Chapter Six
I cracked a lid open, groaning before my eyes were all the way open. I felt around for the ice and wood that would be my rude awakening, and my fist curled around silk.
Grimacing, I pushed up—vision clearing on my surroundings.
I wasn’t in the woods anymore. I didn’t know where I was.
Fresh, sweet-smelling red-and-gold sheets and tasseled pillows covered me, cocooning me in warmth. Long-stemmed candelabras loomed over me, casting soft candlelight on the bumps, cuts, and bruises on what used to be the fairest, most unblemished skin in the east.
My face heated as memories tumbled through my head, each more shameful and scandalous than the other.
Alisdair Shadowsoul ravished me. I wished there was another word I could use. One that didn’t make me sound like that soft little peach torn apart by a beast. But there was no other word, because that’s exactly what he did.
Alisdair took me like an animal against that tree all night long. Pounding me in every position known and unknown—extracting so many orgasms out of me that my well ran dry. His did not.
Nothing slowed him, tired him, or filled him with mercy.
I rolled out of bed, biting hard on my lip. My whole body was one big ache. My only saving grace was that even though I was a maiden, Emiana obviously was not. If it had been her first time too, neither of us would’ve walked for a week.
I waddled across the room, wincing and bobbing side to side. “I’m barely walking now.”
With difficulty, I made it to the wash basin. One touch confirmed what the steam told me. It was wonderfully hot, proving someone had brought it in minutes before I woke. Was this the life of a prin— No, a queen? To have my needs anticipated before I opened my eyes in the morning?
If only Emiana hadn’t let fear and ignorance drive her to ruin my life and run away. She would’ve found herself no less pampered and catered to in Castle Riagin.
Gazing around, I wondered at this life I’d fallen into.
High ceilings painted with scenes of battle looked down on me. All the gaudy golds, diamonds, and silvers adorning the castle hadn’t made it into this room. The simpleness of the small wash basin, black-stain nightstand, and a bed half the size of Emiana’s—made it all the more grand.
Next to the wash basin was a stand with towels, soaps, scents, and oils. Beside that was a tall clothing rack carrying no less than four dressing robes. I chose the longest and fluffiest, wrapping myself up tight.
Of course I was freezing, the bedchamber only had three walls.
I crossed the room, padding over red tiles with flecks of coudarian blue. The wall gently sloped down, giving way to a small ledge that tipped off into the free, cold air.
Slowly, I inched as far as I dared, gazing down, down, down to the sleepy town and thick forest, and rolling mountains spreading out before me.
Amazing. Truly, the most amazing view, and still not worth the sacrifice of a wall.
I scrambled away, heading straight for my bed and warm sheets. I would have to tell Aeris, or anyone, that I needed a new bedchamber. Or even a cot next to a fireplace would do as well. The people of Elva were summer fae. The cold wasn’t meant to live in our bones.
I rounded the headboard, getting the first proper look at my bed, and screamed.
Clapping my hand over my mouth, my eyes were huge, looking upon the—
“Monster.”
Thick, black horns burst from his scalp and curved down to his shoulders. Long claws sunk into the remains of a pillow, and a large, furry mass slung over his leg. A tail . Its nose was smashed in, but its maw the size of the basin—terrifyingly long, lethal fangs refused to be contained in its face. It’s hideous, disfigured face.
It was huge. Twice the size of a bear with half the fur. Most of it covered its back, legs, and forearms, leaving its chest bare.
I stilled, fixing on a familiar rune on his stomach.
“Shadowsoul?” I whispered, backing away.
I hadn’t imagined it. All those times it seemed like his claws were smaller, or his fangs were longer. The reason why he looked so close to fae while his subjects were succumbing to the curse. He was using magic to hold the beast at bay. This was the true him, and he looked like...
“Taken.”
I ran.
Bursting through the doors, I collided with a hard body.
“Oh, Queen Ana.” Aeris set me back on my feet. Nose wrinkling, she backed away a pace. “Are you all right? I was just coming to fetch you. Your baths are read—”
“Let’s go,” I ordered, already brushing past and leading the way. “A bath is exactly what I need.”
I spared only one glance back at the monster I’d bound myself to till the end of everything.
“I SEE YOU DID NOT LAST until dawn.”
My face flushed at the burst of giggles that sounded behind me.
We were in my baths again. Aeris combed and braided Emiana’s hair—all traces of white leaving with the sun’s arrival.
I couldn’t believe that even while cursed to wear another’s skin, I couldn’t escape my other curse. My first one.
Since the day of my birth, my hair has turned white in the moonlight. No one—not my mother, not our neighbors, not the healers knew why, or how, I came to be this way. I couldn’t even say if it was a curse, because no such curse was known by fae. But then of course, one did not need magic to be cursed.
There was a reason that although we were all struggling, all poor, and nearly all the children of war wives, I was singled out for chasing, beating, and bullying. Only I was the keva with the strange, color-changing hair. Only I the freak.
But Alisdair said nothing of it, and he said a great many things last night while fucking the sense out of me.
I wasn’t certain of half of the filthy things he called me. I only knew it was filthy because of how it melted my core when he growled the words while drilling me into the snow.
“—try again?”
I snapped to, returning to reality. “Yes,” I replied. “Of course I’m trying again, and I will every single night until I’m free of this place, and him. Speaking of, Aeris, there’s another way out of the castle, yes? Other than the front and garden entrance.” I took her hand, squeezing it. “Tell me where it is, please. Lord Alisdair can have his midnight run—hours after I’ve left.”
Aeris smiled at my reflection. “My queen, did you forget your end of the bargain? By night you run, during the day, you reign.”
My hope dimmed. “He meant that? He truly expects the unwanted wife he narrowly killed to play pretend at his side? For what purpose?”
“It is not pretend.” She pinned the final braid to my crown, then snapped her fingers. A feather fell from her hand and hadn’t yet hit the ground before three attendants were beside us, holding out three tiaras. “This is a real kingdom, and you are our queen. Your day is full, Lady Ana. In truth, you’re already behind. You shall have to eat quickly.”
I ate nothing, and did not despair for doing so. I wasn’t worried about finding safe food to eat before I starved. I’d be home in Lyrica long before that happened.
“You can take this back, Talulla,” I said, returning the tray to my taste-tester.
She took it, wrinkling her nose as she did. She looked like she was holding her breath.
“What? What is it?” I asked. “Do I smell?”
“Of course you don’t,” Aeris rushed. “Come now, my queen. Your lord awaits.”
She helped me up and tried to tug me away. I stopped short, catching the eye of the woman in the mirror.
It wasn’t me, so I couldn’t marvel at the crown of shiny, copper braids—winding around the glittering gold, diamond-encrusted tiara. They weren’t my lips plumped and shining to perfection, still carrying his punishing kiss on my lips. It wasn’t my neck, framed by the intricate beadwork clinging to the slivery-white gown’s collar, and clashing boldly with the red and purple marks on my throat and skin. It wasn’t me that looked more beautiful than I ever had in my entire life.
It wasn’t me who looked like a queen.
