16. Sixteen
That asshole.
That arrogant, colossal, massive, giant asshole!
Standing in front of my mirror this morning, I see the point of last night”s visit. A tapestry of blue and purple covers my inner thighs and hips, and averydistinct print is visible from the seams of his gloves around my neck.
How fucking dare he?
I am just doing my job, and he thinks he has any right to mark me, tomake certainthat another man won”t comeanywherenear me while I wear his artwork.All of that, just to not let me find release at all.
I don”t think I”ve ever been so furious with someone. I”ve certainly never felt any of the things I felt last night. Not being a virgin doesn”t mean that I”m at all experienced with the kind of overpowering, pulsing desire I feel when Kairon touches me. Like every nerve in my body shuts off except for the ones he”s touching.
Nothing exists aside from him when he”s near me, and it”s becoming impossible to navigate. I am supposed to be the charming one, and he”s supposed to be The Horned King, for gods” sake.
Raya appears behind me, whistling. ”Wow.”
I mhmm, gritting my teeth.
”Those are impressive. I can almost see the imprint of his teeth right there.” She cackles, pointing at a remarkably detailed spot on my right leg.
”Yes, I see that. Thank you.”
She laughs again. ”Elva, what have you done to him?”
I scoff, turning around to face her. ”I haven”t done anything,” I argue my innocence. ”I”m just...” Her raised brow and smirk let me know that my lie isn”t as convincing to her as it is to me. ”I may have been a little extra friendly with Prince Tirriel yesterday.”
Her quiet laughter turns into howls as she uses my shoulder to balance herself. ”You are a deviant, Elva. You”ve brought more fun into this castle than it”s probably seen in centuries.”
”How was I supposed to know he would react this way?”I ask as I step behind the changing partition. The dress hung up on it for me to grab is a light yellow, tiny blue detailing woven in to look like little flowers. It”s ethereal, looks like spring, and feels even better. When I return from behind it, Raya looks me up and down clinically, nodding her approval.
”You must know the effect you have on him by now,”she chides.
I drag a chair over and place it in front of the mirror so she can style my hair for me again. ”He doesn”t know me well enough to get jealous,”I tell her. ”I”ve only been here a few days.”
Using a comb to tame the snarls, her eyes don”t leave the wild waves this humidity has caused while she speaks. ”Do you know how many people have challenged the king, in any capacity, since he took over?”
”That have lived to tell the tale, you mean?”I specify.
She tugs on my hair a little, causing me to laugh. ”I mean, at all.”
”Can”t say I do.”I shrug. ”Haven”t thought to ask.”
”None.”
”Please.”I roll my eyes. ”Some man appears with a horde of the dead, takes over, and nobody even asks any questions?”
Using some kind of heavy cream-like substance, she smooths my hair, turning the chaos of it into something lovely. Still wild, still me, but bringing out the beauty in the madness. Each morning when I”ve done my own hair, I”ve had a crippling headache by the end of the day, using such force to tame it into a bun that it hurts. Only when I”ve allowed Raya to style it does the pain abate.
”He didn”t leave anyone behind to question it,”she explains. ”And since then, whether he”ll admit it or not, he”s been lonely. Nobody wants to live in a world where nobody ever pushes them to be better or challenges them to grow. What kind of life is that?”
”What about Shan? Or you?”I ask, still ignoringthatwriggling feeling I get in my stomach when I think ofjusthow closethe two of themare.
”Shan is a nobody,”she laughs. ”He was hired as a glorified secretary and only thinks his position is of any import. And I-”she pauses. ”I couldn”t challenge the king even if I wanted to.”
That seems like a strange thing to say, but I don”t think too much of it, still silently wondering how they know each other so well. ”How long have you known His Royal Majesty again?”The question escapes me even when I didn”t want it to.
Half of her lips lift. ”Since we were children, really. He”s the closest thing I”ve ever had to family.” Oh. ”Yes, even the formidable king was once a child.”
Against my better judgment, I imagine him as a child, limbs too long for his little body, stumbling all over the place before he grew into himself. I imagine him navigating terrible powers that he wouldn”t even have an understanding of yet, perhaps killing people without even knowing what it meant.
I imagine him as a teen, already towering over everyone, learning to fight beside warriors much older and more experienced, and how he might already scare all of them.
”He must have been pretty isolated,”I comment, running my fingers through the waves she calmed for me.
