Page 48 of His Dark Delights

Lilly

As much as I argued and begged, it did no good.

Queen Ellaria had Soren taken to a cell in the forest palace.

Lunaric kept me distracted in an endless loop of arguing throughout the day.

I’d never been one to throw dinner plates all my life, but that night Lunaric ducked to avoid my roast aimed at his head.

After dinner, I couldn’t stand looking at Ellaria or Lunaric.

They were family, but that bond was new.

Their decision cut me, and it stung worse that they weren’t listening to me.

I could have talked Soren out of a battle if given more time…

we might have come to terms and ended the war if only they’d let me talk.

It seemed everyone in my life was quick to anger, quick to battle, and quick to war. At the rate my fate was going, I’d have my own pretty sword in hand to match the armor adorning my gown.

Two glasses of fae wine went down my throat. It wasn’t nearly as potent as before, and I wished it was. I’d returned to my original room in the palace, seeking solace away from my mother and brother. They were the last two magical beings I wanted to see in my wretched state.

Even the plant life in the room reacted to my mood, more than ever before, thanks to my heightened power.

The flowers on the wall wilted and bloomed repeatedly, as did the wisteria chandelier overhead.

Brown papery petals dropped, crinkling, to the floor.

They shattered under my feet as I paced the room.

New petals bloomed, casting fresh light until those flowers wilted. And the cycle repeated.

I paused, caught in a trance under the darkened sky. Stars winked at me from above, sending me hidden messages—or ideas.

If the fae regarded me as a princess, then they couldn’t stop me if I wandered through the castle. They never had in the past two weeks, but what if I went somewhere deeper? What if I went into a damp dungeon nestled in the roots of the forest palace?

It wasn’t like I’d never snuck into a dungeon to visit a prisoner before. In fact, I was quite adept at it.

Last time I snuck through a castle, I hid myself, scurrying in the shadows like a rat in search of cheese. In the forest palace, I wore a gown adorned with armor and marched with confidence. Other fae lowered their heads respectfully as I passed, and no one said a word to stop me.

It was dangerous to defy a queen, but it was exciting, too. She was my mother and after leaving me behind with my father, I had faith she’d forgive my transgressions. She owed me that much.

And I craved to see Soren again, more than words could describe.

The dungeons under the forest palace were cells formed from thick, gnarled roots. I passed through the yawning portal to the dungeon. Little white buds flowered randomly on the earthen walls as I progressed, adding a floral perfume to the cool, underground air.

“Who’s there? Is it my executioner? Or a torturer come for me at last?” Soren called out.

I stepped under the light of dimly glowing mushrooms. My hands curled on wooden bars as strong as iron. Soren narrowed his eyes at my form wreathed in a hazy blue.

“Would you like me to torture you, Your Grace?” I demurred.

“Lilly,” he gasped. Unburdened of his armor upon his capture, he sprung to his feet with ease. His head shook, and his lips trembled. “What—what happened to you?”

“What happened to me?” A thin laugh followed. “I told you already. I am what I was always meant to be.”

His lips thinned, and his expression hardened. “And what are you, hm? Aside from the bane of my existence, the thorn in my heart—”

“A thorn I could be. I was born half-fae. A flower nymph, as you heard when Lunaric swept me away.”

“Swept you away?” he scoffed. His eyes cast to the floor as the silence stretched. I didn’t think he’d speak again until he said, “You seemed cordial enough with him. Do you love the Prince of Fairy?”

I knew what Soren meant, and I sensed the pressure of his agony and jealousy. It rolled off him in searing waves. But I wanted to torture him a little.

“I suppose, in a way, I do. He’s a bit younger than me, though. But yes, there is love there.”

Soren cursed under his breath. His fists curled tight at his sides, and a storm raged inside him. Then he struck out, and his fist connected with the sturdy wooden wall of his cell.

A roar erupted from his chest.

“Your Grace,” I breathed thinly, gripping the bars.

He tugged his hands through his hair, pulling at the ends. “I came all this way for you. Even when I knew what you were, I couldn’t lose you… I couldn’t fathom the thought of you not being at my side.”

“Soren!”

His head jerked up. The shadows stressed the red rim around his eyes and the dark circles beneath. He was a vision of a despairing man.

“Alright. If it’s him that you love… I’ll understand. But, please, Lilly, please, tell me just once that you loved me for a time—”

“Ren,” I said firmly enough to shut him up. An ounce of clarity returned to his stormy blue eyes. “It’s not like that.”

