Chapter 13 #3
As Theron walked through the airy corridors of the inner sanctum and towards his haven, he spotted some of Aurora’s attendants nearby. Had she come to the gardens? His heart clenched.
What did she think of his creation?
He’d never been concerned that anyone would find his magnificent creation lacking, but suddenly he feared what she might say.
Theron stopped, almost afraid to find the answer.
Unfortunately, his cowardice landed him in an unenviable situation.
“I greet the sun of Aureum.”
It seemed the Triad was not feeling particularly merciful today.
“Lady Ino.” Theron turned to see her in her courtly finery, attended to by far fewer than she was accustomed to.
How in the Loom had she made it so far into his palace without being caught? A maze of corridors separated the outer court from the inner sanctum. Had she bribed one of the palace attendants to show her the way? Nireus was going to get an earful later.
“Your Majesty, if you would please give me a moment of your time, I would be most grateful. The matter is pressing.”
“So pressing you did not show up for court this morning?” Theron asked, his tone warning her.
But Lady Ino was not one to be deterred by her monarch’s displeasure. More’s the pity.
“It is something best discussed in private.”
Thrice-damned scheming snake. He would punish her for her boldness if only she didn’t command the loyalty of so many of his courtiers.
“Then bid your attendants to give us the privacy you seek.”
She motioned for them to step far back enough that they would not overhear whatever she wished to bring to his attention. What pretty lies had she concocted today?
“I shall not waste your time, Your Majesty. I would like you to make me your queen.”
“You have long wished for such a position. I have not granted it all these years, and I fail to see why you think it such a pressing matter now.”
“Because only I can give Your Majesty what you truly require—my allies, an end to the anger of the spirits, and a chance to end Queen Flora’s ambitions in Aureum.”
Theron scoffed.
“Can you now, Lady Ino?”
“I know you hold no love for me, Your Majesty, and I would not presume to ask for such a thing. Love is for concubines. But if it is a true queen you desire, then I am the best candidate. I will vow not to interfere with the oracle—she is far too valuable to anger, and far too fragile to burden with the demands of a crown.”
Theron didn’t deny it, merely let her dig her grave deeper.
Emboldened, Lady Ino continued.
“If you take me as your queen, I will assist you in appeasing Queen Flora’s ambitions.
She will want her people settled in our lands, specifically the Dragon’s Flank.
I am the only one who can give her exactly what she desires while spitting in her eye—for I own a great many unproductive little farmsteads in the Dragon’s Tail Mountains.
I also have a late uncle who recently bestowed ownership of his lands near the Between on me, where he mined gemstones for the temples.
If we split the Viridians between the two areas, Queen Flora will have no justification to complain, and her nobles will have exactly what they intend to demand without getting anything they truly desire. ”
He folded his arms and raised a brow.
“The Viridians have not demanded lands, Lady Ino.”
“Yet, Your Majesty. They haven’t demanded them yet, but they will.”
She wasn’t wrong. No doubt Lord Leukos would bring such a request to Theron’s court sooner or later. If he didn’t concoct some way to take the Dragon’s Flank by force for his mad dog of a queen first.
“And you believe stymying a handful of Viridian nobles is worth the crown of Aureum, Lady Ino?”
The only evidence of her pique was the barest twitch of her brow.
“I believe my alliance with the royal house is inevitable, Your Majesty. My family holds more sway over Aureum than any other, save yours. Someday soon, you will need us. Aureum can only suffer this plague of angry spirits for so long. You need a queen—a true queen. I will give you everything your kingdom requires and ask nothing of you but what duty demands. Can you say the same for her?” Lady Ino asked, nodding at something over his shoulder.
Theron turned his head.
Aurora.
His heart sank to his knees. The little fairy turned on her heel and rushed back into the gardens.
Damn this snake of a woman.
“I’ve heard your concerns, Lady Ino,” Theron ground out.
“Glory to the sun of Aureum,” Lady Ino said with a smile as she bowed.
Theron grabbed her arm before she turned away and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“If you ever dare to breach my inner sanctum again, I will cut off your legs and feed them to the dogs, as I would any other trespasser. After all, a queen doesn’t need her legs, does she?”
