Chapter Five #5
I ground to a halt—the cold leeching the feeling from my bare feet. Sharp, naked fear choked at the very thought of seeing those terrible creatures again.
“Or,” he drew out, grinding my teeth. “You come back, willingly step into this cauldron, recite the proper vows, and take your place as Queen Emiana, High Lady of Lumenfell.”
“Why in Meya’s name would I do that?” I snapped.
“Because then and only then... will I accept your deal.”
“My deal?” I turned around, interest piqued despite my instincts yelling at me to run. “What deal?”
He threw off his cloak, exploding heat in my treacherous, stolen body. I thanked the cold. That I could blame for the unfortunate effect he had on me.
“I was more than clear,” he said, stepping into the cauldron. “My little bird flying away to whisper lies into the ear of a pompous, old fool is no boon to me. What I want is you.”
“Me?” I cried, stepping back.
“I want you as my queen and my wife in every sense of those words. Your body mine to plunder. Your lips mine to plump. Your hand mine to hold as you take your seat beside my throne. I want to bend you over and take you like the beast you believe me to be—making you cum so hard, your screams pierce the veil and Meya strikes us down from sheer jealous—”
“Stop!” I shrieked, face on fire. Did this man know shame? How could he speak to me like that in front of his servants, companion, and the commander of his army! “Why would you want these things? Your man, Bradach, told me the truth. You never wanted me here. You had no intention of marrying me.”
“I want these things, my queen...” His smile stretched over his sharpened canines. “Because you don’t.”
I chilled, lips pressing into a thin line. With that, the question of who was right—Bradach or Aeris—was answered. This wasn’t about love, attraction, or honor.
This was punishment.
“You say such a thing and then expect me to willingly get into that cauldron? You’re insane.”
His smirk went nowhere. “If you do not willingly step into the cauldron, I’ll have to assume your desire to return to your homeland was not as strong as you led me to believe.”
I stilled.
“Seems those things you needed to do were not important after all.”
I licked my lips, swallowing hard. Just like that, he had me. “You’re saying you’ll let me return to Lyrica?”
“Circumstances will say, Princess, not me.” He swept out his hands. “Within this cauldron, we will name our true vows—yours to do everything in your power to be free, and mine to do all in my power to keep you caged.
“As the runes dry on our skin, you will run,” he hissed. “Run as fast and as far as you can. If you elude me until daybreak, the die is cast and you will have won. I will be rune-bound to let you leave without a fight.”
“I—”
“But,” he sliced off. “If I catch you, little bird, I will ravage you where you fall—consummating our unholy union before Meya and all who’ve gathered to see. And so it will be every night until you’ve either escaped your fate, or accepted it.”
I took a step toward him, then another. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? This could be another trick. A lie. Elude you until daybreak and you’ll let me ride away from you and this frozen wasteland forever? There’s nothing to hold you to your word.”
A soft cough drew my attention away from him.
“Excuse me, my lady, but he can be held to his word.” Aeris stepped up next to the cauldron.
“I told you your people abandon the ancient ways for this reason. They couldn’t step into the cauldron and promise fidelity if it was a promise they never intended to keep.
The runes of bonding and marriage hold all to their word—even a being as powerful as our lord. ”
I eyed the bowl of viscous soup in new light. I couldn’t be blamed for not knowing much about rune magic. Even if my poor little school had been allowed to teach us, it wasn’t something women needed to know.
Our magic was inside of us. A part of us. It bent to our will by command alone—before it’s taken from us. We didn’t need runes to make magic obey us.
“Hmm.” I took another step. “Will... Will the runes work on me? With my magic bound as it is?”
“They don’t need to work on you, my lady. As you said, they only need to work on him,” Aeris replied. “And they will.”
I met Alisdair’s gaze. “You would do all of this just—”
“—to ravage that sweet, toothless pussy to my heart’s content,” he finished. “Of course, my queen. As any man would do, and more. Don’t underestimate yourself.”
“Stop it,” I barked, covering my chest. As I said, I knew what he was doing. That didn’t make me able to stop my body’s reaction to him.
“Toothless?” Bradach muttered, clenching my teeth tighter.
Alisdair held out his hand. “Have we a bargain?”
I hesitated. My hand drifted down and stroked the bracelet he gave me on our wedding day. Our first wedding day.