I followed Aeris out through winding hallways and hidden staircases leading down into the bowels of the castle. The further we went, the more the rich décor, jewels, antiques, and heavy tapestries disappeared.
Aeris stepped off the stairs, entering a large antechamber with nothing on its gray walls but flickering torches. Two large double doors loomed over us, calling us inside.
My feet didn’t leave the bottom step. “What is this place? Why are we down here?” I backed away. “Is this a trap?”
“A trap?” She cocked her head too far to the right. “Why would our lord need to trap you, Lady Ana? He already has you.”
Indignation rose up in me hot and heavy, and reality drowned it out. She had an awful and accurate point.
“Not for long,” I warned, and stepped off.
Aeris knocked sharply on the wood. The doors swung open, revealing the scene on the other side.
I turned and left.
“Lady Ana?” Laughing, Aeris chased me down. “Where are you going, silly? It’s this way. This is where our lord, and now you, hold court every morning. The people come to you with their issues and disputes, and you hand down your wisdom.”
“Are you kidding me?” I barked. “That is not what’s going on in that room!”
Aeris dragged me into a large, gray room much like the one we were leaving behind. Torches hung high on the walls, stretching the shadows basking in the windowless space. A long, black rug adorned with the phases of the moon led the path to a stone dais, with two thrones upon it.
Alisdair stretched out across the silver throne—his elbow propped on one arm, and his leg hanging over the other. Standing at his side was Foalan. Propped against the throne that was presumably mine was Bradach.
No trace of the beast I found in my bed remained. His claws shortened, his fangs shrunk, his horns were small ornaments poking from his raven curls, and his handsome face handsome.
I couldn’t believe it, but focusing on him, and his smirk, was helpful in that moment. He gave me something to look at other than the massive, temperature-heating, lust-soaked orgy happening all over the floor, carpet, walls, and for a couple bird faeriken, in the air.
Three faeriken with leopard faces and spots contorted themselves over a lounge—one man plowing into the young lady from behind while she swallowed the other’s cock to the hilt. My sweet taste-tester Talulla was also being tasted by a furry-faced faeriken with twitching whiskers. I assumed she was part cat, because she was certainly lapping her pussy up like one.
Something splatted down beside me and I picked up the pace, practically running up the steps to the only safe place not taken up by an amorous couple, or five.
“What is this?” I hissed at Alisdair. “Why are you allowing this?”
“They’re in heat,” he drawled back. “They cannot stop themselves. The drive to mate is too strong. They’re also your subjects now, little queen. You’d do well to stop judging and looking down on them.”
I lifted my chin. “I am not judging them. I envy them.” I jerked my chin at a group of six that was getting very rough, and very loud. “At least they’re having a much better time mating than I did last night.”
“No,” he replied, light and calm. “They’re not.”
I felt my cheeks brightening. “Last night was awful for me. Worst sex I’ve ever had.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“I didn’t complete once. I faked it each time.”
“Seven times,” he corrected, “and no, you didn’t.”
Irritation bloomed in my chest. His calm dismissal of me was a hundred times worse than bluster or arguments. He saw right through me, and to the mess he made of me, and it made me hate him all the more.
I sniffed. “I don’t know why you’re so confident of that tiny little fella in your pants. I doubt it’s ever pleased a woman.”
“It pleased the woman who had to limp onto her throne. You’re welcome.”
“You—!”
“My queen.” I jumped to find Bradach leaning over my ear. “May I humbly suggest you stop while you’re behind? You’re humiliating yourself.”
“I do not recall asking for your input,” I snapped, whirling on him.
Bradach lurched back, nose wrinkling even as he smirked.
Why does everyone keep doing that? The attendants scented my bathwater with rose and jasmine. I cannot possibly smell bad.
Bradach fixed on Aeris. His smirk melted away, replaced by an expression I sensed rarely graced his face. “Hello, Aeris. You look well.”
She sniffed. “Why would I look unwell, Bradach? I am not ill.”
“I meant you look beautiful.” He dipped, bowing his head to her—wings fluttering. “Should you find yourself in need of a mate this heat cycle, I’d be more than happy to fertilize your eggs.”
My brows shot up. What did he just say?
Aeris gave him a flat look. “You’re an idiot.”
Yes, that was the response I expected.
“I do not lay eggs, and bird faeriken do not have heat cycles—as you well know.”
“Ah, must have slipped my mind. Even so, the offer still stands.”
She was walking off before he finished his sentence.
“And you say I’m humiliating myself,” I muttered.
He muttered right back. “My queen, your tongue is as sharp as you are beautiful.”
I hid a smile. Far be it for any of these fae-beasts to think I was fond of them. Far be it for me to think it either. I was going home. I would never belong in Lumenfell.
Alisdair flapped a hand at Aeris. “Send them in.”
Aeris clapped and a door off to the side of the dais was opened. My brows lifted as dozens of faeriken of all types and sizes streamed in—my count lost at thirty. This wasn’t for show. This twisted, smirking beast actually held court like a proper ruler in a proper kingdom. Despite what Aeris said, the free-for-all orgy in the dark, windless cave better fit the picture I had of the kingdom of Wind and Wild.
I tried to stop looking at said free-for-all orgy. “Shouldn’t we make them finish?”
“They do that on their own.”
“Humorous,” I deadpanned.
“Line up,” Aeris ordered. She ushered them into an orderly line, feathers dropping in her wake. “One at a time. Address our lord clearly and be concise.”
I snuck looks at him out of the corner of my eye. How was I supposed to make my arrangements to escape if I was forced to sit under his watchful eye all day? The night before he gave me only a ten-minute head start. Not nearly enough time to arrange a way home. And even if I did, he had all night to catch me... which he did... easily.
He’s quick, strong, and powerful. What hope do I have of slowing him down, or hiding long enough to make it to daybreak? What did I used to do to outrun bullies faster than me?
An idea occurred to me.
“What? No, Alisdair, don’t say that,” I blared. “There’s nothing wrong with bursting into tears when you reach completion. I thought it was very sweet. Adorable even. I do think, however, that you didn’t need to sob quite so long, or so loudly.”
Aeris cut off with a squawk, gaping at me.
Slowly, dangerously, Alisdair’s narrowed eyes turned on me.
Bold as ever, I patted his hand. “Oh, my poor husband, you needn’t feel bad for not being able to satisfy me. With time and practice and less crying, you’ll improve.”
“Uhh, Queen Ana,” Bradach whispered. “I once again must say—”
“Thank you for asking, Bradach, the answer is many.” I was so loud, I drowned out the moans. “I’ve had many well-endowed, fierce, passionate lovers, so you’re right, my lord never had a chance with that tiny, little cock, but trust me, with practice, he can at least make it so I’m not so bored.” I beamed at Shadowsoul’s darkening expression. “Does that make you feel better, darling?”
He was staring hard at my mouth, like he wanted to rip it out. “You shame only yourself with this display.”
“Shame? No, it isn’t shameful to have a mole on your cock that is bigger than your cock itself. All bodies are beautiful and wonderful in their uniqueness.” My smile was sweet. “I only ask that you do not make me suck on it again. I know you get off on that, but it’s so hairy. It was like licking a cat.”
