Chapter 44
On our way back to the palace, I was a total mess. Still, I did my best not to let my inner turmoil show. Not only had I declared war on my grandfather and angered the entire High Court, but I’d also been rejected by the woman I already considered as mine.
In a way, all three occurrences were inconsequential, but each of them brought its own set of challenges.
While the Rite of Courting would have been mandatory no matter what, everything could have been so much easier if only Nayana had already admitted to returning my feelings.
But in the end, her stubborn refusal to acknowledge the truth didn’t matter because she’d come around to the fact that we were meant to be.
Patience was the key, and finding such was hard for me at the best of times, but with my grandfather breathing down our necks, waiting was a different kind of horror.
“The High King won’t let this rest, will he?”
“He has to. There will be an open rebellion if he messes with our rites.”
“Dion, have you already forgotten that you publicly antagonized him?”
“As if he is taking me seriously. Sure, I’ll be punished, but fuck that. In the end, he’ll bank my insolence as a pathetic cry for attention. But he’ll soon learn I won’t do his dirty work ever again.”
“He could force you to.”
“No.”
“But he made you do his bidding all the time. Like with Amalach.”
Huffing, I stopped mid-walk and spun around to Nayana, capturing her shoulders with my hands.
She was right to worry, but I didn’t want her to.
There was a chance that my grandfather would take tonight more severely than I hoped or that he’d attempt to use Nayana to force my compliance, but if I always stayed one step ahead of him, I should be able to navigate this whole fucked-up mess.
“Yes. Although I loved Amalach, I followed the orders I’d been given willingly and without losing sleep over the destruction.
Galrach was the only direct family member I had left from a very young, impressionable age, apart from Antas and their mostly absent sire, and my grandfather had always been a massive authority figure to me.
My parents pushed back against his attempts to meddle too much with my education, and he never approved of how soft they were with me.
When they were dead and gone, he took it upon himself to rid me of their influence.
And even with everything following the assassination of my mother, for a long time, I believed that he only wanted the best for Galanta and its inhabitants.
But my eyes have opened a long time ago.
He’s a shit king whose obsession lies with power and amassing more and more supremacy. ”
“But why the unveiled aggression now? We had a plan, after all.”
“Well, I don’t agree with the way he’s treating and threatening you.”
“That’s your line?” The adorable female was scrunching her nose, and I resisted the urge to kiss her on the spot. “But murder isn’t?”
“Killing someone who deserves death is often the best solution to every problem.”
She was doing it again, trying to find some sense of general human morality in me. Of course, her continued digging was in vain. But at least she made me grin thanks to the cute, irritated sound she produced as she narrowed her cerulean eyes at me.
“But who made you judge, jury, and executioner?”
“I did, Naya. There are so many dangers out there, and if nobody deals with them, they’ll come back to bite you in the ass. So yes. I assess, I condemn, and I follow through to my heart’s content.”
“And you don’t care about how much you’re tainting your soul?”
“My soul is fine as it is.”
“Why are you so broken?”
“Don’t call me broken.” We could have this discussion a thousand times, and nothing would ever change. I simply couldn’t adopt the mindset my tiny woman wanted me to have.
But during the recent days, I had been under the impression as if she’d begun to realize what advantages it could bring to have a protector who would burn down worlds for her and not bat an eyelash over the damage he caused.
She’d accept my way of handling things one day, even if currently, this sentiment didn’t fit into her own narrow sense of what was right or wrong.
Switching the topic, I brushed a strand of hair that had escaped its prison behind her ear.
“We’ll have to shadowwalk back to the palace before Galrach sends the army to collect their wayward Field Marshal.”
“He wouldn’t—would he?”
“Surely he would. So, hold on. We’ll travel directly into the ballroom.”
“What if I throw up?”
“Make sure to hit His Fucking Royal Majesty.”
“Haha, funny. He would have me execu—ugh—”
Stepping into the shadows, I drowned out her protest. Time to get this confrontation over with before I could consider fleeing from my grandfather like a scared little faeling.
We reappeared as planned in the middle of the grand hall, and, as usual, I relished in the surprised and alarmed outcries of the crowd shying away from me.
Every single fae—well, except Galrach and my comrades—feared me.
As proven earlier, I could extinguish their life flames within the blink of an eye and not even break a sweat about my actions.
It was an exhilarating feeling to be untouchable to the vermin so far beneath me.
“Galrach.” Refusing to call him by his honorifics, I approached my grandfather with my head held high and holding Nayana’s hand in mine.
She was about to sink into a curtsy, but I stopped her right from the beginning.
Neither of us would lower ourselves anymore in front of the so-called king, who was only in power because of me.
Galrach glared at me for the longest while, then motioned to the musicians, and the stuttering tune died away.
Ignoring the evil glare my grandfather bestowed upon me, I tucked Nayana under my shoulder in an almost casual gesture.
“Speak.”
Ah, a clenched jaw as well as gritted teeth. How charming.
Even though my grandfather did his best to portray the cold ruler at all times, he couldn’t deny that the temper running in the family—even if it had skipped my mother—was strong in him.
“It is done. I, Dionadair Dorchadas Coroin De’An Scriosta, and Nayana Garnet Ortha visited the Holy Triad Temple of Alaiann, and the First Act of Courtship was supervised by Kalag as my witness, by Immaru as my witness, and by the nameless god of fate as my witness.
The Triad judged me a worthy male to pursue the hand of my chosen one in courtship. And Nayana accepted.”
Mumbling broke out at my declaration, and the disbelief that the whole Triad had been present for our ceremony hung in the air like a thick blanket. This was unheard of, and even the earlier hostage situation paled in comparison for most.
“Well. So, we’ll have a toast.” Galrach’s voice was ice cold, despite the burning hatred in his eyes.
Fuck no, we wouldn’t.
The way he was out of himself, he’d try to assassinate one of us—or both—on the spot. And even if not, compromising my magic was very low on my list of things I desired in current circumstances. “I don’t drink, and you know that. Nayana doesn’t either.”
“I insist.”
Gritting my teeth, I could feel Naya’s worried gaze on me. All her fears were coming true, and her anxiety barreled into me like a crowd of angry godlings.
“Congratulations, nephew. And to you, Nayana.”
My chest deflated with relief as out of nowhere Antas appeared and handed us glasses, bypassing the servant who had come our way. My uncle must have abandoned his duties outside, since I guessed that he’d heard what had transpired during my speech earlier.
Another name on Galrach’s shitlist, then.
But admittedly, I’d never been as glad as when Antas had approached us.
At least we could be sure that there was no poison in our glasses, and to my satisfaction, I realized what he’d provided me with was clear water.
Antas. Always watching out for me, that one.
And so we toasted. Afterward, I spent an hour dancing with Nayana, all under the king’s watchful—and hateful—eye, until we finally could call it a night.