Page 69 of Pawn of the Cruel Princess

“You want me.” Her soft voice slithers into my heart.

“Always.”

She poisons me with her next words. “I’m lending you to Umari tomorrow. And to Cowen the night after that.”

The twinging discomfort of the clamps is nothing compared to the pain roaring through my entire being. Why am I always denied the love I really want? First as a child, and now—I receive the admiration of others, when all I crave is one person’s affection and esteem.

“Do you consent?” the Princess asks.

“If it’s what you want.”

“It is.”

“Then I consent heartily.” I give her a blazing grin. “I’ll be sure to fuck both of them well. Or perhaps, in Cowen’s case, I should prepare tobefucked. I can ask Anvel to advise me on the appropriate preparations. I’m a virgin in that respect, so Cowen should owe you a significant favor in return for the privilege of being the first to come in my ass. I should thank you for this—” I touch the clamps. “I need to accustom myself to pain.”

“Stop.” She withdraws a step.

“Why? If you’re going to whore me out to these callous nobles, you should be able to talk about the logistics of it. Am I to agree to everything they want me to do, or are there limits?”

“I don’t think Umari or Cowen will abuse you.” Her voice is threadbare.

“But you can’t be sure what they like in the bedroom.” I keep grinning, wide and terrible, advancing on her while she backs away. “Maybe they will beat me or bite me. No matter, because I can always be healed afterwards. No scars on the surface, right, your Highness? Only inside, where no one can see.”

I’m nearly upon her now. She snatches a dagger from under her pillow and points it at me. I lift my hands, a deprecating gesture. My anger is a storm in my chest.

“You knew the deal from the beginning,” she hisses. “Stop trying to make me feel guilty about it. I don’t yield to guilt, ever. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect myself, to survive, to ensure my own future.”

“So you’ll be yielding to Ward, then? Or is it onlymybody you’re willing to sacrifice?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Of course not. Forget I asked.” I shift forward until the tip of her knife grazes my chest, and I lean over the blade, bending until my face is close to hers. “We’ll speak no more of it. Rest easy, Highness, knowing that you have my full and eagerconsent.”

She’s breathing hard. So am I.

Her gaze dips to my mouth.

“Ruelle,” I whisper.

She inhales sharply, lips parting.

Closer I move. The knife cuts my skin a little. The pain is worth it if she will let me kiss her.

But before I can, the door of the bedroom bursts open, and the Crown Princess charges in.

Vienne is shaking with rage. When Ruelle’s bodyguards step in the room, she backhands them violently and shoves them out into the hall, kicking the door shut behind them. She wears a sword at her hip, and judging by the blood spatter on the hilt, it’s been used recently.

I step back, shifting to stand beside Ruelle. I can’t get between them, but I won’t leave my mistress to face this hurricane alone.

“Do you know what I just had to do?” Vienne seethes. “Instead of enjoying some well-deserved group sex on the beach with Bazra and our thralls, I had to cut off a water-wielder’s hands and write a letter to Countess Jilleen’s parents, informing them of her death. I had to make arrangements for her body and her servants to be sent home. I had to send Padra a message about the disaster that is Summerglee so far.”

“That sounds difficult,” says Ruelle caustically.

Vienne surges forward, clasping her sword-hilt. “This isyou, isn’t it? We’ve never had noble deaths at a Summerglee or Wintertryst retreat until you came along. You’re a strange, morbid, creepy little bitch who collects knives and skulls and worships the death-god. I think you’re responsible for all of this, either by ill fate or wicked will. When Umari’s thrall was murdered, where were you? Opening his throat with one of your knives?”

Ruelle’s mouth tightens, but she doesn’t reply.

“You were near Ward when he was doling out his concoctions,” Vienne continues. “Maybe you tampered with the drugs Lombard and Jilleen took. You’ve been spending too much time with that pale freak. I suppose one creep knows another. Maybe he’s in on it, too. Both of you, trying to ruin this for all of us.”