I wanted the fucking couples to cease their activities, and they most certainly had. I claimed the wide-eyed, gawping attention of everyone in the room. I did. They were all—townspeople, guards, servants—blinking at me.
I swallowed hard, keeping my chin high. I didn’t know this face. Did it blush as easily as my true one? Because if it did, this scene was even more embarrassing than it felt. Even so, I had to keep it up. I vowed to stay by his side during the day, learning how to rule. I may not be able to leave, but our promises said nothing about him getting fed up with me and sending me away.
I will make him despise me so much, he wants me nowhere near him before moonrise, and he runs much slower after it.
“Um, my lady?” Aeris ventured, nerves lacing her tone. “Have you finished? May we begin now?”
I laughed. “Oh my Meya, I said the same thing last night! The tragedy was that he had finished, and I didn’t even know we’d begun—”
Alisdair snapped his fingers. My lips kept moving, but nothing came out.
“Proceed,” he ordered.
I cursed foully with no one to hear it. Magic. My plan did not take magic into account.
Two men stepped forward. Thick, scaly bumpy skin covered their faces, hands, and elongated jaws. They looked about with strange, slitted eyes, flashing teeth too long for their mouths.
“State the issue that brings you before our lord and king,” Aeris ordered.
Both men snapped their hands up, pointing at the other. It was only then I noticed their arms were shorter than they should be—as if they were shrinking back into their bodies. I couldn’t begin to guess what kind of animal was taking over them.
“Lorcan, my lord. We have shared the waters of the Lumenfell River for three generations,” Lorcan said. Beyond his odd reptilian skin, I noted his trim beard, broad shoulders, and quivering jowls. “His bask has taken over the northern marsh, and are refusing our bask entry. They killed two of our own who tried!
“Most of the prey have taken to the trees,” he said. “We have only the fish in the northern marsh to eat. They’re driving us to starvation.”
Alisdair turned on the other man. “Is this true, Arin? What have you to say for yourself?”
Arin flashed Lorcan a contemptuous sneer. “He paints himself as the innocent when, in truth, his bask ceased all trading of goods, which is why we needed the northern marsh in the first place. It is us who are starving! He only comes to you now with his bleating because the prey took to the mountains two months early, and their food stores are low.”
“I see.” Alisdair’s expression was unreadable. I couldn’t guess what was going on behind those unfathomable pools. “Have you made every effort to solve this dispute among yourselves?”
Growls and snaps were their reply. Compromise and diplomacy had clearly broken down between these two.
“Very well. What say you, my queen?”
It wasn’t until I noticed everyone staring at me did the words penetrate. “What? Me?” I said, shocked to find I could. “What say me?”
He nodded, clearly irritated. “What is your suggestion for them?”
I blinked at him. We settled on the fact that he was indeed speaking to me, but for the life of me I didn’t know why. Women in Lyrica weren’t asked their opinions on any topic—least of all the runnings of the kingdom and the needs of our people. He truly wanted to know what I thought best?
“Uhh, okay,” I said, sitting up straight. “First, I—” I twisted around to Bradach. “Bradach, what is—?”
“You will address your questions to me,” my husband stated. Had I imagined it, or had something other than flat disinterest entered his tone?
“Very well.” I faced him. “What is a bask?”
“A bask is a group of crocodiles,” he replied, surprising me again.
I couldn’t remember the last time a man answered a question I asked without mocking, scoffing, or calling me stupid. It had been that long.
“They are crocodile faeriken.”
I nodded slow, taking that in. I didn’t know much about crocodiles. One didn’t encounter them in a big city like Lyrica, but Mama did a few times, when she went to battle with Papa. She compared them to big, angry lizards.
That explains why their limbs don’t match the size of their bodies. As the curse takes hold, it must be getting harder for them to hunt. Certainly too hard to chase a flying rabbit up a tree.
I kept my voice low. “But why would they be starving? They don’t have to hunt. Our carriage passed through a bustling market only yesterday.”
“We are cut off from the other kingdoms,” he replied, matching my tone. “We must survive on what we grow and hunt here in this land of winter. Our people must be self-sufficient.”
I wondered if I’d ever get used to him referring to them as our people.
I don’t plan on staying long enough to need to.
“When they have a surplus of food, they bring it to the market to trade,” Alisdair said, continuing the longest civil conversation we had since we met. “But no one could hunt enough to feed forty basks.”
“Forty?” I squeaked.
He inclined his head.
“So,” I drew out, putting the pieces together. “Like everyone else, they must rely on themselves for hunting. But then their prey took off to the mountains earlier than expected. Is there a reason? Did something happen?”
“This land has been cursed for a millennium. All living beings had to adapt or die. The plants and flora learned to grow without sunlight. The woodland animals evolved new ways of escaping predators in the dark,” he said. “And the predators in that darkness...”
I knew without him saying so. The Taken.
“As their numbers grow,” Alisdair went on, “the animals flee. Soon it will be only us, and them.”
The hairs on my skin stood on end at the very thought of being trapped in this place with only the Taken.
“What are they?” I whispered, voice shaking. “Are they your people? The faeriken? Is the last stage of the curse becoming... that?”
He gave me a long, unreadable look. So long, discomfort tightened my skin. “Oh, little bird,” he said softly. “It’s much worse than that.”
“My lord? My lady?” Aeris spoke up, saving me from trying to force a reply from my suddenly dry mouth. “What is your decree?”
All eyes were on me—Alisdair’s included.
Drawing back, I blew out a breath. “All right, I believe I understand the problem, and that problem is any solution that utilizes our current resources would be temporary. We’ll all be right back here within a week. What we need is to open trade between the other kingdoms.”
“Well, there was a certain treaty that ended the war and allowed for the very trade you speak of,” Bradach sang. “But a certain princess saw the end of that.”
“Thank you, Bradach,” I forced through clenched teeth. “As always, your unasked-for interruptions are most welcome and not in the least bit irritating.”
Winking, he bowed deeply. “You’re welcome, my queen. I am your eternal servant.”
I rolled my eyes. “The truth is, you never need a treaty to trade. All you need is a fake merchant license, and someone who blends in with the n—with the fae,” I corrected, leaving out the word normal . “I will forge the license and teach our chosen merchant what they need to know. You”—I turned on Alisdair—“will provide the coin.
“This palace is rife with riches. A few trinkets from the front entryway, and you’ll have fifty cartfulls of fish, chickens, turkeys, and flightless bunnies,” I said. “In the meantime, we will work out a schedule that gives both your basks equal access to the marsh. That should tide you over until...” I glanced at Alisdair. “How long is the journey to and from Lyrica?”
“A fortnight.”
“Two weeks,” I announced to the bask leaders. “If you both can get along and abide for the schedule for two weeks, you’ll soon have all the food you need. Agreed?”
The men stiffly turned in each other’s direction, as if having to look at each other was torture itself. Snarling, they both said, “Agreed.”
“Very well.”
Noise sounded in the throne room. It was applause.
“Well done, Queen Ana,” Aeris gushed. “Of course you would know exactly what to do.”
“She’s amazing.”
“Our queen. Beautiful and wise.”
