Page 3 of A Bond in Blood (Blood Bound Duet #1)

Chapter 3

M y whole life I’d been told of how vile the Unseelie King was. Of his predatory smile. His sickening, decaying skin.

He was the monster who stalked the dark. The creature you’d never want to find in the shadows.

But the man sitting on the throne before me was the exact opposite of what I’d been told.

He was breathtaking and terrifying. Despite the fact he had a black mask covering the upper half of his face, I was enamored by his presence. Or maybe it was his power. A cold that exuded over the entire space, taking control of everything inside of me. It silently demanded attention and obedience.

I stepped back, bumping into Olen’s chest.

The king smiled across the room.

Instantly, I hated him. The amusement in that smile. The knowing behind it. The idea that he believed he had any control over me.

Olen’s hands gripped my arm, holding me in place while the king stood and slowly approached.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. His long, dirty blond hair and beard, all perfectly groomed. The way his tunic appeared to struggle to cover the muscles of his chest and broad shoulders. His stature was equal in height to the brute holding me in place. Yet, the most shocking part of his appearance was the ink on his skin.

There were black horns on either side of his neck, heads of beasts on his chest, peeking through his open tunic, and even more strange markings on his forearms, revealed by his rolled sleeves.

Every head in the room bowed while the king made his approach. Every head but my own. Because despite the cold of his power growing closer, I wouldn’t bend my knee. I wouldn’t allow this quiet call for obedience to take root inside of my heart.

I could admit he had a power about him, overwhelming and deadly. It forced my body to shake as if death were coming for my very soul, like the Gods were ready to claim me back to their realm at any moment.

But I would not kneel.

“Brenna,” the king said when he completed his approach.

My body lit with rage at how casually he said my name. At the way his tongue licked across his lips, as though he were savoring the sound of it.

“I don’t know how you know my name,” I replied, holding myself confidently.

The king grinned, glancing back at Olen who released his hold on my arms.

“You’ll come to find I know all when it comes to things that belong to me.”

I stared in disbelief. Owned? Things? Was that all this creature viewed me as? Something to possess and control?

“ Belong?” I held back my yell. “I belong to no one.”

His grin widened and I narrowed my eyes, trying to see beyond the masking hiding the rest of his features. My eyes met his emerald green gaze and he cocked his head.

“Not used to masks?”

“I don’t know why you would believe I am,” I replied.

“You’re half-fae, masks are a natural part of the fae customs,” he replied blankly.

“I lean more toward my mortal side. In the years I’ve visited Oberon’s Court, I’ve never been forced to wear a mask.”

Hisses echoed out across the room at the mention of Oberon’s name. I watched the king, waiting for his cool demeanor to slip. To my disappointment, he was the only being in the room who didn’t react. Instead, he stood unphased, staring down at me.

“Oberon is a fool,” he replied calmly.

Lifting his finger, he motioned forward while he turned on his heel.

“Come, Brenna.”

Olen’s hands hit my back, pushing me forward. Forcing me to follow the command like some animal on a leash. It instantly infuriated me.

The bowed heads surrounding us remained low while we crossed the crowded room. I kept my eyes forward, avoiding the scowls I’d caught glimpses of while also saving myself from gawking at the naked fae in the room.

The king sat on his throne, motioning to a small cushion beside it.

I stared at the seat, my stomach twisting with hate.

I may not have been completely familiar with the fae customs. I may have done everything I could have in my life to avoid them or know them. I did, however, know one thing from visiting the Seelie lands: the small cushions on the sides of the royal thrones were reserved for sexual playthings.

Their bedmates—their whores.

All of my composure unleashed.

“I am not your whore,” I seethed, crossing my arms.

The king’s eyes brightened with amusement. “I never said you were. Sit Brenna—now.”

Olen pushed my back again and my cheeks heated with embarrassment. I was making a spectacle of myself. I wasn’t holding the image of a composed princess who deserved respect. No, I was throwing tantrums.

My knees bent reluctantly while I lowered myself, keeping my head high.

“That’s better.” The king smiled.

With a clap of his hands, the music resumed. Along with the dancing and moving bodies returning to their activities.

My eyes darted to the ground, avoiding the sight before me.

“Uncomfortable?”

My body jolted at his voice. It was smooth, like an aged wine, begging to be indulged.

“No,” I snapped. “How long must I sit here?”

“For having been raised a princess, you have almost no manners,” he replied.

My eyes met his. “You killed the man I love. You kidnapped me. You know nothing about me. I am here to fulfill a duty I have no choice to fulfill. Excuse me if you are not meeting me at my best, King .”

His eyes narrowed with amusement while he leaned against his throne. With a cross of his legs, one finger flicked, and my eyes traveled to the direction he was pointing.

Just below the dais were two naked fae women, smiling hungrily up at the king I was being forced to sit beside. They moved eagerly at the flick of his finger, and I shook my head as they both took a seat on each of his knees.

The king’s hands landed on their lower stomachs, and I shifted my eyes to the floor.

He was trying to shock me. He was trying to embarrass me.

To my dismay, it was working.

“Brenna,” he taunted. “Brenna, look at me.”

I pulled my gaze up, finding the women’s hands on each other, lost in the lust of their lips moving together.

“These are whores, Brenna,” the king said with a smile, running both hands over their naked bodies. “They do as they’re told.”

“You’re disgusting,” I replied.

The women on his lap both went still, their lips pulling apart. Their heads turned my way, and I almost laughed at the shock on their faces.

“You’re excused, Ursa ,” the king replied.

I jumped from my seat, scowling. “You humiliate me in public and now you insult me by calling me a bear? ”

His hands tightened around the naked bodies still on his lap, but I didn’t care to be respectful any longer. If they wished to sit on him, allowing the world to see everything they had, that was their decision.

