Page 84 of A Queen’s Game (Aithyr Uprising #1)

Chapter Fifty-Four

Marietta

M arietta returned to the hallway lined with statues, finding Keyain red-faced and pacing. She hobbled forward, her steps slow. He stopped when he noticed her.

“Where’s Amryth?” she asked, taking another step towards him.

“Don’t walk any farther.” His lumbering form approached. “I dealt with Amryth.” In a fell swoop, Keyain braced Marietta’s back and scooped her up behind her knees.

As expected, the fabric slipped from her legs, their length exposed by the slits in the skirt. “Stop it—put me down,” she snapped. “Amryth did nothing wrong. Let me guess. You took your anger out on her.”

The muscle in Keyain’s jaw flexed as he stared ahead, carrying Marietta down the hall. “She has a duty to protect you.”

“Like she would tell the King to fuck off.” Marietta shook her head, then struggled against Keyain’s grip. “Let me down right now.”

“You can’t walk.”

“I can walk just fine!”

“If you’re injured enough that the King—” He snapped his mouth shut, taking a deep breath. Marietta marveled at how his teeth hadn’t cracked.

He carried Marietta to an exit, stepping into the Central Garden. The afternoon’s heat hit like a wall, jarring from the chilled interior of the palace; yet the temperature didn’t slow Keyain’s pace as he trekked onto the garden’s paths.

“Keyain,” she warned, wiggling her body.

He gripped tighter.

“I swear to gods if you don’t let me down right this instant—”

Keyain paused on the path, the rapid rise and fall of his chest pressing into her side as he stared out into the garden, unwilling to make eye contact. “He went too far.”

“For the love of all the deities, there was nothing malicious about King Wyltam’s actions.” She struggled once more but Keyain’s grip held.

“Not once did he touch Elyse.” He swallowed hard.

And though he blinked them away, tears swelled in his eyes.

“You are my wife but he touches you as if you weren’t married.

” His gaze shifted to Marietta, the pain clear across his features.

“And he has done it twice to you, knowing that I haven’t had you in years. Knowing—”

His voice heightened as he stopped himself, swallowing back his emotion. “I lost you. You were the gaping wound in my chest, and he knows this. Now that you’re here, he can’t give us a moment of peace.” A single tear slid down his cheek.

If the King knew that, then their deal was all the more cruel. Marietta brushed the tear away, her hand tentative. For a moment, a sliver of sympathy slithered out, watching the hardened man she knew beginning to break.

She had wanted this—wanted it to be so much worse—but to witness such raw emotion was more than she expected.

Keyain was controlling, raging to a fault, but he cared for Marietta.

He wanted to protect her and wholeheartedly believed that he was doing as such.

Her hand cupped his cheek. “I know,” she whispered, “but I’m here now, aren’t I? I’m right here.”

It happened in slow motion. Keyain turned his eyes to Marietta as she leaned into his face, her lips brushing gently on his. She held them there for only a breath, but it seemed like a lifetime. A kiss they hadn’t shared in nearly a decade.

The tension in his face eased, his shoulders relaxing. Keyain stared at Marietta with parted lips and widened eyes. She knew that look. Hope. It was a damning feeling.

Keyain set Marietta on the ground. She turned to him, wrapping her arms around his middle as Keyain enclosed her with his arms. She dared to look up into Keyain’s face, still slacked with awe.

“You kissed me,” he said, blinking. “And not just on the cheek.”

He leaned in, kissing her again, more desperately, as if the moment was fleeting.

Marietta hadn’t intended a second, but didn’t dare pull away.

The plan, she had to stick to the plan; yet, with Keyain’s fingers lacing her hair, his tongue plunging into her mouth, a wave of nausea rolled through her.

He killed Tilan. He attacked Olkia. Abducted her. Married her without her consent.

And now she was kissing him.

The plan—stick to the plan. Marietta couldn’t pull away, not without further damaging Keyain, so instead, she imagined.

They were in Kentro, about to head to an inn.

The day was hot, but the promise of a cold drink was not far away, and she was kissing that version of Keyain.

The one who guarded her but let her grow her business, let her be herself.

A pointed cough came from behind her. Keyain pulled away, wrapping Marietta tight to his body. “Lady Tryda, Minister Dyieter, apologies.”

Marietta looked over her shoulder, glimpsing an older elven man with slicked-back white hair, and at his arm was Tryda.