I blushed in spite of myself, preening a little in my seat. I didn’t want to admit it, but their praise felt good. As good as it felt to come up with a solution to a real problem, and be heard. The only hope of a future I had was selling vegetables in a market square. The only thing anyone would ever ask of me was the price.
But now here I was, solving food shortages and ending territory disputes. Me, the queen of nothing, and owned by no one.
“Yes, very well done,” Alisdair remarked. “A fair and reasonable plan that solves their issue and a great many more. I like it.”
“You do?” I hated immediately that I asked that. Hated even more that a small, lonely, pathetic part of me was pleased at his approval.
“I do,” he replied, rising up. “I like it so much that I will have this schedule drawn up immediately.” Alisdair nodded at Aeris. “Aeris, share it with their widows as soon as it’s complete.”
My smile twitched. “Wait. Their wid—?”
Alisdair roared. Launching off the dais, he changed in mid-air. The handsome king melted away, and the ferocious beast took over.
Lorcan had just time enough to shout before his throat was ripped out.
I screamed.
Gurgling, hacking, spurting blood, Lorcan thudded on the ground and Alisdair pounced on him—ripping him apart.
Arin turned and ran on legs too short to take him far. Three bounds, and Alisdair was on him.
Something flew through the air, smacking me across my screeching mouth. I looked down on the bleeding remains of a foot.
“Ahhh!”
Slapping it off, I ran.
I bolted out the side door, skidding out into a plain, stone hallway. Blast of cold air smacked me in the back, turning me around to two wide-open doors leading outside to town. I took off sprinting.
It was my sad tale that I was accustomed to violence, sickness, and death. I’d watched many a kind, older woman fall prey to the wasting sickness. I’d been attacked many times for the little I had, and survived. I’d also seen the remains of people who were attacked for what they had, and didn’t survive.
I’d seen it all... but I’d never seen that.
I burst outside, and searing, mind-numbing pain exploded in my right leg.
“Ah!” I cried. Seizing up, it dropped me flat on my face, bouncing my skull off the icy stone. I slid across the ground—dazed and in pain.
“That was your worst escape attempt yet.”
My insides curdled.
“How is it you’re not learning from your previous?” Alisdair picked me up one-handed, and held me out dangling in front of him like a cat by the scruff. He was covered in blood. And me, upside down and eye level with my own knees, I realized I was too. “You cannot outrun me, little queen. Especially not when covered in sacred, magic runes promising that during the day, your place is beside me.”
I glared, burning him where he stood. “That was awful. They came to you for help, and you killed them for no reason. You’re a monster, and I hate you. Every day for as long as I live, I will hate you !”
“Aww,” he mocked, setting my teeth on edge. “Do you promise?”
Alisdair waved his hand, and a glowing, beautiful starflower appeared between his fingers. He tucked it behind my ear. “And I promise you, my wife, my queen, to be worthy of it.”
He carried me back into the throne room. Yes, carried.
Ignoring my kicking and shouting, he dragged me inside like a sack of oranges and deposited me back on my throne.
“As I was saying,” Alisdair growled. Below us, servants scurried to clean the remains of the crocodile faeriken. “I will have no more of these territory disputes. No more killing and hoarding of food. If you are unable to live and work together civilly, then you will die brutally!
“Now who else wishes to test my patience?” he roared.
Half the people in line ran for the door, trampling each other in the melee. The brave few who remained moved up to receive their wisdom, but none from me.
I didn’t speak for the rest of the morning, but inside, I thought of nothing but my mother. All these years, enduring a cruel, heartless, selfish man for our sakes.
I never understood her more.
“AWAY,” ALISDAIR BARKED after what felt like hours.
There were still dozens more faeriken to be seen, but that didn’t stop him snatching my hand and dragging me out the door.
Temper bursting in my chest, I lunged forward and sunk my teeth in his hand.
“Argh!” Roaring, he whirled on me, fangs growing in the blink of my eye.
I smashed my nose on his and growled right back. “I can do it too, Lord Shitsoul. That’s the last time you drag or carry me anywhere. You wanted a pretend queen for your paper throne, so start treating me like one!”
His lips peeled back from his teeth. “Be very careful, pretend queen, or I just might bite back.”
I pushed back harder. “I’ve seen your bite,” I hissed. “It doesn’t scare me.”
We faced each other down, his rising growl sounding a warning that I should be heeding, but I knew a thing or two about bullies. Back down once, and you’ve lost the power forever.
“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat behind us. “The schedule has been written and delivered to the basks as requested. Lunch is also prepared and waiting for you both.”
“Feed her.” He pulled back so suddenly, I stumbled. “And make sure she eats.”
Of course he knew.
“Bring mine to the tower.”
“Oh, are you certain, my lord?” Aeris asked. “I thought you’d like to enjoy a meal with your new—”
He swept out the door, slamming it in both our faces.
Aeris smiled at my pinched, wane face. “No matter. Lunch is ready on the terrace, Lady Ana, and you’ll find it a treat. We made all your favorites.”
“How do you know my favorites?” I muttered distractedly. I rubbed my thigh, and the rune hiding beneath the cloth.
“Our spies.”
How casually she spoke of the people who’d be executed the minute King Salman learned of their existence.
“Ooh, how pretty.” Aeris drifted off my face, making me turn my head. “Did our lord give that to you? I worried you both weren’t getting along. Happy I was wrong.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about, until I remembered the starflower. I snatched it, threw it on the floor, and ground it to paste.
“Or not,” she mumbled. “This way, my—”
“What’s the range on these runes?” I burst out. “How far from him can I be before it punishes me?”
“What? Oh, Meya, no.” Taking my hand, she led me out much more gently than Shadowsoul. “It’s not like that. You can’t read runes, but I can. Yours are very clear in that you need to participate in the ruling of the kingdom. Lunch is hardly such.
“You’re free to wander as far from our lord as you wish when—”
I broke free, racing to the doors that let the villagers in. Throwing myself against them, they pushed right back—zinging pain up my shoulder.
Locked.
“My lady? Queen Ana!”
I tore off back the way I came. Aeris made a grab for me, and I whipped off my shawl and tossed it over her head.
“ Awk! ” she squawked, flailing under the fabric.
Sorry, Aeris. You’re nice, but I did learn from my previous escape attempts. If I can’t climb higher or run faster, I have to be smarter.
I ran into the throne room and out through the other door, taking the steps two at a time. I came out into a gilded hallway. Two bird faeriken with bright blue plumage came down the hall in uniforms and swords on their hips.
Oh, no.
They lit on me.
“Good morning, Lady Ana,” one said. “What are—?”
“Ahh!” I blared. Wildly waving my hands and head, I charged them—screeching my lungs out.
“What the fuck!?”
They sprung apart and out of the way, one of them colliding with the wall.
I hoofed it past them, gaining speed. It wasn’t pretty, but one thing I learned after years of dodging torment was that people ran in the other direction of crazy.
Rounding a corner, I found myself in the grand hall, and oh, Meya, was it.
A grand staircase led to halls and rooms unknown. Torches burned in golden holders, chasing away chill and darkness. Over a dozen stands lined the walls, each weighted down with an expensive bust, painted vase, breathtaking jewelry, and riches I’d only dreamt of.