”Fighting for the previous king was the worst,”she admits, eyes staring into nothing in the mirror. ”The battlefields ran red with Fae and other creatures” blood for no reason other than Rivchithought everything different was an abomination. That”s why the witches helped Kai take over.”
”They what?”I nearly leap out of my seat.
She grips my shoulders and turns me to face her. ”You mustn”t tell anyone. Knowing outsiders helped stage a coup would destroy our world as we know it. But you have to know, as awful as Kai is, his cruelty is doled out equally. He doesn”t pick and choose who is victim to his monstrosity based on what they are, where they came from, or who they love. He”s terrible to everyone.”
”Who they love?”I ask, wondering where that detail came from.
Her eyes turn glassy for a second, confused and sorrowful. ”I”m sorry. I don”t know why I said that. Something”s... something”s not... I need to go.”
Without another word, she flees from my bedroom, leaving me lost in all this new information. If Rhyma and the others found out about this, they could use it as leverage to oust Kairon and place someone else on the throne. Someone more willing to give them what they need.
Is that what”s right, though? No. He”s taken me in and kept me safe, after all. I can”t say the same would be true of anyoneelsewho might take over. Especially someone put in place by a country as uneducated as my own.
As I apply the cosmetic on my face- and neck- I contemplate what to do with this new information. Is a fair tyrant really any better than an unfair one? Just because Raya believes in him and sees the good doesn”t mean he”s the person she claims he is. As she said, she can”t challenge him anyway.
The only course of action is to ignore it. If the witches who see all and know all put him on the throne, he”s the person who should be there—not just for the sake of his people and mine but for the sake of all life.
Rage momentarily forgotten, I step out of the bedroom towards our common area where we are to share breakfast. While I expected him to be in crisis modedue to Raya runningfrom our conversation as if it burned her, there he is, perfectly dressed with his gorgeous hair immaculately styled.
His devilish smirk greets me as he sips his coffee. ”How did you sleep?”
Choosing to pretend the previous conversation never happened, I ignore his existence completely, letting my anger overtake any empathy or respect that might be growing.
”Well, I hope,”he continues, and only when I finally really look at him do I see the signs of what Raya had said about his lack of sleep.Itseems to begetting even worse.The shadows under his eyes are more pronounced than usual, a deep purple I haven”t seen before.
He sips his coffee, and I see more proof the longer I look at him. The wrinkles in his dark gray pants and yellow shirt- yellow? My eyes narrow, zoning in on the color that I thought was so beautiful just moments ago, and now I hate with every fiber of my being.
How the fuck did I not notice we”ve been matching since he replaced my clothes with some of his own choosing? I open my mouth to say something, but he holds up a palm to stop me, enraging me further.
”This is Raya”s doing,”he explains. ”I assure you, I would not have chosen this color for you.”
What color would he choose?
”Red,”he answers my unasked question. His head sinks back against the headrest, and his eyes close, exhaustion written on every inch of him. ”The shade of red your cheeks turn when you”re angry. So dark it resembles wine, so fucking beautiful I want to drink in every inch of you.”
”Well,”I clear my throat, ”it certainly seems that one of us is sleep-deprived, but it certainly isn”t me.”
He chuckles, languidly raising his head to look at me. ”Please sit, Elva. Drink. Eat. We have a terribly long and boring day ahead of us.”
”Long and boring?”I scoff. ”Today is historic. All of our neighboring nations are meeting to discuss peace for the first time in centuries.”
”Right, yes.”He nods, condescension obvious. ”Historic talks of peace. Sure. Just please, for a second, can we hold off on that? We”ll be discussing it for the next several weeks.”
”You can”t really believe it”ll take that long?”I pry.
A sleepy laugh escapes him. ”You have no idea what kind of mess you”ve brought upon yourself, Elva. Everything between the rest of us has been fine. We”ve had our squabbles, and everybody has to remind Colm who he is every six months or so, but now that Rhyma wants to finally involve themselves, everyone else is going to want more out of the arrangement.”
”What do you mean?”
”Fastid is completely landlocked. Rhyma is effectively landlocked, your shores being entirely useless. We have a few trades we agreed to with Fastid generations ago, but now that Rhyma wants something from us, Colm is going to think they deserve more than Rhyma because we”ve been friendly with them for longer.”
”And Suva? Lermo?” I ask.
”Suva doesn”t need anything from us. Anything their land can”t naturally produce, the Fae can. And Prince Tirriel just likes to feel important, so he came along. Lermo does a lot of trade with the Fae. Loves them. And the Fae love to love them back.”
