear tactic.” He passes under the archway leading into the bedroom. “If people are too afraid to fight, that’s better for us. Less deaths.”
I frown as I follow him, not sure what to believe.
Fabia seems absolutely convinced he’s a monster.
And she is my best friend. She’s always been there for me.
She’s always done what’s best for me. She might not be a perfect brownie and, truth be told, she frustrates me from time to time, but she’s a good soul.
With a good heart. I trust her completely.
“So what happened at the Feast of Kulther then if you didn’t eat them? It’s said you could smell burning flesh all throughout the forest.”
After checking under the bed, Nicholas turns to face me. “Yeah… no, we burned them. We just didn’t eat them.”
My mouth falls open. My brain scrambles. “How is that any better?”
“Well, eating them would make us cannibals. There are a few that dabble in that, but most of us don’t.”
“Dabble? How do you dabble in cannibalism?”
He shrugs. “Same way you dabble in gay sex. If it’s just the tip, you’re still straight.”
I blink, not knowing what to say to that.
“So this is your suite,” he says, gesturing an arm around the room. “As you can see, there’s a bathroom, bedroom, and lounge area. If you want food, just ring the bell by the door. If you want to go anywhere, one of the guards outside will accompany you.”
He walks past me as my mind struggles to catch up. Turning, I chase after him. “Wait! What about the Massacre of Yanaho? Did Richard really kill all the children?”
He pauses with one hand on the door. “Of course not.”
I exhale in relief.
“That would’ve been a waste of good labour.”
Stepping outside, he closes the door behind him.