Chapter 88
Valen
I stared down at the faces in the crowded throne room.
Many I recognized—the court, the staff, my guards—but most were new.
The former inhabitants of the castle had assembled on one side of the room, the statues I’d ignored for decades, now brought back to life.
On the other, Gregoire had gathered all those who’d been changed into beasts, cursed to live out their miserable lives in the woods, now made whole.
And finally, in the back, under guard—deserters from the Crimson Host who’d survived the attack and were begging for amnesty.
All of them waiting for some direction, some purpose.
What a fucking mess.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and glanced over at Belle.
She sat beside me on a delicate throne that matched my own. I’d never thought I would have use for the thing, but now…now she’d be my queen. She’d said yes. I almost couldn’t believe it.
She was my light and joy, my whole purpose. She’d brought me back to life as surely as the statues. I’d spend the rest of my days ensuring she knew how special she was.
Her lady’s maid had helped her into a high-necked gown. She wore her hair half up, half down, the upper section braided in a crown, while the rest fell down her back.
She was the most stunning creature I’d ever seen, radiant and beautiful and filled with power—and unease.
Had I been a fool to drag her here? I’d wanted everyone to see her, to know that she’d saved us, that she’d rule beside me…but doubt coiled.
“Are you alright, princess?” I asked.
She glanced over at me, and her painted lips curved into a hesitant smile. “Honestly? I’m a bit nervous.”
Candlelight shifted across her face, highlighting the bruise on her cheek and the circles under her eyes that no pigment could disguise. The battle with Locke had taken a toll on her that even my blood was slow to mend.
My fists curled around the armrests of my throne. The dragon within me was gone, but something just as fierce rose in its place.
The doors to the hall burst open, but I kept my gaze locked on her. “Do you want to leave? I’ll get you out of here, just say the word.”
She arched her eyebrows in disbelief. “Are you kidding? I’m dying to meet the queen.”
“Princess, technically. Their wedding was interrupted. You’re a queen.”
“That’s a double standard,” she whispered. “You haven’t married me yet.”
“That makes no difference to me, nor does it change what you are. You claimed the title when you rescued this kingdom.”
Someone coughed politely, drawing my attention away from my muse. The whole court was watching. And waiting.
I nodded to the Master of Ceremonies, and he straightened. “His Majesty, King Harold, and Queen Emma, Lords of Highwatch, sovereign rulers of the Fairwood, request audience with His Majesty, the Dragon King.”
Highwatch and the Fairwood. Two places that no longer existed, not as they’d known them.
The former king and would-be queen approached the dais with their entourage. They wore the same clothes as the day they’d been cursed, the styles outdated and muted compared to my court’s chosen attire—outdated as their claim to my throne.
The pair paused at the base of the dais, the woman curtsying, the man glaring up at me with an arrogance that made me bristle.
I gestured lazily. “Welcome to Castle Fellspire and my kingdom.”
“The thrones you sit on are ours,” the former king said. “This kingdom belongs to my bloodline.”
I leaned forward, grateful I no longer had to control a beast within me. “Your kingdom vanished hundreds of years ago. Time has moved on, if you haven’t noticed. I rebuilt this castle from ruins, and you wouldn’t be here if it were not for Lady Marq—”
Belle’s hand on my arm cut off my words as surely as the headsman’s ax. “Valen, please,” she whispered. “Emma saved us as much as we saved them.”
The court murmured at the breach of etiquette. I glared at them. She could damn well speak whenever she wished. I gestured to her. “Let me introduce my queen, Lady Belle Marquette. The one who defeated Locke and broke his curse—over you.”
The king inclined his head in due respect.
The woman beamed. “I knew the Fates would save us. That you would.”
Belle returned her smile. “I don’t know if you remember anything from when you were stone, but you led me to the truth.”
“I chose not to remember anything of that time, or that man. Only that in the end, my faith and prayers were rewarded.”
“And our kingdom stolen,” the vagrant king muttered.
