Chapter Thirty-Seven #2
“Of all the fae that populate the realm, do you know how many I actually believe possess enough cunning, raw magical strength or brute strength to quite possibly kill me if they set their minds to it?” he asked instead of responding to her statement.
“My auntie Nychelle, my cousin Trystin, each member of my Cadre … and you, Kadeesha. That’s the mark by which I consider someone a true equal and worthy ally.
Nychelle and Trystin are both shrewd enough to have a good shot at taking me out if they sought my crown for themselves.
My Cadre, they run the gamut. But nobody except you, my lovely wife, possesses all three attributes.
Therefore, before you decide irrevocably that we will eventually clash to the death, I’d like to offer up a different future for us and hand you proof that my words are genuine. ”
“Why are we even playing this hypothetical game?”
“Because you and I both know it’s not so hypothetical. But,” he said, holding up a hand to cut off her protest, “if you insist on it being moot, so be it. Indulge me, then.”
She said nothing, and he took that as a sign to continue.
“In the future I offer, you could be my wife, my high queen, in more than a transient or surface-level capacity. After I’ve killed Rishaud, I would ask that you truly rule beside me as the high queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Truly bear and then raise our heir beside me as high queen.”
She … Well, she didn’t know what to say.
He couldn’t be earnest; there was no way.
“I thought you’d go about things in a craftier way than this,” she at last said.
“If you think so highly of my competencies, why do you imagine I’d fall for such a simple trap?
” she countered. And the more she weighed it, the more insulted she became.
A muscle worked in Malachi’s jaw. “You’re the most bullish female I’ve ever met, do you know that?
” He let go of her wrist and brushed his fingers along her neck before squeezing it lightly.
His hold on her throat wasn’t forceful enough to actually restrict her air supply, but she sucked in a breath all the same.
“If I still aimed to kill you, I could’ve done so while you lay in my bed this night.
You’ve already convinced the vassal kings of the advantages to recognizing me as their high king instead of Rishaud that go beyond bullshit prophecies, and I could spin that to my advantage.
I could kill you right here and keep them in the dark about your demise until they’ve sworn fealty oaths.
But I have not moved to harm you, nor will I.
My inaction when it would behoove me to get rid of the warrior female who seeks to move against me sooner rather than later should be all the proof of my earnestness you need. ”
“You mean you could’ve tried,” she countered. Kadeesha’s pride demanded she remind Malachi of what he’d just admitted about how much of a threat she was.
His lips twitched. “My point remains the same, wife.” He let go of her neck and abruptly kissed her. She didn’t even think about it; she opened for him automatically as soon as his tongue swept against her mouth.
Just kill him now, a voice urged, managing to slice its way through the smoldering desire that flared.
His guard is down and he’s toying with you.
He doesn’t believe you’ll raise a hand against him.
At least not this day. Alongside the voice, Kadeesha saw the alternative path before her that she could easily take.
As Malachi had just pointed out, she’d already done the work of convincing the vassal kings of the immense value that lay within supporting a monarch other than Rishaud.
She, and she alone, could be that other monarch.
She could leverage the fact that the prophecy imparted her firstborn son would inherit a united Nimani and force the kings to accept a woman ruling over them until that time came.
She didn’t need Malachi to see that end through and reign as high queen in order to ensure her kingdom and now her future child were protected.
The vassal kings might’ve expressed reticence against being embroiled in a war they had no stake in, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to convince them of the merit of taking up arms against Rishaud if Malachi was out of the picture.
With the collective might and armies of the other monarchs and the entirety of the Aether Court’s kongamato squadron on her side, she likely could face Rishaud herself and win—all while still sparing excessive bloodshed.
The Hyperion Kingdom, and it alone, would take the brunt of the ravages of war—
But even as this swirled through her mind, Malachi deepened their kiss, and it was too much.
It shattered her line of thinking. This male had a way of seeping into every inch of her psyche, overwhelming her senses, drowning her in need, and making her see things from a vantage point she wouldn’t otherwise consider.
