Chapter 9
Clover, her family, and Rainer arrived at the royal estate, where a small dais had been constructed in front of the gates. The entire village had turned out, it seemed, and Clover lifted onto her toes to see the makeshift stage.
Her breath stuttered when she spotted Amos standing tall next to the king. He was even more handsome than she had imagined, and his portrait didn’t do him justice.
His hair was the same length, only not as boyish, and his jaw more defined. The muscles that had once been softer now strained against his long-sleeved shirt, and the broadness of his shoulders made her shiver.
She thanked the gods for bonding them together. He was hers for the rest of their mortal lives, and sometimes she still couldn’t believe it. A handsome and powerful man who believed in her ability to protect his sister and treated her as an equal felt like a faerietale.
“How do I get to the stage?” she asked her sister. “Will they call me up? I should get closer.”
Ruth eyed the stage warily. “I think you should stay here.”
Clover followed her line of sight, her brows pinching together. She’d missed the girl standing behind Amos. The extremely pretty girl with red hair, a plump, round face, and generous curves. Jealousy flared in her chest, and Amos’ chest heaved, his head swiveling to scan the crowd.
It could be nothing, but the trepidation rolling off of him sat heavy in her gut. He’s worried I’m not here. That has to be it.
Mustering all the courage she had, she elbowed her way through the crowd until she stood in front of the stage, slightly to the side. She looked for the stairs, figuring she should be close to them.
She heard Rainer call her name, but she ignored him, trying to shake him off as he grabbed her arm.
A foreign panic flared in her chest, and she snapped her head toward Amos, who looked at her like she was the worst thing he’d ever seen.
He quickly turned his head forward, and the king called for everyone’s attention.
Clover looked at Rainer. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“We need to leave,” he murmured, and the pity in his voice felt like a slap in the face.
“He’s announcing me as his mate,” she protested, trying to convince herself more than him. “How can he if I’m gone?”
“Clover, please.” She’d never heard Rainer beg before, and she knew whatever was about to happen would destroy her.
She shook her head. “I have to see.”
He nodded and turned with her to listen to the king. She’d missed half his speech, and the bond buzzed with Amos’ turmoil.
“I’m sure you are all anxious to meet your future queen,” King Phillip boasted with a smile Clover hated. The crowd cheered, and in that moment, she hated them too.
Amos’ father turned expectantly to Amos, who cleared his throat and motioned for the girl to come forward.
He wouldn’t do this to me.
“I am pleased to present you with your future queen, my mate, Jennifer Clemmens. Highborn from the East Oasis.”
Jennifer beamed and waved politely to the crowd. She held herself like a true queen, and as if Clover’s world crumbling around her wasn’t enough, the girl rose onto her toes and kissed Amos on the lips.
Clover couldn’t concentrate on what Amos felt in that moment, because the feel of her heart shattering consumed her. She stared at him, willing him to look at her and say it was all a sick joke.
But he didn’t. He stood at his father’s side, smiling at the crowd and holding Jennifer’s hand.
Hate tore through her devastation like a wildfire.
She hated everyone on that dais. The king for being who he was, Jennifer for being a beautiful highborn more suited for the crown, and Amos for destroying her so completely that she didn’t know if she’d recover.
Amos’ hand went to his chest, and his gaze finally snapped to hers. His face crumpled, but he quickly looked away and smiled at the audience, breaking her a little more.
Everything after that blurred together: Rainer forcing her to leave, her family telling her it would be okay, and Clover knowing that it wouldn’t be.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. It was all Amos could do to keep breathing through the storm of Clover’s emotions. She hated him—he could feel it as if she had screamed it in his face.
In that moment, he’d never felt worse. Not when his father beat him, not when his mother died, and not even when he had to send Clover away before he had a chance to know her. The look on her beautiful face and the devastation poisoning their bond carved out a hole in his chest.
Running after her wasn’t an option. Hell, he couldn’t even look at her or his father would suspect something.
What if she went back to the Human Kingdom before he could explain?
He had to make her understand that he didn’t want this, nor would he have asked her to come if he’d known what would happen.
Cruelty didn’t begin to cover what had just transpired.
If he’d been in her shoes, he would have killed whatever boy stood at her side.
