5. The Mist Thief
Chapter 5
There was something peaceful about the coves surrounding the sea fae palace.
Wind kissed my cheeks. I closed my eyes, breathing in the warm scents of honey blooms, like a baked sweet with an undertone of salt and rain.
It reminded me of Natthaven. Sea winds were cooler on the isle, but the towering trees caught the breeze and rained clean, spicy air across the knolls and village.
The fading isle could be summoned. It was the skill of elven folk—summoning.
My gift of darkness that could take was a mistake to many. Too much dangerous power for one soul.
I never wanted power. I still didn’t.
“Am I intruding?”
A shiver danced down my spine, stiffening my body. His voice held a strange power—it chilled me from within, rendering me unmovable.
I glanced over my shoulder. There, the nightmare prince stood, engulfed by the dim lantern light spilling from the open door of the palace. From this angle, his eyes were shadowed, resembling the empty black they’d been the night we met.
I turned back to face the sea. “It is not my place to say if you are intruding or not.”
My right to protest was signed away moments ago.
His slow steps scuffed over the sandy cobbles until he settled next to my shoulder. “King Eldirard is arranging for ferries to the elven isle after he draws it nearer. It’s strange how it can move about.”
“Hmm,” was all I said. I cast a look at the prince. Tall, strong, an enemy. Why was he here?
A slice of fear cut through my middle. There was violence under the surface of this man, and once he had wanted to kill me.
“You seem afraid of me.” He spoke without looking away from the sea.
“Should I be?” I wasn’t certain he even heard, my voice came so soft, so distant.
The prince opened his arms and twisted side to side. “I am unarmed, Princess.”
“Blades are not the only weapons.”
“True.” The prince hooked his thumbs into his thick leather belt. “I meant to speak to you after the alliance, but you were taken away by your lady’s maid.”
I didn’t respond with anything more than a nod.
Cara thought it indecent for me to remain, expecting the kings to celebrate with drink and debauchery over their grand achievements. The woman was practically scandalized when my future father-in-law insisted he and his queen with their strange guards wanted to retire to their chambers.
I wasn’t certain what shocked her more, the alver king’s disregard toward the Dokkalfar king, or the admission as he left that the only person he cared to spend his time with was his wife.
Like she mattered.
It was . . . endearing. Strange, but endearing all the same.
I wish it would be the same for my own vow.
No, my husband was not one who would knock chests with kings at the mere inkling of offense toward his queen. I doubted he would even be irked by the idea.
I took a step back. “You are under no obligation to speak with me.”
“Ah.” The corner of his mouth curved into something beautifully wicked. “If that is an elven custom, it will take me some time to acclimate. Where I am from, those who are vowed speak to each other quite often. In fact, sometimes they even enjoy it.”
Was he . . . teasing me?
What was this? Break down my guard before he struck?
Decisions to trust too easily spoiled my past. Pain always followed. If his plan was to find a crack, to take hold of my confidence, he would be met with formidable resistance.
I steadied my features into the frosty exterior. “I will talk if you ask it of me. Tell me what it is you would like me to say?”
Steady. Calm. Empty. He wanted his levity to be met with a cautious grin? Perhaps a flush of my cheeks, a spark of curiosity.
He would be met with none of it, for how could he break an empty heart?
The prince faced me, one elbow propped on the rail, the last remnants of his grin fading like the retreat of the tide. “What do you want to say? Surely you have a thought or two about this alliance.”
“What are your thoughts?”
“I believe I asked you first.”
“But I only wish to hear yours.”
The prince came closer. My heartbeat quickened. Gods, I prayed he couldn’t make out the thud of my pulse point.
“You’re pretending to be cold, Princess. I’m not certain why?”
Teeth clenched, I fought to keep my face schooled into something so flat not even a twitch of the cheek would be noted. “You have my apologies if I’ve displeased you.”
“And you wish to please me?”
Behind my back, I clasped my wrists, hiding the curl of my fists. “I wish to do my duty.”