Directly beside me, smirking down at me even then, was a large, silver statue of Alisdair.
I looked at him, then kept looking—fixed on something just above his shoulder.
A window.
If I could climb up him and get to that window, I’d make it outside, then on to the village. I knew exactly what I needed, and who. I just had to get to them and set my plan into motion before I had six feet worth of fangs and evil chasing me down.
“Okay, okay,” I breathed, rolling my neck.
This was a soft, dewy body that didn’t do much—any—climbing. I was already wheezing harder than I should’ve been after my sprint through the halls. This wouldn’t be as easy as if I was my true self.
If I was my true self, I’d be home with Mama and my faywens. Home , I thought as the pain of missing them settled into my bones. I’m going home.
Backing up, I sent a prayer to Meya, then jumped.
The ever-present sword on his hip was a fixture of his statue too. I grabbed hold of the sheath, vaulted up, slipped, and—
“Ugh.” I crashed flat on my back. “Don’t give up,” I rasped. “You can’t give up.”
I repeated that over and over, eventually getting back on my feet. I jumped and grabbed the scabbard again.
Left, right, left, right. I monkey-climbed up the weapon to his elbow. Reaching for it, my fingers closed on—
“Ahh!” Down I went, landing hard on my ankle. Pain lanced through my leg, ripping a hiss through my teeth.
I forced it down and tried again.
Each try taught me the limits of my new, unwanted body. Scampering up the formed folds in his robe, I slapped my arms around Shadowsoul’s neck, heaving myself up.
My legs took my arms’ place. Hanging on tight, that smart, smirking mouth pressed against my rib cage while I considered my new problem.
I’m sure I can get onto that ledge from his shoulder, but how will I open the window once I do. I chewed my lip, craning to see a latch. Maybe if I—
“Far be it for me to question how my lady and my lord get off—”
I jerked, nearly falling off Shadowsoul to my death.
“—but isn’t it more satisfying when that’s done by the real version?” Bradach blinked at me, his head cocked at an unnatural angle.
“Shh.” I flapped a hand. “Keep your voice down. Someone will hear you.”
“I understand. You want privacy.” He clapped his hands over his face. “I’ll close my eyes.”
“Don’t do that,” I whisper-screamed. “There’s nothing to close your eyes to. What are you even doing here?”
“Many, many people told me our new queen has gone mad.” He arched a brow. “They were right.”
Why in the hell did I ever think I liked this guy?
“I’ve not gone mad. I just—” A thought occurred to me. “Bradach, you and Aeris, has that happened yet?”
His wings flashed out. I couldn’t be sure, but I guessed that was a sign of agitation. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, my lady.”
“So that’s a no,” I replied. “How about this? If you can sneak me out of the castle and stall Alisdair to give me an hour, maybe two hours in the village, I’ll name you my personal bodyguard. Aeris seems to be by my side always, which means if you’re always by my side, you’ll have many chances to sweet-talk her into fertilizing her eggs.” I smiled down at him. “What do you say?”
“Hmm. You’ll do this, and in return you ask that I help you go into the village?” He blew out a breath. “I don’t know, Lady Ana. You don’t know what you ask of me.”
“I know it’s a huge request. This castle is locked down tighter than the Crystal Palace, but I have to get out.” Pleading bled into my voice. “Help me. I’ll be forever in your debt.”
He tossed his head, his wings doing that nervous flutter even faster and harder. “All right, all right,” he burst out. “I will do this for you, but only because desperation is going to make you break your neck.” Bradach reached for me. “Come down. Carefully.”
“Thank you,” I cried, hope filling my chest to bursting. “Catch me.”
“What?”
I jumped off.
“Wait— No!”
Bradach shot back, leaving nothing between me and the stone.
“Ahhh—!” I hit the floor and bounced, flopping up and down like I was on a gray mattress.
I goggled at him as he closed his lapel, flashing a glance of the coudarian crystal inside. “What was that!”
“Forgive me,” he said, sounding genuinely sorry. “But I can’t touch you, my queen. It’s not worth my life.”
“What the fuck are you talking about!” Fear had a grip on my tongue, and my throat. My breaths tried and failed to leave a constricted airway.
“Surely you’ve noticed the smell.”
“Smell?” I got to my feet. “So it’s true, I do smell. Smell so badly you think you’ll die from getting near me. How is that possible?” I asked myself. “I don’t smell anything. Is it your faeriken senses? Do you smell things others can’t?”
“In this case, yes, if it’s true you can’t smell it too,” he admitted. “But it’s not about being faeriken. It’s because our lord marked you. Very heavily.”
“Excuse me? Marked?”
He pointed. I followed his finger down to my dress, and saw nothing.
“The small cuts on your chest.” Those sly lips found another smirk. “That’s how beings like him inject their pheromones into their mates’ bloodstream, marking them as theirs. Instead of walking around with the scent that is uniquely you, you now smell uniquely him . Even more him than he does.”
My jaw fell further with every word.
“A smell that transfers to anyone you touch, or who touches you,” Bradach went on. “Not an issue for the women, but if our lord discovers your touch on another man, he’ll kill them.” Bradach stated this with no inflection, irony, or grin. He was deadly serious. “Shall we?”
He set off, expecting me to follow. I chased after him, spitting mad.
“That cheating bastard. I can’t believe he’d do something like this without my permission.” I scoffed. “I bet it didn’t occur to him to ask permission. The man truly thinks he was paid for a pet and not a person.”
Bradach turned left, taking me down a hallway that was vaguely familiar.
“Being able to follow my scent everywhere and on everyone is a violation of his promise. I knew I couldn’t trust him,” I whispered. “But it doesn’t matter. If he can lie, deceive, and jump through every loophole, so can I.”
Bradach suddenly pulled up short. Tapping his lips with one finger, he pointed around the corner.
I looked to see and landed on four guards manning the main entrance. Quickly, I ducked back, shaking my head at him hard. We couldn’t do it. It wasn’t possible we’d get past all four of them without Alisdair finding out, and coming after me.
“Trust me,” he whispered. “Watch how I do this.”
“But—but wait,” I cried, reaching to grab him, then remembering and snapping my hand back.
That split-second hesitation and he stepped into their view, ending my chance to stop him.
Bradach was going to hurt them. All to help me, and help himself get closer to Aeris. Not even Meya herself could be more shocked that I cared about the well-being of a couple faeriken, but I did.
Less than a week ago, I was certain being in a faeriken’s presence resulted in death. Well, I’d been in the presence of many faeriken, and they’d been nothing but kind or deferential to me. Except for Bradach, but even he dropped everything to help me. He was even willing to go so far as to knock out his own countrymen.
Why didn’t I tell him I didn’t want any violence? I was expecting him to show me the door to an old servants’ entrance. Not go after—
“Good morning, gentlemen. Lady,” Bradach announced. He pointed straight at me. “The queen would like a stroll through the village. Send for her carriage.”
“Of course, my queen.” They snapped to attention, then bowed to the dumbfounded shadow behind the wall. “We’ll have it brought out to you at once. Please, stay in the warmth until it arrives.”
