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“Not yet. Any minute now, though, I expect it will.”

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Last night, servants delivered her nightgown and a few items of clothing from Warden Roar’s old suite. The night gown, though it was hers, was a touch too small, and the top of her full breasts was on full display. As though I were a youngling, my cock twitched.

“I should get dressed.” She pulled aside the covers, releasing a scent that was quintessentially hers from where the covers had trapped it.

I inhaled, savoring her scent. “The bathroom is all yours.”

“I don’t need to bathe, so I’ll be fast.” She chose a dress and disappeared down the hall, shutting the door behind her. My shoulders slumped.

Our marriage wasn’t one born of love, but honor. Yet, the day after we wed, despite all the danger coming our way, I felt even more attracted to Neve than before. The taste of her few kisses had not been enough, but I wasn’t sure she’d ever want more.

To take my mind off things, I dropped to the floor. Exercise always helped me find my center, so I lay on the ground, placed my hands flat, and worked through one hundred pushups. I reached number ninety-one when a knock came at the door. Mid plank, I froze.

The summons. Quick as the gales that often rolled off the Shivering Sea, I rose and went to the door, expecting to find a messenger waiting.

Instead, my mother stood there, her blue eyes wide, her body trembling. Behind her, the Clawsguard on duty wore an expression of terror. No one, not even the strongest knights of the realm, liked to be around Queen Inga when she was in a fit. She was too powerful, her magic too strong.

“Vale.” Mother’s voice was dry, raspy,desperate. “Tell me it isn’t true. You did not wed her.”

So it began.

“I did, Mother. If you?—”

“How could you be so foolish!” Her hand snapped out, and I stiffened, knowing what was coming. The moment her fingers touched my jaw, a pressure built in my skull as my mother ripped through my memories of the night before.

I winced as pain shot through me. Burning moon, she had never taken so little care when examining my memories.

She jerked back as if I’d slapped her. “Your sister. Lord Riis . . . When he learns . . .”

“Father will do nothing to Saga,” I said, not needing her to specify who ‘he’ was. Out of all his children, my father doted on my sister the most. She was his pride and joy. “And Riis should be protected by his status. As will Lady Sayyida, Lady Marit, and Filip.”

I did not mention Neve’s friends, the whores, and certainly not Caelo or Qildor, both commonborn fae who hadrisen to knighthood. Their lack of a noble birth house put them at risk.

My mother shook her head. “Vale, he’s furious. I’m not sure noble standing will dull his?—”

The bathroom door opened, and Neve stepped out, only to freeze in the hallway. Though many of her dresses the servants retrieved were the Lisika colors of crimson and gold, she hadn’t chosen one of those. Today, she wore a green dress, something simple and elegant. Normally, Mother would have complimented Neve on how lovely she looked. Today, however, the queen’s face grew red.

“You!How dare you entrap my son!”

A snarl burst from my lips. “She did no such thing, Mother. She?—”

“I saw what happened, Vale.Saw it all. If she hadn’t run, none of this would have happened.”

“You’re right, Majesty.” Neve stomped closer, fury in her violet eyes. “Had I stayed, had I not killed a vampire prince, and had your son not offered his protection, things would be different. For one, it would be someone else coming here this morning. Retrieving me to throw me in the king’s harem!” Her face had turned a livid shade of red. “So excuse me for running, but I was in a situation that you, with all your privilege and protection, could never comprehend.”

“You think I’ve never had to make a difficult choice?” The queen’s voice dipped to a growl.

Though many would have cowered, my new wife did not back down. “I won’t say that, but I will not apologizefor my other choices. Not to you, Majesty. Not toanyone. I did what I needed to survive.”

The air crackled with unseen lightning, and for a moment, I was certain Mother was about to order the Clawsguard standing outside my door to drag Neve to the dungeon. That, for the first time, I’d have to defend my wife from my own blood.

But then Mother’s shoulders fell. She swallowed thickly. “You would do well to smother that attitude when you meet my lord husband. Come. He has called for you both.”

“And he sent you?” I asked.

“To confirm what we’d been told.”

My jaw tightened. Would Father allow us to defend ourselves? Or would he hear last night’s events only from my mother’s lips?