“Are those your true thoughts? You’ll do whatever it takes?”
Another step. His shoulder brushed mine. I dug my fingernails into the skin of my palms, battling the urge to shudder from the touch.
His smirk transformed into something sly, a sneer and grin that spoke of a thousand tricks and ploys he was crafting in his mind.
“I have no thoughts.” My voice was low, a soft rasp. “What would be the point?”
The more I tried to be nothing but a shell of a woman, the more the prince seemed drawn to me.
His thumb tilted my chin. The touch was warm, almost gentle, but when my eyes clashed with his, there was a darkness in his stare that lifted the hair on my arms.
“Tell me.” The prince brushed his lips over my ear. “If it pleased me to have you crawl to me, to thank me for saving you from the light elven, would you do it?”
A flash of anger seared through my blood. He wouldn’t bleeding dare.
Before I could stop it, the prince spun my back to the wall of the palace, and flattened his palms beside my head. His broader body made a cage around me, trapping me, blocking me.
All I could do was hold his vicious stare.
“There it is.” His gaze bounced between my eyes. “The fire is in there.”
“I-I don’t know what you mean.” Gods, my voice wouldn’t stop trembling.
“How well you keep secrets, Princess. There is a stunning blaze you keep buried inside you.”
“You mistook my expressions, Prince.” Each word cut through my teeth like jagged glass. Harsh, annoyed, and riddled in emotion I did not want him to catch. “If I looked your way it was nothing more than memorizing the face of my future. I am in no place to oppose your alliance.”
“Liar.”
Arrogant bastard. The ruse grew too difficult to hold up, and my eyes narrowed. “What would you have me say? You wish for my compliance, you shall have it. I have no move to make, so that is what you will receive from me.”
“Here I thought I was getting a wife, not a captive.”
“Gods.” Unbidden, my palms shoved against his chest. It only made him chuckle again, and the heat of frustration boiled in my blood. “What else am I but a captive? I know why you are doing this.”
“Oh, and why is that?”
“You took an oath riddled in deep magic that compels you to protect your people, and I am the one you must bind to soothe that need.”
The prince’s eyes widened. “I did not realize you knew of the oath.”
“I’ve heard all the gossip in this palace. Tell me, do you crave the glory of being the hero, Prince?”
His grin twisted into something vicious. “That’s exactly it. You’ve unraveled everything there is to know about why I am here, Princess. Now, why don’t you tell me why you agreed if it is so repulsive?”
The way he looked at me, it was as though he saw the truth—I would do nearly anything to keep my fate untangled from Arion. Steeling against him, I straightened my shoulders. “Vows are all we must give each other. It is better not to think too much on it, wouldn’t you say?”
“I’m inclined to agree.”
I dipped my chin in a stiff nod. “Good. You’ll get a silent, docile wife who cannot harm your people. You’ve no need for anything more, so do not strive to find it.”
I thought he might be angry at my outburst. Instead, he gripped my jaw, drawing me close enough I could make out a faint scar just over the bridge of his nose.
“Wise to set out expectations, so let me tell you what you can anticipate, Wife: expect to interact with folk who do not fear darkness.”
He crowded me, as though he wanted me to cower beneath his nearness.
I had few choices in the match, but for a moment I chose defiance.
Chin lifted, I pressed closer, my body aligned with his, shoulders to hips. His eyes flashed, and I took a bit of satisfaction knowing I claimed back a bit of power.
“And what do I get from you, Husband? Your undying love and the whole of your heart?”
“Since it sounds so disgusting to you, you’ll be pleased to know my heart is not part of the negotiations. This alliance achieves your desires, and now I have found what I truly desire.”
I swallowed. “And . . . what is that?”
His white grin flashed in the night. “To unravel you piece by piece, until the flame inside you scorches through this fa?ade you keep. Until that fire is mine every bleeding day.”
My lip curled. “You do not offer your heart, so expect the same from me.”
“As long as I get your fire. It speaks to me.” The tip of his nose brushed over my cheek. “So, I plan to make it mine.”