I would address the monster who was determined to play me a fool as the princess I was.

He smiled at me, waving his hand before slapping one of the bare bottoms of the women.

“I’ve excused you. Olen will escort you back to the room.”

At the mention of his name, Olen appeared with a grin on his face, motioning to the doors we’d come through.

I turned on my heel, rage boiling before I snapped my body back to the king.

“If I’m being forced to stay here for a year, do me the courtesy of telling me your name.”

His gaze shifted away from the women who had resumed their kissing. With a grin that turned my annoyance to pure hatred, he replied, “Ulrich, princess. My name is Ulrich.”

My hands trembled while the words left his lips. Ulrich. It wasn’t what I was expecting. Not that I knew what I had been expecting.

With a nod of acknowledgement, I squared my shoulders and followed Olen out the doors.

Ulrich—the Unseelie King.

I repeated the name in my head while we made our way through the palace. Ensuring I would never forget the name of the first life I planned to take.

Olen left me in the room, slamming the doors behind him. He clicked yet another lock outside of my access, reminding me I was a prisoner.

I surveyed the room once more, hating the beauty I found in it. Hating that my body begged me to sink onto the bed and sleep away my troubles.

Instead of listening to the demand to sleep, I explored. There wasn’t much to the room once I had a chance to really take it in. Besides two side tables, plush chairs by the window, and the dressing screen, it was simple. The light of the windows and the candles pulled focus to the bed as if that had been intentional.

My feet moved while I walked the large space, guiding me to the doors Olen had first brought us through. Glancing back, I prayed to the Gods the brute had forgotten to lock this escape. That had been a foolish thought when my hand pulled at the handle and the deafening clank of the locked barrier mocked me and my misery.

I turned back on my heel, crossing the room to an open doorway I hadn’t seen earlier. When my feet crossed the threshold, my steps echoed against the marble. It surprised me with all the stone I’d been walking across since arriving.

I looked across the new space and tears lined my eyes. It was a bathing room. A room that shouldn’t have brought so much emotion. In the middle of the room, was a tub that appeared to have been carved from obsidian with pipes at the end.

Running water—this monster had running water. An uncommon commodity at home. Not even my personal bathing chamber had it. We had to rely on the pipes in our kitchens as our source of water in our small palace.

I rushed across the room, stripping the dress off while my hands turned the faucet. A prickling sensation ran across my skin at the sound and I let out a sob.

I could allow myself a few moments of reprieve in this insanity. Even if it only meant scrubbing my body of the shock of the last few days.

Settling into the tub, I let out a sigh, allowing the warm water to wrap around my body. I leaned back, dunking my head while my hands searched the surface for any soaps. Luckily, I found some quickly and lathered my hair.

The scent was magnificent. Smokey and earthy, with hints of something floral.

I rinsed myself before I forced my body out of the tub. Even with it begging me to stay where I had been, my eyes were drifting along with a weight of emotions in my heart.

It was all coming down over me. Reality. Pain. Anger.

I wrapped a towel around myself and walked back into the bedroom, finding a thin nightgown on the bed.

Stepping back, I put up my hands. It was a foolish belief that I could fight anyone naked and unprepared, but no one came. The room was as empty as it had been before I’d gone into the tub.

Hesitantly, I slipped the gown over my head before climbing into the lush blankets of the bed. With the heat and comfort warming me, I allowed the emotions to come out.

The sobs tumbled from me. Loud, echoing throughout the expansive room. My own song of melancholy and lament from the madness of my future.

The longer I cried the harder it became to control myself. I couldn’t stop it. The hate in my heart. The hate for this king, my father, and mostly myself.

Why wasn’t I fighting? Why wasn’t I standing my ground and doing something?

I curled my body around myself, tears wetting the fabric against my knees.

Then I heard it— click —a door opening.

I sat up, wiping my tears and turning toward the sound. The hate grew hotter when my eyes found Ulrich at a hidden door behind a thick tapestry.

“Get out,” I demanded, wiping my still-falling tears.

He smiled. “It’s my room, Ursa, and you’re my guest.”

He shoved against the wall as he headed toward the bathing room.

“Get out!” I demanded.

His hand rose, catching the pillow I had thrown at his head. Shocking me with the reflexes and how he’d known I’d grabbed a pathetic weapon.

He turned on his heel, changing his approach to my direction. “Would you like to know the terms of your year of service?” he asked.

“I won’t be your whore,” I sniffled, covering myself with the blankets.

His brow rose above the upper rim of his mask while his eyes scanned me. I recoiled at the burn in his eyes. I would remove each one of his balls slowly and carefully if he ever attempted to put his hands on me.

“I don’t expect you to be a whore, princess. You’ve clearly seen I have that available to me,” he replied, setting himself on the edge of the bed. He set the pillow beside me. “But I will sleep next to you. Every night for the next thirteen months.”

I stared back at him. He was likely the most insane being I’d ever encountered.

My mouth opened to respond but he held his hand up.

“I will sleep beside you,” he continued. “In total darkness and you will not ask questions. You will not try to escape. And—” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “You will never look upon my face. Do you understand?”

I blinked at him, trying to find the words in my mind to leave my lips.

“Brenna?” he said, his expression turning menacing.

“This is the most bizarre set of rules I’ve ever been given,” I forced myself to say.

“Do you understand?” he repeated.

I stared back at him. “What happens if I don’t obey?”

The room went dark. The candlelight was gone in an instant. The bed shifted and before I could cry out, his hand gripped my jaw while he pulled my face against the rough hairs of his beard.

“I will destroy everything and everyone you have ever loved,” he whispered.

My body went rigid with fear. But even more so—hate.

“I understand,” I replied.

“Good.” He dropped me back on the bed. “I’ll return in a moment.”