Chapter 18 The Gilded Throne
THE GILDED THRONE
If only because I have the urge to stab him again, I move the sword away from his neck.
Taking that as a sign that I’m accepting his explanation, Thane hurriedly pulls himself into a seated position before turning to me imploringly.
“You have to understand. I was betrothed to Fiona during my centennial celebration. The queen insisted. The only way out of it was to buy my freedom from her. With enough gold, there’s no betrothal…
there’s no Celeste making orders that I have to spend all my time in the Shadowed Woods as a bandit to ignore.
I never meant to hurt you… I didn’t think—”
“I don’t care what you thought,” I snap, digging the tip of my sword into the dirt so that I have both hands to articulate.
Finally daring to step out from behind the tree where he was hiding, Binx scampers over to the sword, protecting it in case Thane gets any idea of reaching for it.
“I gave you my essence,” I shout. “My body. My heart. You can’t just break the bond with gold.
You’re my forever mate, Thane, and you betrayed me. ”
His gaze never leaves mine even as I storm away, pacing in my boots. “I want to be your mate, Alana.”
“And yet,” I say, voice breaking despite myself, fury giving way to further hurt, “you want gold more.”
“I don’t,” he says in a ragged whisper. “Maybe I did, but you… you gave me hope that it’s not gold that will stop Queen Celeste. It’s golden eyes and yellow hair and the taste of fire on my tongue. It’s you, demoness.
“I didn’t know why I couldn’t let you go,” he murmurs, wiping away the blood on his throat as he gets to his feet. “Now I do. You’re mine, Alana of Sombra. I can’t marry Fiona when I’ve mated you. No matter what the queen decrees… you belong to me.”
I wish I could believe him. He considered me his, all right. So that he could sell me to the queen like he did Rafe…
I give my head a clearing shake.
“How can I be if I can’t trust you?”
Thane surges forward, taking my hand in his. “Easy. I give you reasons to trust me.”
I squint at him. It doesn’t do a damn thing to make him look like anything other than the most gorgeous male I’ve ever seen—and, no, that’s not my cunt talking. Thane is stunning, and I want to believe him, and I don’t know if I can… but there’s one way he can prove himself.
We had one night. I knew it then that it might be the only one we have.
“Fine. We’ll start with today.”
“Yes. Anything. Whatever you want—”
I lift my hand, lifting up on my toes, cradling his cheek. “I want you to lead me to the queen. I’m not following the butterflies to the Gilded Throne, Thane. I’m going to follow you.”
He recoils. Not enough to pull away from my touch, but I see the sudden panic flare in his eyes. “No. Alana, I can’t—”
Binx decides it’s time to chime in. Hopping over to Thane, he bats at his bare leg, giving him a piece of his mind. Thane’s lucky. If I hadn’t convinced Binx to let me handle this, he might’ve had an incensed ungez hanging from his cock, fangs sunk into his naked flesh.
Maybe I should’ve waited to have this conversation after he got dressed.
I might’ve found it easier to stay mad at Thane.
Then again, even though the bond’s currently blocked, all I feel is the truth in his words and how much the bond’s opened him up enough that the fae who didn’t think his heart could work is in love with me.
Yeah?
Prove it.
“That’s my offer. You want me to trust you? Have my back when I confront your queen.”
“I’ll always protect you,” he says, so quickly that it’s another notch in his favor. “But she’ll know who you are. One glimpse and she’ll be able to tell if you’re the demoness in the prophecy that’s haunted her for a millennium.”
She got off lucky. In Sombra, Duke Haures and the doppelseers had to wait two millennia before that prophecy got set into motion…
“That’s fine with me.”
“Alana…” Thane sucks in a breath. “I know you care for your friend, but I won’t let you trade yourself for him.”
That’s nice. I wasn’t planning on it. I mean, yes, I’m getting Rafe back, but I’m saving my rear and Binx’s, too. And, fine, I guess I can save Thane’s.
It’s a pretty nice one.
I nod at Binx. He gives Thane one last pat with his paw, then scampers over to Thane’s pile of discarded clothing. Picking the leathers up with his fangs, he hurries back, dropping them in front of Thane.
“You don’t get to decide,” I tell him. “There’s a reason I’m here. There’s a reason your queen is afraid of the demoness in the prophecy.”
He grabs his leathers, never once looking away from me. “Alana—”
“Get dressed. Help me rescue Rafe. Then we’ll see who protects who.”
With that statement, feeling pretty bad ass myself, I pluck my sword from the earth. A clod of dirt and moss pulls free from it. I have to stop, shaking it off, but over all it was a pretty snazzy move.