“I, uh— Yes,” I croaked, stepping into the open. “Thank you.”
Bradach brushed past me, shaking his head. I heard the word keva loud and clear.
Embarrassment flipped my stomach. I couldn’t be faulted. I’d been a princess for a short while, and a queen for less time than that. I wasn’t used to living in a world where I gave commands and they were followed without question. It never occurred to me that I wasn’t a prisoner in the castle I ruled.
I groaned, memory assaulting me. “I owe Aeris a big apology.”
AN HOUR LATER, THE carriage dropped me off at the drawbridge.
Aeris, Eadaoin, and Foalan waited for me outside in the cold.
“What are you all doing out here?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
“It is not,” Foalan said. “Lady Ana, it is not wise to travel without guards.” He gestured to Eadaoin. “Your companion is trained in combat. Trained by me . I ask that in the future, you travel with her by your side at the very least.”
“All right. I will, thank you.” There was no reason to argue with him. I’d already done what I needed to do. I wasn’t going to be around long enough to worry about who was with me when I went out.
I turned to Aeris. “Aeris, I want to apologize for throwing my shawl over your head to make my escape. I saw this for you in the market and... I hope you like it.”
Wide, glistening eyes beheld the small, silver bracelet, graced by the tiniest snowflake charm.
“Oh, my lady...” She trailed off, smiling at me. “Thank you.”
“My lady?” Eadaoin gestured behind her. “If you’ll follow me, our lord requests your presence in the war room.”
I opened my mouth to tell her where he could shove his request, and a spike of pain assaulted my ankle.
Gritting my teeth, I just nodded. “Lead the way.”
I followed Eadaoin inside. Aeris and Foalan broke off when we entered the castle, heading down the hallway leading to the throne room. Aeris’s laugh echoed behind her.
Our trek took us up three flights of stairs and down two twisting hallways. I lost my bearings immediately. I envied the queen consort who had to learn how to navigate these strange, winding halls. Thankfully, after the next morning, that would not be an issue.
Eadaoin stopped in front of a huge, red door and knocked.
“Come.”
Sweeping it open, she moved for me to step inside.
I did. My jaw dropped before I stepped over the threshold.
Maps.
Everywhere. Of everything. For everyone. Plastered all over the walls, and spilling off the desks, detailed maps of Lyrica, Sarabai, Rajadom, Quatassa, and the human lands dominated the space. There were even maps of places I didn’t recognize, with names impossible for me to pronounce.
Alisdair leaned over a slanted desk, speaking in low tones to Bradach.
My lips pressed into a thin line seeing Bradach’s hand on his shoulder.
“See to it,” Alisdair said.
“My lord.” Bradach bowed, then left as quickly as I came in.
Alisdair hadn’t raised his head from the map. I took that chance to study him.
The large, heavy black coat he always wore was nowhere to be seen. Lunch must’ve given him the magical energy he needed, because he never looked more fae. No lethal points tipped his nails. No fangs poked his deceptively soft lips. Even his horns were the smallest I’d ever seen them, giving the briefest hello from their nest of dark, pine-scented curls.
Outside the cloak, everything was on display. Of course, he’d already given me a rough and vigorous tour of his body, but without that, I still could’ve traced the outline of his shoulders and hard, stony muscles through his white linen tunic—buttoned barely above the belly button.
His pants were loose too, and that meant nothing to the large bulge between his legs. If I wanted to know why I still had a slight limp, it reminded me.
Alisdair lifted his head and I was already flicking away, narrowing in on a map of Lyrica before our eyes could meet.
“What is all of this?” A smile rose unbidden to my lips. “Seems you lied to me once again. Lyrica and its silly, old fool of a king are more of a threat to you than you let on.” I motioned to the walls. “Why else do you and your spies keep such a close eye on all of Elva and beyond?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, woman.” The same cold dismissal. “This room isn’t for defense. It’s for planning. The time draws near for the first strike that begins our conquering of Elva. We, and therefore you, must be ready.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, beast,” I breezed just as cooly. “We, and therefore you , will be doing no such thing.”
I couldn’t be certain, but I thought I saw the barest quirk of his lips. Ah, so the king found his pet amusing. He wouldn’t be laughing for long.
“Besides, you won’t get far until you hire a new mapmaker.” I pointed to a map of the Stella Darna Sea. “There’s no island there.”
“There is, but it moves. That’s where it was as of a month ago,” he replied, as if he wasn’t speaking total nonsense. “I sent my flying infantry to stake our claim, but it moved again.”
“Oookkkkaaaay,” I drew out. It’s so sad when a mind starts to go. “So why am I here? And don’t say it’s for an invasion that will never happen.”
He crooked a finger. “Come.”
I planted my feet. “Why don’t you try that again with a please, then—”
Alisdair snapped his fingers and I flew to his side, yelping as I collided with a wall of muscle. He put his arm around me instinctively, stopping me from falling. I swatted him for the magic-handling, but it was like hitting an actual wall. He didn’t give my hit a lick of attention.
“This is why you’re here.”
I glanced down at the map before us. This one, I’d never seen before. Or more to say, I have, but all the times I did, it was nothing but a black, blighted spot on our great nation.
“The kingdom of Wind and Wild,” he confirmed. “Its capital, its villages, its outer-lying territories. Familiarize yourself with it all.”
“Why must I?” I asked, though I brought the map closer.
I couldn’t help myself. I loved learning new things. If university wasn’t wholly off-limits to the likes of me, it’s where I’d be right then.
“Why are you teaching me any of this? You’re using me for my position and power.” I was nothing if not blunt. “Surely a little bird doesn’t need to be taught to run a kingdom.”
“You’re correct, you don’t,” he bit back, glaring.
I rose a little higher, glaring right back. It was then I noticed his arm was still around me, and my chest still pressed to his.
We broke apart in a blink, staring down each other from opposite ends of the table.
“All things being what they should’ve been, you wouldn’t need to know these things,” he repeated. “Because you’d be dead. But since our plans have changed—”
I hated that he kept saying our —casually including me in his treason.
“—someone will have to remain here in Lumenfell, ruling our people and raising our children while I lead the conquer.”
A roaring sounded in my ears. What did he say? “Excuse me? Children? Whose children?”
“Our children.”
He repeated it, and it still didn’t make sense.
“We are not having children.”
“We will have so many children, they will outnumber all the basks in all the seas in all the world.”
I choked, flinging away. “What!”
Face changing, Alisdair laughed. “You’re so amusing when you squawk, little bird. Calm yourself. Two or three will more than suffice. You will stay here to raise them, and teach our heirs all that I’m teaching you,” he said. “So pay attention.”
Shock fled, and rage flooded in fast. “I’m the one who must stay behind and raise the imaginary children? Is that what you think a woman’s place is? Having your beast-babies, raising your beast-babies, then putting my head down and ass up, so you can impregnate me with some more?”