“You love the fae prince. You’ve been here with him for a fortnight. How else could it be?”

“You fool,” I giggled. The sound slipped out before I could bite it down. And another came out when I said, “He’s my brother.”

“What?” he hissed.

Without warning, the butcher shot forward. And I was too close to the bar. His hands snuck through. One collared around my throat and the other hooked behind the back of my head. His strength made it easy for him to squish my face into the bar, and he pressed his lips to my ear.

I bodily trembled, both with fear and unbidden arousal. His pure male scent invaded my nose, and the heat of his body washed over me through the bars.

“You could kill me right now,” I whispered into the brittle air.

“I could,” he seethed.

“Then kill me if you deem it to be the right thing to do. But know that you will never have my subservience, you will never have my obeisance, and I will never bow to you. Not to a king who wears a crown stained with the blood of my kind.”

He vented a breath, hot on my neck. I shivered against him, and he noted that reaction. I felt his wicked mouth kick into a grin against my cheek.

“Is the Queen your mother, then?”

“Yes.” My voice wavered, and my heart skipped.

“She’s the one who left you with your father,” he puffed out, astounded. His grip on my neck loosened. “A fae princess. The Fates seemed determined to entangle our lives.”

“I suppose they did.” I angled my head, pressing my lips into the scruff along his jaw.

“You bow to no one, Lilliana, and you never will again.” Soren caught my lips at the end of his promise. He captured my mouth swiftly, firmly, adoringly. He kissed me through the bars like it was the only thing he could have done at that moment—and the only thing he’d yearned to do for weeks.

I’d craved the taste of his lips since our last kiss. Soren’s unique, erotic flavor swept over my tongue. Every part of me wanted to cave to the desire igniting between us.

“I thought you were coming to kill me.” I gasped into his mouth.

Soren pulled back, eyes as large as dinner plates and utterly baffled. “Kill you? Gods, Lilly, I could never. I would have burned the whole fae wild into ash to get you back.”

“Why? Why didn’t you kill me?”

“You know why. After everything we shared, I couldn’t lose you. You’re mine.” His eyes dropped to the necklace at my throat. “And you’re still wearing my mother’s necklace.”

Peeling myself away from his grip and the bars, I clasped my hand protectively over the moonstone. Warmth pulsed through my fingers and echoed in my heart.

“Hate is as good a motivator as any.”

“It’s not hate that drives me anymore,” he replied.

I choked on the air in my lungs. The back of my eyes burned, and I blinked away the brimming sensation.

“Revenge drove you to this war. Your fight injured you and landed you in my bed. It’s the one thing that you’ve solely devoted yourself to—your grand purpose.”

“I have a new purpose. One I’m more dedicated to than anything before.” There was conviction in his voice and burning ardor in his eyes.

The flush on my cheeks deepened, as did the uncertainty swirling in my chest.

“But I am fae, and I look fae. How does that make you feel?” I whispered.

“I’ve never seen anything or anyone as beautiful as you, Lilliana.” He dragged in a brittle inhale .

I crossed my arms over my chest. “It hurt having my essence unlocked. The transformation was excruciating—”

“Lilly…”

“—but not as painful as when you broke my heart,” I sucked in the sob threatening to breach my lips. However, I waved my hand, and the bars warped, curving out of my way.

Soren’s brows arched as he watched the plant life bend to the will of my power. He stumbled back as I strolled into his cell. Then his eyes flashed up to mine.

“You broke my heart more than once and expected me to believe that you came here for me? I’m supposed to believe that you’d give up your war for me when I am the embodiment of those you hate?”

“I am sorry. A thousand times over, I am sorry.” He shifted forward, intent on reaching for me. A vine shot up from the soft soil beneath his boots and wrapped around his ankle, stopping him before he took a full step.

“I need more than an apology, Soren,” I said.

He glared at the vine holding him back and jerked his head up.

“When I saw you yanked out of that window, I didn’t stop to consider what I’d heard.

I was so worried, so distraught, so terrified for your fate that I didn’t care if you were a fae.

In your absence, I despaired. Day and night, I was wrought with distress.

Gods—” he swiped a hand over his face “—I even talked to your cow in the garden as if she would give me some sage advice on what to do to get you back.”

My words sounded like half a sob. “And what did Millie suggest?”

“She told me to come for you. So, I did,” he said .

“You listened to a cow.” A shaky laugh broke free of me.