Half a day’s walk to the Gilded Court?
I’m ready.
Let’s just hope Thane is.
I’m from Sombra, a world of shadow and fire and ash. I never knew what gold metal was until I landed here, but I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t feel this cold and foreboding.
As we approach the Gilded Court from behind, that’s all I can think of.
It’s bright, yes, but while I imagined that the palace would be similar to the crystal structure in Mavro where Duke Haures and Duchess Susanna live, it’s not.
As though made of sheets of gold hammered together, with deep shadows at the foundation, holding it in place, it oozes a warning that a smart halfling would heed.
Too bad they didn’t pick a smart halfling to be the demoness in the Prophecy of the Gilded Throne. If Thane… and the guard that tried to take me… and the slavers who almost did can be believed, that’s me.
Alana of Sombra.
I’m almost there.
I don’t ask how Thane knows the way to sneak into the Gilded Court without being caught by guards. His essence tells me that he grew up as one of the noble fae before turning to banditry in the Shadowed Woods. He confirms it himself before I get the chance to question it.
Though he didn’t want to bring me here, he’s delved deep enough into my essence to see that, once I set my mind to something, there’s no changing it.
All along, I wanted to get Rafe back. The slavers were too afraid of Thane to refuse his order.
Unless something happened to Rafe along the way once he was passed over to the queen’s soldiers, he’s in there.
And that means I’m going in there.
Sneaking in through a servant’s entrance, I see that the palace walls are gilded stone shot through with veins of a darker metal that swallows the light instead of reflecting it.
Shadows cling there unnaturally, thick and restless.
Just taking a few steps inside Queen Celestes’s home, I can feel it: the same smothering force that’s been dulling my magic since I arrived in Noctavara.
This is where shadows come to die—no. It’s where they come to be owned.
Binx senses it, too. Though I offered to let him wait outside, knowing that he would never do so, he stays close to me.
Once inside, he presses even further against my calf, his shadowy fur fading until he’s sleeker and smaller than I’ve ever seen.
His unease mirrors mine, a low, vibrating warning that keeps passing down our soulbond.
Thane isn’t happy about being here, either. Just like when he confronted the slaver, he doesn’t look amused at all. Not one bit cocky. The bandit’s grin is gone, stripped away by the sight of the Court that made him what he is.
His jaw tightens. “You don’t have to do this.”
Oh, Thane…
“Is Rafe in here?”
“If he’s anywhere, he’s here,” is Thane’s twisty non-answer. He hears it, catches himself, and clears his throat. “That’s not what I meant, Alana. You don’t have to do this. I’ll find Rafe for you. Buy him back from the queen. You don’t have to face her.”
That’s what he says.
Fate, however, feels differently.
“Now that they know I exist, she won’t stop hunting me. Say I go home. I leave my mate behind… that won’t stop them. The slavers could enter Brille Rouge. They can go to Sombra. I’d be putting my parents… my other friends… my clan in danger.
“I won’t wait for her to send someone else,” I continue, pausing only to point at the monarch butterfly that fluttered in through the door we left open. “Even they know it. The crowned wings are supposed to herald my arrival. Well. There you go.”
Thane exhales slowly. “You’re right. I’m fooling myself, but… love makes one foolish, doesn’t it? It doesn’t matter where you go. She already knows you’re here.”
I smile at him, letting my wee fang peeks through as my demon eyes blaze. “Good.”
That settled, Thane takes the lead. No matter how long it’s been since he lived in the Gilded Court himself, he knows how to navigate the narrow halls, the dark shadows, the blinding light flickering in gold sconces.
When I ask him where we’re going, he doesn’t answer, and I understand why.
He’s bringing me to Queen Celeste because that’s what I asked him to do, and wants nothing more than to prove himself worthy of my trust.
I know we’re getting close when a quartet of fae soldiers in polished armor appear in one corridor, each one holding a sword just like Thane’s.
My mate eases back, covering both me and Binx with his cloak. Under his breath, he mutters, “Last chance, demoness. If they take you, nothing will stop them from bringing you to Celeste. Four against three… not the best odds.”
I know. “I’m ready.”
Is it a lie? Could be. But I know… I know… that the way to Rafe is through Queen Celeste.
And that means I need to meet Queen Celeste.
Watching his profile, I see his throat works, then another crooked grin. “‘Tell them that I’m coming?’” he says, throwing my own words back at me.
I shake my head. “Tell her that I’m here.”
Okay. After seeing the back halls of the Court, the throne room is even worse than I expected.