Am I truly doing this? Bounding the chains to him even tighter all for the hope he’ll let me leave this place?
This may be your best chance, another voice said.
Escaping this smirking, pampered fae-beast is only the first step.
You’ll still need to traverse miles of snow, then the miles of a barren desert battlefield to get home.
You’ll need food, supplies, clothes, transport, allies.
You’ll need a way to get past those horrible creatures lurking around the town.
All much easier to collect if I’m not doing it in secret.
I will plan my escape right in front of him, but by the time he sets off on the chase, I’ll already be gone.
To make a deal, you have to have something the other wants. Shadowsoul wanted to watch the little bird screech and flap in its cave while he laughed at the silly creature’s attempts to escape. And I wanted to go home—more than anything.
“We have a bargain.”
“Wonderful.” Aeris clapped, bouncing on her heels. “Come, come, my lady. Allow me the honor.”
I chanced one more look at the trees, wondering at my chance of taking off and running right then.
A vision of the Taken flashed in my mind and I turned back, taking Aeris’s hand. She helped me up and into the basin. I hissed when the liquid touched my skin.
It was warm and slimy like slipping into a vat of nose leakings.
“What happens now is quite simple,” Aeris said for my benefit.
I tried to look at her, but Alisdair’s eyes held me fast—refusing to let me look anywhere but at him.
“There is no officiant because this ceremony is between you and Meya,” she continued.
“You will paint your vows on each other with runic ink, then we shall bathe you in the pure sealing magic of Meya. If your promises are true, the rune will bind to your skin. If you lie, the ink will scald you until you burn alive and die.”
“What!?”
Aeris was already off and rushing to get everyone into position. For the life of me, I didn’t understand her excitement. She was like a proud mother on her son’s wedding day. Was it a birdlike innocence that prevented her from seeing this was not a happy occasion?
“Why do this?” I asked softly. “Why offer me any deal?”
“I have answered this question.”
I tensed. “Tormenting me cannot be the reason you’re enduring this ceremony.
We could’ve made the same bargain without all of th-this.
” My voice cracked as one of the servants removed my robe, leaving me naked before his feasting eyes.
“In fact, you could’ve countered with your true terms in the carriage, instead of making me believe you were taking me home.
“Why are you doing all of this to bind yourself to a woman you never wanted to marry?”
“Very well. If plain words do not suffice, I will tell you a story.” His gaze drifted off me to someone over my shoulder. He nodded and Aeris took her place beside me. Bradach took his place beside him. Both held those bowls of strange, white liquid.
“You may begin painting your promises on your mate,” Aeris said.
“How?” I asked. “I don’t know runic mag—”
Alisdair laced his fingers through mine. “Once upon a time, a century ago...” Dipping our hands in the cauldron, he laid my palm over his heart—stopping my breath.
Runic ink dripped down my skin onto his and spread, and kept spreading, skating down his chest in odd, twisting lines that grew and spawned more.
“How is it doing this?” I whispered. The runes were forming before my eyes, borne from words I didn’t need to speak to be true. Although my knowledge of runes was limited, I read one clear as day: betray.
I jumped when a light touch brushed my shoulder.
“There was a brash, young faeman from Sarabai,” Alisdair began, tracing his promise with surprising gentleness. “He staggered off the battlefield and found himself lost in the wilds of Lumenfell, cornered by the Taken.
“Desperately, he screamed for help, summoning his enemy to save him from a worse fate, and as his luck would have it, his cry was answered.” Alisdair traced a path along my shoulder blade, popping goose bumps in his trail.
“A young woman—a faeriken—came to his rescue. She saved him from the Taken, then saved him again by hiding him from me.”
My lips parted to ask why he was telling me this, but the words didn’t come out. There was a seriousness belying his tone. One I was hearing for the first time. I wanted to know where it would take him.
“She stashed him away in an abandoned shack far from the village. She nursed him, fed him... and fell in love with him.” His fingers skated around my hip.
The rune for possession drew just above my middle.
I knew that one. Kirwan drew the same one night above Mama’s door.
“When he was healed, she came to me. Begging me to let them go and build a life far from the war, the fighting, the prejudices. Far from the faelands of Elva.
“I said no.”
Alisdair pulled me close, erasing the scant distance between our bodies. I held my breath as he touched his cheek to my chest, peering over my shoulder to draw a rune on my spine.