For instance, at that very moment, the inconvenient fact that she carried his child, would birth his child even after she slew him, buzzed inside her mind.
She’d been certain she could abide only one outcome for her and Malachi.
But what if he was being genuine with everything he’d just offered?
But what if he isn’t? the ever-cautioning voice insisted.
She couldn’t quite shake the lingering reservation.
She broke their kiss, breathing erratically as her pulse whooshed in her ears.
An innate knowing told her she perched on a perilously high precipice, one where utter devastation and doom lay ahead versus a cushioned landing, all depending on the side of the cliff she plunged off of.
She closed her eyes for a moment to gather her wits, firmly root herself in some semblance of sensibleness.
After a brief time, she opened her eyes and asked Malachi, “What would you and I ruling together as true equals look like, given that we don’t always see eye to eye about your sometimes-brutal ways? ”
“That means we balance each other out and are the perfect complements,” Malachi answered with ease.
His hands found their way to her belly. He cupped her stomach as if it were already swollen with their child growing rapidly inside.
A feeling she couldn’t quite name, but one that felt like a fist squeezing around her heart, erupted behind Malachi’s tender caress.
He’d never handled her in that way before—like she was an immense treasure that he cherished.
“Tell me,” he said, “all of your reasons for not being disposed to become my true high queen and the high queen of all Nimani.”
Kadeesha gave him a look, shaking off the absurd sentimentality that had struck her.
“Chiefly, there’s the fact that you will usurp Rishaud only to replace him as the pitiless bastard whom others bow to.
And it’ll be made all the worse by the fact that you despise southern fae.
I’ll concede that you treat your own people in a mostly just fashion and make decisions with the well-being of the whole of your Apollyonfolk as a priority.
But I find it impossible to believe you will extend such graciousness to my folk, the Aether fae, or any other among the southern lands.
And since I will not allow innocent fae to fall victim to whatever ill treatment you feel is owed because of the grudge you hold, and I certainly will not be a participating or complicit party in the subjugation of innocents, I can’t imagine this working. ”
Malachi’s hands hadn’t moved from her belly.
He held her there not only tenderly, but protectively.
His eyes radiated the same fierce protectiveness, and it stole her breath.
“I don’t despise all southern fae. At least, not anymore,” he said quietly.
“And to be clear: I’ll adore our child. Spoil them.
Serve them not only a throne but the entire continent and whatever else they desire on a silver platter.
There’s your mother, and Leisha, and the rest of your Nkita too.
They have all shown themselves to be admirable and formidable.
When my Apollyonfolk were attacked, they assisted the injured, and they forever have my gratitude.
Then there is you, Kadeesha Diamundis. You’ve done more than help when my court was in dire straits.
You, a southern fae, spoke up for a young Apollyon boy and his mother when you thought I’d pass harsh judgement upon them.
And when I was set on annihilating all fae of Niyarre and Tareek blood no matter their guilt, you leveled a censuring look on me that was the only reason I decided differently.
You were a voice for faefolk, yet again, who are not your own.
If that wasn’t enough, during Rishaud’s latest assault, you marched into fire to help rescue Apollyon survivors.
And none of this even begins to mention how you are ferociously independent and frighteningly powerful and a queen as much as you are a warrior.
“I’ve been resistant, refusing to take a wife until now because I couldn’t bear the torment of failing that wife or any of our future children as my father did with my mother. In the end, he simply wasn’t strong enough to protect his family or his court.”
The pressure in Kadeesha’s chest had intensified with each admission, each truth, Malachi lay bare.
At his mention of witnessing his parents’ murders at such a tender age, Kadeesha’s heart broke for the small child he’d been who’d been plunged into the middle of vicious political plots and bloodshed.
She reached for Malachi, wrapping her arms around his back, hugging him.
“No child should ever have to see their parents die such violent deaths or be stricken with horror that they’re next,” she said as quietly as Malachi had been speaking.