”Fae and humans?”I cover my mouth, scandalized.
He looks surprised by my shock. ”How do you think Maren came to be? Fae love to fuck mortals.”He laughs. ”Any mortal that sleeps with a Fae becomes utterly obsessed, and Fae soak up that devotion like mini gods.”
”Huh.”I nod. ”Then why come at all? Why not just stay between themselves?”
He shrugs. ”Maren is a good queen, always willing to do whatever she must, including travel just to babysit the mortals she must rule beside. Prince Tirriel probably wanted to see if he could get more for his country and fuck you while he does. Which, let me reiterate in case I wasn”t clear enough, he can”t.”
Completely ignoring the thrill his possessive tone sends up my spine, I change the subject, ”What about the president of Slawyth and his husband? I thought they were supposed to arrive yesterday.”
”Shan alerted me that they sent a missive; something happened at their capital that required them to stay behind. They are very apologetic, but these things happen.”He seems almost as disappointed as I am. ”I know you really hoped for everyone to be here.”
”Well, there”s nothing that can be done about it, I guess. Is there anything they are asking for in the negotiations? Anything that Rhyma can provide?”I ask.
”Elva.”He grins. ”No offense, but Rhyma really doesn”t have that much to offer other than weaponry.”
”Everyone needs weapons,”I argue.
He blinks a couple times as if waiting for me to laugh or finish some joke. ”Right. Most countries are run by Zalig, and as such, the kind of power we need isn”t really some metal contraption. Guns of any kind are really only used by Rhyma; the rest of our armies use swords and are led by those of us with power.”His eyes narrow, looking right through me, before he abruptly stands and says, ”I have to go.”
”What?”
”There”s something that I need to do before meetings begin,”he tells me, gesturing toward me with his hands to stay put. ”Finish eating; don”t rush on my account. I”ll see you this afternoon.”
Just as the sun is about toreach itspeak in the sky, Raya arrives to help me with last-minute preparation for the first of our official meetings.
”Are you excited?”she beams, grabbing that cream stuff for my hair.
I shake my head, using a comb instead to slick it all backso I canput it in a bun. ”I am excited. His Royal Majesty seems to believe things are going to devolve into some kind of fight, but I”m confident that we can come to peaceful agreements.”
A knowing grin fills her face, and her brown eyes beam. ”I guess you”ll find out,”she says.
”What does that mean?”I laugh.
She gently tugs at a few pieces of hair around my face, freeing them from the tight style I”ve put them in. Using her thumb and one finger, she smooths the strands with that cream stuff, and they bounce up into perfect waves, framing my face.
”Just means you”re going to be quite surprised at how stubborn all those men can be.”She smiles.
”And Maren?”I ask. ”The witches?”
”Idon”t know Maren well, but the Eyes are wonderful. They should be running everything, in fact.”She winks at me, grinning again.
”You would have one of them on the throne instead of your king?”I ask dramatically.
Her head falls back as she laughs so loudly it startles me before placing a hand on my shoulder. ”Kai would too, I assure you. He doesn”t want to be king. He just wants to be free, but unfortunately, you can”t be powerful and free here. If you have power, you must be feared. That”s the only way people will leave you alone.”
”I see.”I nod, looking at the mirror but seeing nothing, fearing the daythatanyone here finds out about myownabilities.
”You look capable and beautiful,”Raya beams. ”Go grab your shoes, and let”s get this mess started.”
We reach the meeting room before anyone else, the light gray and muted red, a more welcoming version of the red and black color scheme Kairon is known for. Raya plants herself in a seat, kicking her legs up on the tablein front ofher. Maren comes in next, bidding us both a hello before sitting in herownseat.
”Raya, get your fucking feet off my table,”Kairon orders her as he enters the room, and Raya does as she”s told, sitting up properly.Kai nodshis head in greeting tome before heading straight to Maren to speak quietly with her about something.
As he does, Prince Tirriel arrives, stopping at my seat to twirl a finger through one free curl and tell me how gorgeous and formidable I look.Raya looks at me from behind him, amusement dancing across her face at the similar, andyet all too contrasting from hers, compliments.When Tirriel leaves to go to his seat, Isubtlyshake my head, telling her not to say a thing about it. She mimes locking her lips closed and throwing away the key.
Even from across the table, I can sense Kairon”s tension. His helm points in Tirriel”s direction and follows himall the wayto his seat like a predator stalking his next target. The only thing that shakes the king out of his staring contest is Farhan loudly blustering in, complaining about the sounds of the ocean keeping him up all night.