I leaned back on the throne. “Your kingdom was abandoned and vanished from the annals of history.”
Belle’s hand tightened on my arm, and a prickle of guilt caught me off guard. The woman had clearly changed me.
I cleared my throat. “This kingdom is mine—but I’m a merciful king, and my queen has taken a liking to yours. We’ll find you a place in my court if you swear allegiance.”
Anger cut the king’s narrow jaw, and he reached for his blade, but the lady beside him stilled his hand. She smiled tenderly at him and said, “We have our lives now. We have each other. Let that be enough.”
She knelt and bowed her head to us. “We swear our allegiance, Your Majesty and Lady. We would be honored to have a place in your kingdom, if you allow it.”
The king, appearing flustered, looked to his entourage, then the court of immortals, and back to his wife.
The tension finally fell from his shoulders, and nodding, he knelt and took his place beside her. “As my queen so wisely points out, we have our lives and each other. I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, and ask that you’ll find a place for us.”
I grinned and looked at Belle.
She was watching them, a soft smile on her lips, almost mournful, and painful in its beauty.
My stomach knotted. She was radiant, but the fire within her had dimmed.
She sat awkwardly, her shoulders tense, her hand still clutching mine.
Even though the curse over this place had been broken, there was a subtle misery hidden behind her eyes.
The throne was beautiful, but it didn’t suit her. Neither did this place. Or this moment.
My fingers dug into the arms of the throne. She’d accepted the crown because she loved me. Because it was what I wanted. Because she always put others first.
We have our lives now. We have each other. Let that be enough.
A leaden certainty pressed down on me, and I dug my fingers into the arms of the throne as the steel jaws of the trap began to close around me.
The prophecy.
I saw it now, and I couldn’t escape.
That fucking witch. I searched the room for her, my gaze raking over the crowd. She had to be here lurking, reveling in her triumph. I found her in the far back, hood pulled low, delight twinkling in her single eye.
“Godsdamnit,” I growled. The murmurs in the court silenced in shock.
“What is it, Valen?” Belle whispered, turning to me, her expression distraught.
My throat was tight, and I felt the hangman’s noose as I turned to face her. “This isn’t the life you dreamed, is it, princess?”
She stilled, her pulse quickening. “I thought I could make it mine.”
Fuck. I was a monster, still. I leaned in, my voice low. “You don’t want a crown or this miserable castle. You want to see the world. To taste everything life has to offer.”
Her lips parted, but there was no response. She didn’t need to give one. I saw all that I’d taken from her in her boundless lavender eyes.
The trap snapped shut.
I sank back in my seat, glaring at Siggy, at everyone in the room. To my surprise, I didn’t care in the least about what I knew I had to do. I’d do it gladly, but gods, it galled me that the old woman had gotten the best of me again.
I ground my teeth. The hell with it. Let her have her fun. Belle was all that mattered—all that had ever mattered. I’d just been too blind to see it.
Rising, I marched down the stairs, scowling at the old woman one last time before turning to the king and queen kneeling before me. “Get up.”
Whispers raced through the room, and Belle’s gaze seared my back. The would-be king and queen looked at each other, and I motioned with impatience.
They rose, and I pointed from one to the other. “You, forgotten king, and you, bride whose name I’m not going to learn, do you want this kingdom?”
They looked at me in shock as shouts of surprise erupted through the room.
“What game is this?” the king stammered.
Harold. What kind of name was Harold? Not a king’s name.
Belle descended the dais and took my arm. “What are you doing?”
I yanked the crown off my head and tossed it at the king’s feet. “Take it. I’m bored with this place, bored with being king.”
Belle inhaled sharply, and it was all I could do not to focus on the quickening beat of her heart or her luscious scent.
“Is this a trick?” the king asked.
“No,” I growled. If looks could kill, the one I gave Siggy could have felled a god.
She smiled, smug in the knowledge that her words were burning in the back of my mind.
