Page 12

Her lips pursed, yet she said nothing else, merely shot him a warning look. Drake stopped before the dais, his gaze drawing up the length of the four steps to peer at his father.

“Yes, my father?”

The king paused momentarily, rubbing a thumb and index finger along his cleft chin. “Tell me, how does the Princess fair these days ?

My mind chose that moment to return to the gardens and our earlier conversation.

Do we really want this peace treaty?

Hurt had flared within her blue gaze. I had brought that emotional pain upon her. By my indecisiveness where she and Rosalana were concerned. My chest tightened, but I pushed the words up my throat and replied, “She seems to be doing well, for the most part.”

The King nodded. “I am pleased to hear that. I figured it would be an adjustment for her to learn our ways and abide in our home—as it would be an adjustment for anyone.”

“Yet, she seems to be thriving,” the queen spoke up. Her smile widened. “I must say, my son, she is only doing so well due to your careful attentions toward her. You do your kingdom proud by fully accepting your duty.”

I grimaced slightly at her words. If only I accepted my duties wholeheartedly. Then I could clear up this mess.

The King’s gaze narrowed a fraction as he caught sight of my facial movements. “Is there a problem?” He asked, leaning forward on his throne slightly.

My eyes widened slightly as a fissure of alarm shot through my insides. I clenched my jaw, debating on whether to broach the topic with the King. I shot a glance around the empty throne room and sighed.

Now is as good a time as any…

“I…know Ember and I agreed to this engagement and the union of our two countries,” I began. “But I can’t help but dwell on the prior obligations I had…before Ember.”

The queen’s brow rose, confusion flashing across her face. “What is it you speak of? ”

I looked at my father. By how his eyes narrowed with anger, I knew he knew what I was referring to. He heaved a deep sigh and rubbed at his brow. The queen slid him a questioning glance.

“You are referring to the common female, Rosalana Darro, am I correct?” The King said.

The queen’s eyes snapped back to me, her lips twisting in a scowl.

“You still fret over your promise to your late friend? My son that has been years past. Surely it is time to move on with your life.” Her eyes narrowed into thin slits.

“Besides that, I find that female highly arrogant, especially for her station. You would think how she parades around this palace that she is part of the royal family.”

My thoughts drifted back to the times Rosalana had rubbed the queen the wrong way.

I recalled one dinner a few years back with the dignitaries we hosted from another kingdom.

Rosalana had swept into the dining room and promptly sat beside me, waiting to be served her portion.

My mother’s face had turned blotchy from anger, and it took my father’s soothing words to keep her from throwing Rosalana out by her brown hair.

My mother’s disdain for her had grown insurmountable ever since.

Irritation rippled along my skin. I fought to keep the growl out of my voice. “I know how much you dislike her mother,” I said.

“Understatement of the millennium,” my mother hissed.

“But I made a promise to wed my friend’s sister, Rosalana. I can’t very well break it.”

“You certainly will,” my father said, his voice hard. “You have a duty to your people to see this union through to stop the war. Aside from that,” he growled, his eyes darkening. “ Think of your duties to your fated mate, for stars’ sake!”

I clenched my teeth, and this time my voice was acrid as I snarled. “I do think of Ember. You know not how often she plagues my mind. But I am a male of my word. I cannot betray my brother, though he was not of my blood—I made a blood oath with him!”

“Drakegeon!” Using my full name, my mother hissed on a rare occasion when she was incensed. “You will?—”

The king threw out a hand toward her, and she fell silent. His eyes blazed as he glared his nose down at me.

“This is the last I will ever hear you bring this subject, ” he spat the word with disgust, “up again.” He rose to his full height, looming several feet above me on the platform. “The common female is of no use nor concern to this family. I forbid you from ever bringing her name to my face again.”

My eyes snapped wide. ‘But father?—”

“That is enough out of you!” His arm sliced the air, and his incisors bared.

My mouth snapped shut as I sensed I had pushed him too far. The queen rose to her feet and placed a hand on his forearm. He turned to her, and she offered him a consoling smile. He inhaled a steadying breath, then sank back onto his throne.

“Now,” the king said, “we will return to the matter in which I summoned you.”

The queen lowered herself onto her throne and withdrew her hand from my father.