”Next year, we shall do this in my home. It”s much quieter there,”he tells me,taking the seatjust across from me.
”No,”Kairon tells him simply, and Farhan closes his mouth, not daring to argue. As soon as everyone notices the king”s sour mood, they remain silent. Everyone sits at the table, Kairon at the head of it, commanding attention even among peers.
He says nothing, staring at us and waiting for whoever will speak first. No one does, all impatiently looking at the others, pleading for someone to begin.
”My, my, this is a dour bunch,”a voice floats in from a seat across from me.
Smoke appears in the same area, coasting across three seats right next to each other. The smoke thickens, becoming more opaque until the Eyes materialize, each with a matching, mischievous smile.
”Did someone say or do something naughty?”Ovoor quips.
”No,” Olath answers.
”Not yet, anyway,”Onala adds with a cackle.
”Ooooh,”Olath drawls. ”Who”s it going to be?”
Ovoor taps a long, bony finger on her chin. ”Based on past experience, my guess is Tirriel. Onala?”
”I”m not going to ruin the surprise, sisters.”She grins, sweeping her hair from her shoulder. ”But you”re not wrong.”
The three burst into laughter, their giggles weaving together to create one haunting yet captivating sound.
”Ladies,”Kairon bites. ”If you”re quite finished.”
”We are,” Olath answers.
”For now, anyway.”Onala grins.
No one else says anything, but Maren”s teeth are trapped between her lips tohold backher laughter. While she and the king might be friendly, even she doesn”t dare giggle while he”s like this. Tirriel and Farhan glance between the king and the witches, seemingly terrified to offend either one by laughing or not laughing.
”Miss Aistin,”the king”s authoritative voice booms, the sound of it making me equally turned on and furious when I remember exactly why I had to put extra cover-up on my neck this morning.
”Yes, Your Majesty?”I ask, pretending to keep calm even though I can feel the sweat trying to bead on my forehead. No matter how many times I”ve done it, having a group look at me and expect something of me never gets any easier.
”You brought us all here,”he begins. ”We had no plans of meeting again for several years, having finally found an arrangement we can all agree on. And now that we”ve done all the hard work, Rhyma wants to be a part of it, so why don”t you begin by telling us exactly what you want and why we should give it to you?”
I swallow, frozen for a second while his words settle and hit their intended target. Rhyma only asked for this agreement to be made with Oksangui. It was Kairon”s idea to invite everyone else rather than continue the peace we already had with them. Why is he actingas ifI asked for this, like I wanted to inconvenience everyone?
”It”s quite simple,”I tell him and the rest of them. ”Rhyma simply wants peace and to expand our trading. We have some small trade agreements with Fastid and Slawyth, but as our country grows, so do our needs.”
”And what would we have to gain from expanding our trade agreements with you?”Farhan asks. ”We are already being incredibly generous with our livestock trade. Does your country have something new to offer than it did 10 years ago?”
”We”ve made some very innovative advances with our weaponry in the last decade,”I explain. ”The Zalig in our armies have created a firearm that doesn”t need to be reloaded after every shot, making 11 or 12 before emptying.”
”Firearms?”Farhan chuckles. ”What do you know of these firearms? That seems far too violent for a little thing like you.”
The taste of copper floods my mouth, and only then do I realize that I havequite literallybitten my tongue until it bleeds rather than react to his gross comment. ”I have not fought in our army, so I can only speak on these things from a bystander”s point of view, but I”ve watched many demonstrations, and I assure you, they”re quite impressive.”
”So you”ve never done any of the firing, and yet you”re here to sell them to us?”Farhan scoffs. ”How irresponsible of your people to send someone so unqualified. Though, I shouldn”t be surprised. They let anybody run their country, even those without any abilities.”
”Remind me, Colm,”Kairon interjects, the cold calm of his tone not boding well for any of us. ”What powers do you possess?”
”I am immune to any disease or poison, as I”m sure you know.”
Kairon”s head tilts slightly to the side. ”Right. And you found this out rather strangely, didn”t you?”
”It was a tragedy.”Farhan looks to me, deception bleeding from his pores, both nervous and furious at Kairon for bringing it up. ”Some would-be usurper poisoned my entire family. I was the only one who did not perish.”
Only because of years of training do Imanage toshow a sympathetic frown rather than the disgust I feel. ”I”m so sorry for your loss,”I tell the king. ”That must have been terrible for you.”
