Page 766 of Hell Hath No Fury

I woke with a gasp, sweat dampened sheets twisted around my ankles and my heart racing to an erratic rhythm as the visions plaguing my dreams burned into me with a ferocity that left me panting in their wake.

I hated when The Sight came to me in sleep that way, leaving my waking moments foggy with confusion. What had been a possibility of the future and what had simply been the work of my imagination?

I rolled over, fingers reaching for the crib which lay beside my bed, the tiny baby boy I had birthed just four moons ago cooing softly in his sleep.

Gabriel. Such a big name for such a little boy. A name for a hero, a warrior, a name I already knew he would grow into and own with such pride and ferocity that all would know it. He would stalk through the halls of the castle here, casting fear into the hearts of his enemies with a single knowing look, while others swooned at the mere thought of catching his atten-

My fingertips brushed against his tiny hand and a vision slammed into me, taking me by surprise in my half sleeping state and I sucked in a breath at what Isaw.

A diverging path. A future away from the thick, golden walls I knew so well.A life in a place that saw snow and rain as often as it felt the kiss of sunlight. A girl with bright green eyes and long blonde hair smiling widely up at this boy of mine as a man, his fingers pushing dark hair away from his even darker eyes as he tried to hide what he felt for her. But she knew. Just as I knew while I watched them from a window which overlooked the spot they thought was secret for this rendezvous, the laughter of twin girls drawing my attention back into the room behind me…

The vision faded away and I blinked as I tried to process it, trying to understand what possible reason my son and I might have for travelling north.

Gabriel’s tiny fingers curled tightly around one of my own as he slept soundly on, knowing nothing of the two futures his mother had now seen for him. Or were they one? Was it possible that both might come to pass?

I turned my mind towards the images which had torn me from sleep.

Men and women screaming, burning, a shadow descending upon our kingdom. A man with dark eyes and a darker soul, his hand locked around my wrist as my death flashed violence through his gaze.

I’dseenthose eyes before. Dreamed of them alongside the brush of a mouth against mine, the crackle of electricity in my veins. Desire and fear mixed in my blood at the thought of the nameless villain who had been tiptoeing through my visions so often this past year. I didn’t know if I should feel such an ache to find him, but I couldn’t help it.

Not with my wedding so close, not with the life I had had chosen for me rushing in on all sides.

A shiver traced down my spine as I thought on the scent of smoke that still lingered from the vision. War. It wasn’t set yet,but it was turning its eyes on my kingdom, I could feel the hand of fate moving and though it was in no way a certainty, I was struggling to see how I could draw it away from bloodshed.

A heavy knock came against the door, and I stiffened, wondering if it had been more than just the visions which had stirred me from sleep.

I withdrew my hand from the crib, standing on bare feet and grabbing a red silk gown from the chair beside the bed as the knock came again.

A tall man with shoulder length dark hair and a rough, unkempt beard smirked to himself as he shifted his belt and raised a fist to knock again.

I blinked away the image of Arturo as it came to me, hesitating for a moment on my way to the door. I glanced back into the room and moved to pull the curtain hanging around my four-poster bed across to conceal the crib on the far side of it.

I flicked my fingers to throw a silencing bubble around Gabriel too in case he woke, wetting my lips as I prepared to face the man I was betrothed to after almost six months of avoiding his presence.

When it had become too difficult for me to hide my pregnancy, I had headed to the southern mountains under the guise of needing to concentrate on my magical studies away from the court. That had been true in part too. I had worked tirelessly to hone and learn all I could about my magic with four tutors my parents had found for me, the academy they ran so exclusive that it only took ten students at any one time, giving us an intensive education over the course of a single year. They were the best in the land, and I was a quick study, working tirelessly to perfect the use of my magical abilities despite my pregnancy. Of course everyone who had been at the academy, student and tutor alike had soon come to realise I was pregnant but they were loyal to my father’s crown and had been wellrewarded for keeping the secret. Besides, none of them would dare breathe word of the truth now; he would know it had been one of them and likely see all of them dead for the betrayal.

Everyone who had survived the Marriage Trials had been doing some version of the same. Using the time following our emergence from that bloodstained jungle to train in the art of magic for a year, before we would all be required to follow through on our betrothals and take up our places within the court of Voldrakia as fully trained warriors. I had six months left before I would be expected to fulfil my promise to marry Arturo and I felt every passing second like the tightening of a noose around my throat.

I loved my empire, loved my kingdom, but I did not love the man who was destined to become my husband.

I hadn’t seen him in months and yet my distaste for him had only grown in that time. He was brutish and brash, a dull weapon with nothing more than strength and arrogance to his name. He was also the reason my baby boy would grow up without a father. The one who had struck the killing blow against Marcel that morning beneath the trees.

If my parents had their way, Gabriel would soon be taken from me, raised as their ward with no acknowledgment of his heritage as a daughter of the princess of Voldrakia. It was a secret that wasn’t likely to stay a secret, and yet no one would ever dare question it out loud. A ward of the emperor was bound to be a bastard born royal after all.

In so many ways our court was outdated like that. Power and reputation meaning far too much to the people who should have been able to set the rules for themselves.

I was still working on my plans to evade that fate, my Sight helping me to form a future where I got to keep my son at my side despite him being born in secret. But I was yet toseea clearpath to a future which would keep me out of this man’s marriage bed.

I raised my chin as I stalked to the door, waiting until Isawhim raise his fist to knock even more forcefully before I yanked it open, making him stumble forward a step, his raised fist hanging uselessly in the air near his temple.

“No need to salute me, Arturo, we aren’t in the throne room right now,” I said, leaning my shoulder to the door frame and keeping hold of the door so he was under no illusions about me allowing him entrance to my chambers.

“You didn’t tell me you were back in the city,” he grunted, the scent of stale ale singing under my nose from his breath. It was no difficult guess to tell where he had spent his night. Though he was from one of the most powerful families in Voldrakia, Arturo never quite managed to pull off the pomp and posturing the rest of the court flourished at. His shirt hung messily on his broad frame, the dark hair tucked behind his ears looking lank rather than lustrous like my brother Jorge’s whose style he so often tried to imitate.

“I didn’t realise I was required to inform you of my whereabouts. And I was more than content with my night of rest. So you’ll excuse me if I get back to it.”

I took a step away and tried to close the door between us, but his heavy boot thumped into place over my threshold, making the wood bounce back into my grip.