“It is high time we introduced Ember Vaughan to the court and the shadow fae throughout the kingdom as your fiancé. There you will be the one to introduce her to the royal court and the fae from the neighboring kingdoms. You both shall also partake of the Shahar dance of engagement before all in attendance.”

My heart dropped.

Not the Shahar…is he out of his mind?

The King’s pupils grew slit vertically. “Do I make myself clear?”

I dipped my chin and bowed my head. “Yes, my king,” I bit out.

“Good,” my father said. “You can go.”

Lifting my head, I backed away from the thrones a couple of steps, as was proper, then turned and stalked out of the throne room. My talons sliced out my fingertips once I crossed the threshold, and the guards closed the doors behind me.

My mind was a scrambled whirl of thoughts.

Anger bubbled within my blood as I recalled what my father had referred to, Rosalana as, a common fae.

Yes, she did not have royal blood running through her veins—just because she was born to servants did not make her worth any less.

My talons flexed, itching to tear into something.

Biting down hard enough on my tongue to taste blood, I headed down the stairs in the direction of the gardens to return to Ember’s side.

Laughter sounded from around the corner.

My gaze caught Ember as she walked, surrounded by three female servants.

The servants chatted about something animatedly.

Ember rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement.

Then, her gaze found mine. A frown touched her brow as her eyes dropped my clawed hands.

She quickly bid the servants farewell. They curtsied and departed from whence they came.

As she approached, Ember asked, “What happened? What did your father say?”

A hell of a lot happened. But nothing much I can share with you, I thought. My throat grew thick with the guilt of hiding from her what I had tried to do within the throne room. If she learned I had attempted to break off the engagement…

I averted my gaze, choosing to stare at the wall.

Her fingers grazed my forearm, then her hand clung to me. “Drake, look at me…”

I clenched my jaw hard and slowly slid my gaze to hers.

Ember’s teeth caught her bottom lip for a moment. Then she asked in a low voice laced with uncertainty, “Is it that terrible? What has happened?”

What I’ve done…yes.

I forced a grin that felt too tight. I shook my head. “No,” I lied. “Well…you might think so.”

Alarm flickered through her gaze. “What?” Her grip on my arm tightened.

“You are to attend a ball with me,” I replied.

She blinked once. Twice. Then her hand fell away. “That’s it?”

I shook my head. “No. This is not an ordinary ball. It is one where all the prominent shadow fae of our court and the neighboring kingdoms will attend to celebrate our engagement. There I will have to introduce you to said guests.”

With that, I resumed walking toward the gardens; Ember hurried to join me. Her mouth hung open, her eyes round with disbelief. An image of a fish out of water, its mouth popping open and closed, entered my mind. I chuckled.

Ember narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m glad you find amusement in my distress,” she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

I smirked. “Aren’t females supposed to find balls fascinating? I thought you lived for the adoration of your subjects and the opportunity to flaunt pretty dresses.” Of course, this was all said with great amounts of sarcasm.

Ember peeled back her upper lip in a lethal smile that exposed her fangs. “I guess you don’t know me at all, then.” She said. “I cannot stand crowds and pompous assholes dying to meet me simply to garner favors.” She rolled her eyes and shuddered.

Another chuckle rumbled from my chest. We reached the twin doors that led to the gardens, and I opened one of the doors, allowing Ember to slip past. I trailed after her. She paused, waiting for me to walk beside her once more.

Crossing her arms behind her back, she hummed and looked up at the sun rising high above—the downy clouds that drifted by on the breeze. “What does one do at your balls besides what you mentioned? I cannot expect it to be the same as werewolf balls, for our customs are different.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Can’t be that different,” I countered. I listed the similarities with each finger. “Wear fancy clothes, go before royals, engage in a lot of boring talks, posturing, and empty speeches…”

Ember pressed a hand to her lips and giggled. A small snort sounded, and she clapped her hand over her mouth, her features twisted in dismay. Laughter erupted from my throat .

Ember only snorted while laughing when she found something highly amusing, and on each rare occasion, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was endearing. Cute even…

Batting at my arm, Ember growled, “Don’t laugh! It’s highly unbecoming of a lady to snort, and you’re just embarrassing me further.”

I bit the inside of my cheek in an attempt to stifle my laughs. “Sorry,” I rasped.