“No, dear,” he ground out. “I would happily stay and rear our heirs, but then you’d have to lead our armies against Elva. You’ve made such a tantrum of being against it, I assumed that wasn’t an option for you.” Alisdair raised a brow. “Or would you prefer we wage war together, side by side, and abandon our children here with nursemaids and servants?” He tsked, looking genuinely disgusted. “Very cold, my queen. You hate our beast-babies that much, and they’re not even born.”
My jaw worked, outrage stealing every word before it could leave my tongue. How had he turned this around on me? In one conversation, I became a bad mother to children that didn’t exist, and a war-monger when there was no war!
“You enjoy this, don’t you?” My eyes narrowed to slits. “Twisting words? Keeping everyone around you a little off-balance, a little distrusting, and a lot scared. Your mind games do not work on me,” I said softly, drawing near. “But consider this while you play them. You might just be teaching me to rule the kingdom... that I’ll steal from you.”
I smiled brightly. “Begin with your lesson, husband. I’m listening.”
“Yes,” he replied, reaching for the map. “Finally, you begin to accept your fate.”
He said that, but I saw it. For the barest second... Shadowsoul hesitated.
“LAST IS WOLF TERRITORY ,” he said, drawing a circle around a stretch of land behind Castle Riagin. “As they change, they’re becoming more possessive of it, leading to bloody conflicts around their borders. As a result, we’ve declared this area off-limits to all but Foalan.
“This means if such a conflict arises, you must punish both the wolf and the other party involved,” Alisdair said. “Punishment for the violence. Punishment for provoking the violence by entering a forbidden area.”
I swallowed hard, identifying that area all too quickly. That dark, ominous pit. It was the home of bloodthirsty wolf faeriken that would’ve killed me on sight. The very pit Meallan tried talking me into entering. Instead, he helped me and let me go.
Why did he let me go? And what would’ve happened if I’d taken his hand?
“What if—” I cleared my dry throat. “What if you wander into that area by accident? Surely no one should be punished for an accident?”
“You are queen. You do not know the meaning of accident.” He rolled the map closed with a snap that echoed in my chest. “And you do not forgive them.”
“I don’t foresee me being the kind of queen you want, or expect.”
“You don’t foresee being my queen at all,” he lofted, crossing the room. “Isn’t your grand plan to escape through the dark, ice, and cold to the important things waiting for you in the kingdom of women-haters?”
I flushed. Again, every word out of his mouth was a dagger to my soft parts.
“Why should it make a difference to you what kind of queen I hope you to be?”
“It doesn’t,” I replied. “Because you’ll be dead by then.”
Slitted eyes tracked him to a darkened corner of the war room. He placed the map on the bottom of an overstuffed shelf, then waved his hand. Before my eyes, the bookshelf melted into the wall, leaving nothing but bare stone.
“How do you do that?” I blurted. “You’re not wearing any crystals. Unless, they’re... um...” I tried to stop myself, but I flicked down.
“You more than anyone know what’s in my pants, and it’s not coudarian crystals.”
Regret is swift.
A long, golden rope hung from the ceiling. Alisdair pulled on it sharply.
“Men do not have Mother Meya’s favor,” he said, surprising me again.
Anyone else would’ve called me impertinent, tried to slap me, or barked at me to shut up and waste someone else’s time with my questions. It was strange comparing everyone I was raised to trust against the man I was raised to hate. What does it mean when a good person treats you worse than a monster?
“We fight, struggle, and beg her for every drop of magic. Or, I should say, other men do. I brought Meya to heel a long time ago. Now, magic obeys my will. As all men do.” He looked me straight in the eyes. “As you will soon.”
Nothing. The answer is it means nothing when a monster pretends to be kind. He’s still a monster.
“I don’t know what disgusts me more,” I said, “your blasphemy, or your delusional fantasy that I will ever obey you.”
“Neither should disgust you. It is mere fact.” He stalked toward me, tipping my head back, back, back to hold my glare. “I am now the god you worship. From the moment you stepped into that cauldron, you forsook all others and pledged your life, your hopes, your wants, and your body to me.” Holding my gaze, he slowly brought my palm to his lips.
I could’ve stopped him. Could’ve pulled away. But my body wouldn’t respond to the command. He pressed a gentle kiss to the inside of my wrist, scampering goose bumps down my arm. The other hand suddenly grasped my hip, startling a gasp out of me.
The thin fabric of my dress did nothing to hold back the heat from his touch. Pulling me close, he drew soft, slow circles on my back while kissing a burning trail down my arm—all the while holding me captive in his mesmerizing gaze.
If I was ever asked of this, I’d say he performed terrible magics on me, rendering me unable to move. But I’d know it was a lie then as I knew it now.
I knew what magic felt like. I knew it like I knew the well of trapped power, desperately clawing the cage around my soul. This was not magic or trickery.
No, this was all Alisdair Shadowsoul.
He brushed a kiss on my chin, teasing a sigh from me. “Kiss me,” he whispered. “My wife, my queen. Kiss me.”
Rising on tiptoe, my eyes fluttered shut.
“ Kiss me .”
I frowned, blinking open—and locked eye to eye with the hideous, horned beast.
“Ahh!” I flung back and on a box of scrolls, tipping them and me onto the floor.
Alisdair laughed uproariously. “Do you see, sweet Ana? To deny my power over you is pointless. No matter what, no matter how—you’ll always end up on your back.”
“Fuck you!” I kicked and floundered under the avalanche of scrolls.
“It is that time, yes.”
I heard the creak and wheeze of the door opening.
“I’ll give you an hour head start tonight,” he said as I finally kicked free and got to my feet.
I huffed, boring a hole in his arrogant head.
He didn’t notice in the slightest. One of the servants came in, cleared a small table, and set down a food tray. Alisdair made short work of the apple.
“One hour?” I glanced out the pane window. It looked no different outside than it did an hour ago, or the hour before that, or five hours before that. “Why so generous?” I spat.
“It’s only sporting, considering you’ll need time to eat.”
I quieted, looking from him to the tray, then the door. There was no chance of me running past him. I considered trying anyway.
Relaxing, I shrugged. “Thank you, but no. I’m not hungry.”
My rotten stomach growled, betraying me instantly. Fruits, spiced vegetables, roasted lamb—their heavenly scent enveloped me. I wasn’t a stranger to missing meals.
Emiana was. Her body wanted food.
Now.
“I’m not h-hungry,” I repeated, voice cracking.
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m not.” I casually inched toward the door. “I ate a big lunch.”
“Cease your lies,” he growled. “Your stomach has been trumpeting for days. Why are you refusing—? Ah, wait. I see. You have no hope of outrunning me, so you’re taking the coward’s way out by starving yourself.” Alisdair scoffed. “Pathetic.”
“You are so—!” I cut myself off, taking a deep breath. Why did a man I’d soon be free of irritate me so greatly? “No,” I forced out. “That’s not the reason. I just don’t... have a taste for Lumenfellen food is all.”
“You have yet to eat Lumenfellen food, so you know nothing of its taste. Again you lie, and again you do it badly. What is the real reason?”
I didn’t speak. My lips tightly pressed together. If I opened them again, I would shove that food in.
He hummed. “No, it’s not cowardice. It’s ignorance. You think if you eat our food, it will trigger the change.”