Belle has the power to save you—but it will cost you everything: your ambition and your kingdom, your power, wealth, and dreams. Everything you ever imagined you would be. Everything you imagined you would rule and protect. All of it.
The Fates had won, and what I hated most of all was how little I cared. I’d give it all up in an instant to make her happy.
Watching me warily—as if I were about to behead him—the king slowly bent to pick up the crown.
The moment his fingers touched it, I pinned it in place with my foot. “It’s yours if you’ll give me your oath.”
The king looked up, trapped awkwardly between standing and kneeling. It was deeply satisfying.
“What is it that you ask?”
“This will be a kingdom of mortals and immortals, and your council shall be split evenly to reflect it. You’ll give lands and titles to every immortal that remains, and you’ll make a place here for all those that were cursed.”
Finally recognizing the situation for what it was, Harold glanced at his bride, then knelt as a prince before his lord. “I swear we will.”
“You’ll remain the eternal ally of the Bloodvale and promise to take up arms to protect them should the need ever arise.”
“We shall defend them,” he said. “It shall be as if we were brothers.”
I clenched my teeth at that. “You will rule with justice and use the wealth of the mines to better the lives of your people. Swear all these things on behalf of you and your descendants, and this kingdom will be yours again.”
The king looked to his wife, then back to me and nodded. “Yes, we agree. By the gods, we swear to honor these terms and rule with justice.”
I kicked the crown to him. “Then the thrones are yours.”
He picked the crown up, staring at it.
“Mark my words: I will outlive you both by a thousand years. If you or your progeny break your oaths, I’ll return and kill everyone in your line without thought or mercy. Do you understand?”
The king paled, but his bride put her hand on his arm. “We understand, Your Majesty. We have only ever wanted to rule justly and to ensure peace and prosperity for our people. But your kind feeds upon ours—how are we to live alongside them, to rule over them?”
She was gracious and clever and reminded me of Belle in that way. Maybe I should learn her name.
I turned to my court. “Those of you who choose to stay will abide by the laws I set forth when I took the throne. Humans are protected. No immortal is permitted to feed from a mortal without their permission, nor to harm them. If you don’t—same consequences. Death to you and your progeny.”
A very nervous group of immortals dropped to their knees, rapidly uttering oaths.
I looked for Siggy, but she was gone. Of course she was. She’d had her laugh.
Sighing, I gave a half-bow to the new king and queen. “My chancellor will draw up the terms, but from this moment forth, you rule.” I waved my hand to the cluster of former beasts as well as the deserters from the Crimson Host. “That lot is your problem now.”
The room erupted in shouting and muttering voices, but I couldn’t care less. I took Belle’s hand. “I hope you enjoyed being queen for a day. Let’s go.”
“Valen…” she said. “Are you sure about this?”
Her eyes shone, and I watched the weight of the crown lift from her shoulders before she’d ever truly worn it.
Not caring who’d heard, I pulled her toward the door. “I’ve served my own ambitions for long enough. I want to see the dreams of another. The crown is nothing to me now that I have you in my life—you’re all that will ever matter to me.”
“I told you I’d stay,” she said as we hurried out of the throne room. She was always thinking of others. The least I could do was give her a chance to put herself first for once.
“Stay in this miserable place?” I shook my head. “You’d never be happy here, and I should never have asked. All the power and gold in the world aren’t worth a moment of your misery. You’ve suffered enough.”
She stepped in front of me, pressing her hand to my chest to stop me, eyes dancing with joy. “Hold on, Valen. What are we going to do? Where will we even go?”
I kissed her slowly, every inch of me humming with need. “Wherever you want, I’ll take you there.”
She pushed back against me, her teeth grazing my lower lip, and looked up with fire in her eyes. “A final trip to the king’s bedroom seems like an appropriate start.”
Approval rumbled in my throat.
Her mouth curved into a coquettish smile. “To pack your things, of course.”
“Of course, my queen.” I seized her and lifted her to my waist, and she wrapped her legs around me, laughing—the most beautiful sound in the world.