Lady Ino stilled, holding her breath, not daring to be quite as bold as she’d been, her grey eyes wide with fear. Good. She seemed to think he would never touch a hair on her head, no matter what she said or did. Perhaps she’d forgotten that her only true defence was in not earning his ire.
“Now leave,” Theron commanded.
She beat a hasty retreat, never once looking back.
Good riddance.
Now to find his little fairy.
Theron faced his garden, his sanctuary, and dread pumped through his veins where once relaxation was king.
As he pushed through rose bushes and past fruit trees, he caught sight of her blonde hair, loosely bound, catching the sun’s light amongst the greenery as she all but ran from him.
Theron raced after her, his longer legs eating up the distance.
“Aurora!”
She ran faster.
“Damn it, Aurora! Stop!”
She refused to heed him, but it was no matter. He grabbed her as he sped by her, pulling her up and off her feet, and refused to put her down despite her protests—not until he reached a stone bench near a pond.
He seated her down on it and knelt at her feet, his hand on her hips, preventing her from escaping him.
“What did you hear?”
She pressed her lips in a mulish line, her fiery glare all he needed to know.
“Why must you always jump to conclusions, Aurora?”
“Because you have a habit of sticking knives in my back, Your Majesty. I thought, given the ones you stuck me with yesterday, that you might have given me a reprieve for a day. Hope springs eternal, it seems.”
“I won’t be marrying Lady Ino. The very thought is repellent,” he replied, his gaze locked on hers.
“Well, I hope you do.” She crossed her arms.
He gasped, blinking at her in shock.
“You can’t mean that.”
“She’s positively vile—a perfect match, if you ask me.”
Theron stilled. His wife was jealous.
Furiously, vengefully, jealous.
His heart soared.
“The goddesses have already decreed my perfect match, Aurora,” he purred. “Let me prove my sincerity.”
“No. You’ve betrayed me more times than I can bear. Eventually, even someone as foolish as me is capable of learning her lesson.” She pushed at his hands to no avail.
“My passion for you is no lie,” he insisted.
“Your passion is merely the honey you use to disguise the bitterness of your lies.” She raked him with a gaze that told him he was lacking. A lie.
“And your anger is your shield against how much you crave my passion, my little wife. Even now, the mere thought of Lady Ino ignites your jealousy. You speak of my lies and yet refuse to acknowledge your own truth.”
“How dare you—” she gasped.
“I dare because I crave your kisses as much as I crave your claws.”
“Then I’ll give you neither.” She glared.
“What is it you crave, Aurora? What is it the little fairy mouse inside you craves at this very moment? We haven’t yet had your lesson today,” he said, running his palm along the side of her thigh.
Her breath hitched. He pressed his suit.
“Take what you crave from me, my wife. My pain. My submission. My tongue. My touch. My body. I will give you my everything.”
Tears gathered in her eyes before she blinked them back, her lower lip trembling.
“No, you won’t,” she whispered.
But before he could protest, she grabbed his head and pressed her lips to his. A kiss as angry as it was desperate.
“If you insist on using me cruelly, then turnabout is fair play,” Aurora hissed.
He would take her fury and tears over her silence every day—for it meant passion still existed between them.
But instead of returning the anger in her kiss, he returned it with sweetness.
He let her bite his lip, let her tongue punish his, let her sink her fingers into his hair and pull.
And he took it all as his due, responding not with fire but with warmth.
She broke away first, her breath ragged.
“Damn you, Theron. Damn you! Give me what I want.”
“And what do you want, my little fairy?” he asked calmly.
“A fight!”
Her next kiss was especially demanding. By the time she was done with him, his lips stung and they were both breathless.
His hands skimmed up to her waist and down to her knees, his eyes never leaving hers. Slowly, slowly, the poison in her gaze lessened. The closer he got to her pain, the easier it would be to truly comfort her.
“Truly? Because it seems to me,” he said, kissing her neck, his lips moving up towards her ear, “what you want is reassurance that my heart is yours.” He nipped her earlobe. “Anger is your shield, but behind that shield is a woman my actions have hurt. I’m sorry. Let me heal her, Aurora.”
She turned from him, refusing to look him in the eye.
“An apology is worthless without action.”
She still refused to believe he would kill the beasts. Theron sighed and bent his head to kiss her belly through the soft fabric of her dress.
“The action will come. I vow it.”