Walking from the house to the dais had been the first he’d seen of Jennifer since she arrived, and they couldn’t speak about anything of importance in front of his father. The fact that she’d kissed him—in front of Clover no less—made him want to ship her off to another kingdom.
“We’re going to leave just before lunch,” his father told the two of them. “Ensure everything you need for the next two weeks has been packed. Jennifer, the rest of your things will be delivered before you return.”
“The rest of her things?” Amos echoed.
Jennifer smiled sweetly. “Now that we’ve been formally announced, I’m moving here to live with you.”
His hands fisted at his sides. “What?”
The king pulled him aside and lowered his voice. “You can still chase skirts, but you two need to get to know each other.” His father grinned like he’d given Amos the answers to life. “Just keep them away from her, and be discreet."
If Amos thought he could shove a dagger in his father’s neck and not have to fight off the guards around him, he would.
Clapping him on the back, his father walked off, and Amos spun to glare at Jennifer. None of this was her fault, and he knew that, but right now he hated her. “If you ever put your lips on me again, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
She gasped, and Amos turned on his heel and left. He had to find Clover before he lost her forever.
Amos didn’t bother knocking and burst through the Ambroses’ front door. “Where is she?”
Marcus appeared from the kitchen, disappointment etched in his face. “I should beat you to a pulp for what you did to my little girl.”
“I didn’t know my father was coming,” Amos insisted. “He showed up yesterday. I thought I’d have time to warn you this morning.”
A blur came at him and hit him square in the jaw, snapping his head back. Ruth grabbed him around the neck with a snarl. “You humiliated her and broke her heart!”
“Ruth let him go,” Rainer boomed from behind Marcus. “None of this is his fault.”
Ruth stepped back and spun around. “Not his fault? Clover thought he was going to announce her to the world, and instead, he announced another girl in front of her.”
Amos’ blood ran cold. Clover thought he’d asked her here to announce her?
He doubled over and emptied the contents of his stomach on the floor.
Earlier, he didn’t think he could feel lower, but the gods had proven him wrong.
“I swear I didn’t know there’d be an announcement.
Not until last night.” He straightened and met everyone’s gaze head on.
“I would never do that to her. Rainer is the one who told me to give a fake name for my mate.” He pointed at the man in question.
“I tried to make up a name I thought no one would have, but because the gods fucking hate me, I share a birthday with a girl named Jennifer.”
Marcus cursed. “You didn’t tell her—or any of us—about Jennifer. At least we would have known to expect this at some point. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Amos wanted to rage. Didn’t they know no one could hate him more than he hated himself? He should have told Clover about Jennifer, but he’d stupidly thought he had more time.
“I wanted to tell her in person,” he snapped, tired of everyone in his life except Alice reminding him of what a fuck up he was. “I thought it’d be better to answer any questions she had immediately instead of her having to write back and wait.”
“You should have told us,” Ruth interjected. “We wouldn’t have let her go to that assembly today.”
Amos didn’t have time for this. “There are a lot of things I should have done, and I don’t have time to go over them one by one. I need to talk to her and explain.”
“She’s on her way to the den,” Rainer told him, earning a glare from Ruth. “If you hurry, you can catch her.”
As a royal, Amos was faster than everyone in the world except other royals, a perk that came in handy as he closed in on Clover picking her way along the trail to the cave.
Hearing him approach, she glanced over her shoulder and took off running. Instead of catching her right away, he waited until they reached the cave opening to cage her in before wrapping his arms around her middle.
She growled at him like a rabid dog and tossed her head back, smashing him in the nose.
“Fuck, Clover, stop,” he bit out through the pain.
“Fuck you,” she screamed, and tried to headbutt him again.
“Stop,” he commanded. “It’s not what you think, and I didn’t know my father was coming to announce her.”
“I bet it’s really inconvenient that your mate found out about your future queen.” She grunted out the last word as she jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow.
“Will you fucking stop and listen to me? She’s not my future queen—you are. Please let me explain.” He didn’t care that he was begging, he needed her to listen.
Realizing that he was ten times stronger than her and she wouldn’t break free unless he wanted her to, she stopped struggling. “Just say what you need to say and leave me alone.”