Shadowsoul read the answer on my face. Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose like I was tiresome. “Princess, it doesn’t work that way. I cannot tell you what triggers the curse, but I can assure you it isn’t food. The actual trigger has already begun its work.”
“What,” I cried, whipping around.
“Whether or not you eat will not change the result, or accelerate it. You starve yourself for nothing.” He shoved the tray across the desk. “Eat.”
I stared at the food for a long time, internal battle raging. Incredibly, I didn’t think he was lying. Everything around me was cursed from the plants, to the mountains, to the air. The mountains were hardly eating roasted lamb, so it was never going to be as simple as refusing the food. I only wanted to believe it could be that simple, because if I faced the fact that the curse was in the air I breathed, the water that bathed me, or the stone beneath my feet, I had to accept that another curse was taking everything from me... and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Very well,” I whispered, claiming the tray. “I will eat, but not here. You’ve given me an hour and I’m not wasting it.” I abandoned the vegetables and snatched up the rack of lamb and the mug of ale. “I’ll see you in the morning, husband...” I headed out the door, the lamb already half devoured.
“...as you’re weeping and waving goodbye to the back of my carriage.”
His laughter echoed through the hall.
I SETTLED INTO MY HIDING spot, checking and rechecking that everything was as it should be.
This is it. Finally the nightmare will end.
The doors banged open, blasting a whoosh of air that blew out half the candles, plunging the room in dancing shadows and smoke. Alisdair stalked inside, fangs bared. He didn’t look like a husband preparing for a night of making love to his new bride. He looked like a predator who finally caught his prey.
“Very clever,” he growled. “It took me an entire five extra minutes to find you.”
I dipped down in the bath, letting the water rise to the top of my mouth. Was it five minutes? It both felt like seconds and an eternity that I waited in my steamy, overly luxurious bath.
“Not clever enough,” I said, rising back up. “I thought filling the water with every scented oil, and the room with every scented candle would be enough to block your cheat— Oh pardon me, I meant you’re marking.”
Alisdair grinned at my scolding. “It was enough, little bird, hence you earning my compliment. I couldn’t smell my mark at all—”
“But then how—?”
“What I did smell was the thick, cloying scent of a bath that was all scented oil.” He tapped his nose, tsking my shame. “Let that be your third lesson of the day. You cannot hide what belongs to me behind what doesn’t belong.”
“Hmm,” I raised my chin, rising fully in the water. “A good lesson, but not one I’ll need to know past tonight.”
Alisdair ripped off his robe and threw the tatters into a corner. Sweet talk was over. “Come to me, Princess,” he said, palming his smooth, already-erect cock. “I regret that there is no hairy cat mole—”
My face caught fire.
“—but it will fuck you all the same.” He pointed down. “On your knees. Head down. Ass up.”
Oh, yes, the sweet talk is very much over.
“Hold that thought, and look.” I raised my hands, gesturing to the newest addition to the baths. “I got something in the village today. Something that’s going to make things much clearer.”
Scowling, he trained his gaze up. “A painting of you? Are you giving it to me as a... present?” The word sounded foreign on his tongue. “I don’t want it. Get out.”
Kakka. I strained to keep my tone neutral. “It’s not a present. Just look at it, then look at me.”
I pointed to the lovely, radiant picture of Princess Emiana of Lyrica, then pointed to myself, shook my head hard, then repeat.
The curse wouldn’t let me speak my true name. It wouldn’t let me write it down. It wouldn’t let me give clues to my identity. I couldn’t even describe my true face to the artist I met in the market square. But a painting of Emiana... that was easily done.
I thought of a million ways to get through to him that I’m not the princess, and he was teaching a poor peasant to rule his kingdom. In the end, simple was best.
His eyes narrowed to slits, the line down his brow growing more pronounced.
“Yes, yes,” I cried. He’s getting it. He understands! “Take me home. I have to go back—”
“Argh!” He jumped in the water, splashing half the bath in my shrieking mouth. “Enough of your presents and pantomime games. My tiny little fella failed to satisfy you last night.”
The face of evil. It was before me.
“Seven orgasms weren’t enough. Fucking you until you blacked out—twice.” He tangled in my hair, ever so slowly drawing my head back. Alisdair was daring me to stop him, and loving that I wasn’t. “Not enough.
“Clearly I have to redouble my efforts.” He licked a stripe up my chin. “I’m going to fuck you until all the water’s left this bath.”
“What does that mean?” I cried. “The bath doesn’t drain!”
But I knew what he meant. I knew all too well.
Our promise was that if he caught me, he was free to ravage me within an inch of my life, and I was the silly mare who didn’t even run. Despite my ravings that morning, last night was the best sex anyone ever had, and I didn’t need the samplings of other men to know it. Alisdair found every one of my body’s treasure troves and plundered it for gold.
I rocked back against the rim, brought my feet up, and kicked in his chest.
That doesn’t mean I’m making it easy for him.
He stumbled back and I shot past him—kicking and slapping at the water. I never did learn how to swim.
Claws clamped around my ankle and dragged me under.
The world disappeared in a soundless kaleidoscope of color. Hands grabbed mine. Threading our fingers together, he pinned my palms to the bottom of the water basin. No hesitation. No preparation. Alisdair buried inside me with one hard thrust.
My cry was bubbles in the water, floating to the surface to escape. I would not be joining them.
Alisdair started pumping, setting a furious, out-of-control, animal pace. Every breath I tried to hold exploded out of me in an ecstatic scream. Drowning has never been so pleasurable.
Alisdair was a monster. An evil, arrogant, impatient monster who used people as pawns, and crushed them when they ceased being useful. So why, in Meya’s wisdom, did he not fuck like one?
If there was any justice in this world, his true face would be as hideous as his cursed one. His overconfidence would mask his insecurity over having a minuscule penis besieged by a hairy mole twice its size. He’d be selfish in bed, hoarding his own pleasure and leaving his partner bored, unsatisfied, and cold.
Something that was not his hand slipped between my legs, found my clit, and rubbed it so vigorously, my back snapped in half arching off the floor.
If he was the monster at night that he was during the day... I could hate him so much less.
I hated that my body responded to him. Hated that I was choking on moans more than water. Hated that my mouth snarled at him while my pussy begged for him.
He was making a fool of me...
Alisdair’s lips pressed to my neck. The pinprick of pain smothered under my exploding orgasm, chasing away my rage at being marked again. Chasing away all thought entirely. The only thing that anchored me to reality was the shape of his smirk against my skin.
Yes, he was making a fool of me, and he knew it.
I WOKE UP ON THE BOTTOM of the dry bath basin. An unnaturally hairy arm slung a possessive grip over my waist.
Carefully, I wiggled free—stifling a groan over all the aches and sores that woke with me. Alisdair taught me my fourth lesson of the day. Never taunt him about sex... because he’ll prove me wrong.
Sighing, I glanced up at the painting. A simple plan, but I had faith it would work. At least it would get him to question. Wonder why I was acting so strangely, and from there he’d begin to wonder other things.
“It was never going to be that easy,” I said softly, getting to my feet. “Oh well.” I walked— limped —away. “Time for plan B.”