Page 13 of Boundless

I stood up, my limbs strong again, my mind sharp. “Who’s out there?” I asked.

“Your family. Your sisters. They’ve come totake their throne back,believe it or not. They’re unimportant right now—focus.” She grabbed my chin and turned my head toward her. “We have a lot of things to go over, Your Highness. We still have your court of marshals and generals and such to attend to, and Helem’s funeral, and your crown feast where your future allies can come to pay their respects.”

She must have lost her mind. “Raja, I’m going after Nilah.” I moved her aside as gently as I could because it was time to put clothes on.

No wardrobe that I could see when I made it near the bed, and the walls all looked the same to me.

“Clothes,” I said, and the wall right next to the bedside table moved. It pushed itself back and then slid to the side, revealing a closet beyond. Velvet and leather and silk—none of them even similar to the shirts I normally wore.

“No—otherclothes,” I said to myself, searching the hangers, pushing back the jackets and the capes, the cloaks—none of these things were mine, though they looked the right size.

“There are no other clothes. These are the only ones fit for you now. Again—learn to deal with it. And you arenotgoing anywhere, Rune.”

Raja was right behind me.

“I am.” I grabbed a jacket made of dark purple velvet, the darkest in the closet, the closest to black. I grabbed pants and shoes and socks and said, “Bathroom.”

The wall cracked open on the other side of the bed, pushed itself in and to the side to reveal shiny black tiles and marble basins. I made for it, ready to get dressed and get out of this place, but just as I was about to enter, Raja stepped in front of me.

“The Midnight Palace willnotlet you go. Have you forgotten what I taught you? A newly appointed king cannot leave the palace until their connection has fully settled. Might take days or weeks—but it will not let you go.”

“I don’t care. I’m still going to try,” I said through gritted teeth because the idea of being trapped in this building when Nilah was a world away made me want to start burning things down already.

“But you do,” Raja said and stepped to the side. “Get dressed. I will attend to those brats and get you some time to come together. Make it quick.”

I didn’t plan to argue when she turned around and walked away. I just slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind me with a thought.

Velvet irritated me.Not only the feel of it against my skin, but what it meant. What it represented.High-born fae. Royal fae.

Neither of those were me.I wasn’t high-born or royalty. I had never felt like any of it my entire life, nor would I ever—yet here I was. A king.

The Midnight King in a foreign bedroom where the walls listened to my intent and gave me things without the need tovoice my requests. Like the mirror that had appeared right there hovering over the floor when I stepped out of the bathroom again, dressed. The mirror, as tall as me, exactly as wide, as if it existed to show me every little inch of myself that it could see.

The man staring back at me scared me. He looked…not me.

“And this,” Raja whispered from the other side, from near the windows, and she was looking down at what was in her hands—a crown.Thecrown of the Midnight King. “This will be on your head after your coronation tonight.”

“No.” I didn’t want a crown.

I didn’t want a fucking kingdom.

I wanted to find Nilah.

“Rune.” With a sigh, Raja put down the crown on the table, and straightened her dress. “I know all of this is sudden and that you can’t wrap your head around it?—”

“So, how canyou?” I said, with a lot more bite than I intended. I strode over to her and met her eyes. “How canyousimply embrace all of”—I spread my arms around the room—“this?”

She didn’t even hesitate. “What other choice is there? What’s the alternative?Quit?”

My eyes closed and I fisted my hands for a moment. There were still shadows coming from my fingertips, and I hadn’t made an attempt to try to pull them in.

“I need to go after Nilah,” I said through gritted teeth, and each word scratched my throat as it came out.

“Youneedto stay right here and create your circle first.” A step, and Raja touched my cheek. She wasn’t much of a toucher, only when she had difficulty saying what she was thinking. I opened my eyes again, and hers were bloodshot. “You belong here, Rune. You always have. This kingdom is rightfully yours.”

Every inch of my skin rose in goose bumps, and she noticed. That is why she let go of me and stepped back.

“I have to try,” I told her.