”Yes,”Kairon adds. ”He lost all four of his older brothers that day. Went from fifth in line for the throne to sitting on it all at once.”
Farhan”s expression makes it clear he does not like theverytrue allusions to his guilt, but he doesn”t dare say anything to Kairon about it, instead changing the subject. ”What about you, Elva?”
”What about me?”I ask.
”You”ve made no mention of being Zalig,”he supplies.
”Well, as you”ve said,”I remind him. ”Rhyma does not require us to be magic carriers to be leaders.”
”I see,”he tells me, seemingly disappointed, turning to Tirriel and asking, ”What is your power again, princeling?”
Tirriel”s cheeks turn red. ”I can change the form of anything. Liquid to gas, gas to solid, solid to liquid.”
”That seems entirely useless,”Farhan comments. ”No wonder I”ve forgotten.”
Fury fills the crown prince, but he remains quiet, clenching his teeth.
”Is it more useless than being immune to poison?”Maren asks, raising a small smile on one side of her mouth. ”How many times has that come in handy?”
”Enough to give me a throne,”Farhan responds, speaking to Maren like she”s the dirt on his shoe, not even sparing her a glance.
For all his boring talk about himself and his seemingly harmless facade, I find that perhaps he”s more dangerous than the others in this room. He”s capable of killing his entire family for a throne, and he”s known for having wives who die under mysterious circumstances, many of them falling ill.
Tirriel”s fury lessens a bit, Maren”s interjection soothing the sharp sting of it.
The meeting room doors swing open, and Kairon grits out, ”You”re late.”
The rest of us spin to look at the newest addition to our gathering, not expecting anyone else. In walks a woman with hair the color of the emeralds, so dark green it”s nearly black, with sharp brows the same color and shimmering scales above them that disappear into her hairline. She sweeps into the room, wearing a dress made from seaweed, the dark green woven together to barely cover the important stuff. Water drips off her with each step, and she rings the water out of her hair, leaving it all on the floor in a puddle.
She curtsies and says, ”Apologies, Your Majesty. One of my generals needed to relay some vital information to me at the last minute.”
The servants around me move to bring another chair to the table, so I create space between myself and Tirriel for the newcomer to join us.Her bright blue eyes meet mine, so ethereal and otherworldly that I”mlost in them for a moment.
”Hi,”I finally say. ”I”m Elva.”
”You”re from Rhyma?”her voice fills my head, its musical quality sending my head spinning.
”I am.”
”Hmm.”She thoroughly examines me before sinking into the chair. ”You”re much prettier than most of the Rhymans I meet.”
”Oh? I didn-”
”Of course, they”re all corpses by the time I meet them.”A cruel smile splits her face. ”Or shortly after.”
”Valta,”Kairon warns, the two syllables of her name sounding vicious the way he says them.
She glances at him, lips pursed, before looking back to me with a calculating curiosity. ”I”m only being friendly. We Syrens have a very peculiar sense of humor, you see. And the place where your country meets mine is rife with horrid ways for your people to die. It”s very rare I ever see one of you so alive.”
”Well, I”m happy to meet you,”I tell her, careful not to be within touching distance. While I”m not sure my abilities will work on her, I know for sure I don”t want to be close enough to find out.
Kairon redirects us back to the topic at hand. ”Elva, what else does your country have to offer? If weaponry is your only industry, I fear you”re outmatched here. None of us have a need for such things.”
”Oh, your people use those loud things that send projectiles, yes?”Valta asks, seeming genuinely interested.
”Firearms, yes.”
She nods. ”I”ve seen many of them, but they”re useless in the water.”
Distantly, I wonder how guns would have ended up in the ocean when our people are specifically ordered to keep away from the cliffs. I didn”t know water made them obsolete, either. That”s certainly something to report back.
”So your country cannot even make weapons properly?”Farhan laughs, taking a drink of the water in front of him. ”How can we possib—”he starts coughing uncontrollably, his face turning red.
All of us watch in horror as he hacks and heaves until, finally, something flies from his throat, landing on the table in front of him. It is a single piece of ice, slightly cylindrical, melting and drifting across the surface.
His watery, furious eyes land on Tirriel.
”Hmm.”The prince glances at the piece of ice. ”Not so useless, after all.”
The red-faced king throws the rest of his glass of water in the prince”s face, storming from the room without a word.
”Told you.”Onala grins, looking at her sisters as they cackle again. ”Same time tomorrow, then?”