“Will you stop that?” Tryda chided as they neared. “I’ve known you since you were a babe. No need to call us by our titles.”

Keyain’s grip loosened enough that she could turn and offer a proper greeting.

“Marietta, I’m thrilled to see you’re feeling much better.

” She had a glint in her eye as if she expected such a display.

Her stomach stirred at the thought. “If you ever need a thing,” Tryda continued, “don’t hesitate to ask.

And you, Keyain, you best be treating her well.

” Tryda patted his shoulder as they passed.

“I wouldn’t dream of treating her any less,” he said while pulling Marietta in closer.

Marietta tilted her head, curious.

“Tryda and Dyieter were close friends of my parents,” he murmured, looking over his shoulder towards the couple. “Dyieter is the King’s Council with me as Minister of Law, while Tryda was the Lady-In-Waiting to late Queen Olytia.”

“And not to Queen Valeriya?”

Keyain gave a dry laugh. “I guess she is the Lady-In-Waiting for Valeriya, too. Yet the new queen is more… aloof. No one here trusts her, and you shouldn’t either, for that matter.”

Marietta wished to defend her but thought better. “Queen Valeriya seems to love her schemes.”

“You don’t even know half of it.” His grip around her loosened, and he offered his arm. “Are you sure you’re okay to walk?”

“Yes,” she said, exasperated. “We’ll just take our time. That is, if you can take your time. Shouldn’t you be in meetings?”

He shook his head. “I sent a message along to cancel them for the day.” He bit down his anger and set a slow walking pace.

The corner of Marietta’s lip tugged upward, batting at his chest. “You took a break from work for me.”

“I know I’m not a good husband or a good partner,” he said, taking a deep sigh, “but I’m trying to be better. Even if I’m a slow learner.”

“Slow learner is one way to put it.” She smiled at Keyain’s eye roll. “Always a pain in my ass.”

A smile crept to his lips, causing him to glance down, then back at her. “You haven’t said that to me in a long time.”

Gods, she hadn’t meant to, the loving phrase being her favorite to toss at him back when they traveled. “Some things never change, I guess.”

Though it took longer, Keyain helped Marietta to the Noble’s Section; he even let her walk up the stairs herself. More than likely, Keyain wanted to carry her, but he restrained himself. That was new.

Before, Keyain’s rage and stubbornness always triggered their fights, and the longer they were together, the more protective he became of her.

The last time Keyain returned to Satiros before she ended their relationship, he wanted to have a friend be her shadow.

Go to her meetings, sleep in her room—always within arm’s length.

Of course, he had lost that fight. Marietta nearly broke it off right then.

Now that same man was learning that he was wrong.

What would have become of them if he had learned that sooner?

Back in the suite, Keyain insisted Marietta lay in bed with her leg propped up to rest. Before their dinner, a nurse stopped by to check her ankle, claiming that raising it right away saved Marietta some healing time.

The comment made Keyain clench his jaw, but he said nothing.

When Marietta had asked the nurse about healing magic, she explained that only the temple of Therypon could heal instantaneously, but they could speed up the process with medicine.

The liquid Marietta took from her tasted awful, but edged away her pain.

After dinner, he made her get into bed but had a surprise for her.

At some point in the afternoon, he had a servant stop at the library to select a handful of books.

When she read the titles, she could only laugh.

“ Heart of Thirst ? A Rose by Any Other Name ? Keyain, did you have them pick out smut books for me?” She tossed her head back with a laugh, falling into the pillows stacked behind her.

“I gave them the book you read last week and asked for them to grab some based on it.” His smile split his face, eyes shining as he leaned against the post of the bed. “I didn’t expect they’d only bring bodice rippers. You just read the last one so quickly after complaining about my books.”

“There’s a reason for that,” she said, raising a brow with a smirk as she read the other titles. “ Rough and Ready ? This one has to be a joke.”

“If there’s nothing you like, I can send for more.”

“No,” she said, looking up with a smile. “These will do. I’ll start with Honorable Intentions . It reminds me of you.” She held up the book so he could see the cover.

Keyain tilted his head down as if to hide his bashful smile, and his eyes glanced at her. “And do you want to think of me while reading smut?”

It was an honest enough question, but her cheeks warmed and her center heated at the thought, both of which surprised her. “I mean,” she said, shrugging, “we do have that history.”

“We have a lot of history in that regard.” His gaze darkened as he took in the nightgown she had changed into, the low cut of silk and lace. He swallowed hard and turned away.