Page 24 of Royal Ransom (Princess Procedural #4)
Taliyah
I felt a bit like a fairy tale prince following our return from Winter.
I mean I’d rescued the downtrodden, I’d slayed an evil queen, and kissed my significant other awake from a magical sleep. Granted, that last part had been a lot less romantic than it sounded when I’d woven the spell on Maverick. The ice burst into steam almost the instant it touched the warm air inside my home, leaving a half-thawed Maverick insensible on my kitchen floor. It had been a nerve-wracking journey from Winter to the E.R., but the doctors were optimistic he’d pull through.
The state he’d been in was going to provoke a lot of awkward questions. Astrid was right. We were going to have to broaden our pool of mundanes in our support structure. Haven Hollow was no longer a bastion of peace and prosperity. There was conflict in our town, which meant we needed police in the know. Not only police but those on the medical side, as well. We needed doctors who could treat our people when magical life strayed too close to the mundane.
There was at least good news on the last front. Charlotte Rose had the basic knowledge to handle general injuries for most species. She was willing to go to medical school under the supervision of another vampire if it meant earning her way into Haven Hollow. I should have told her she didn’t need to earn her way, but honestly, we needed a general practitioner. Things were getting too big to handle with magic and meatball surgery.
As for the police… well, that was trickier. Roland seemed to have grudgingly accepted things, though he still wondered aloud if he was insane. I could sympathize. I hadn’t believed the truth the first time I’d heard it either. He was handling things for me with the hospital staff, claiming Maverick must have been injured by the same criminal who’d assaulted Darla outside my house. So far, no one was disputing it. I knew the lies bothered him as much as they bothered me, but I doubted his fellow deputies would accept, “a sadistic winter faerie tortured the boss’s husband” as an explanation.
“Thinking of your beau?” a gentle voice asked, breaking into my reverie.
I glanced away from my television set blearily. I’d been watching a series of infomercials without really seeing them. They were dull without the snarky banter Maverick usually layered on top of them to make me laugh. I didn’t need whatever miracle vegetable dicer they were trying to sell me. I was the queen of all of freaking Winter now. If I wanted, I’d never have to chop my own vegetables ever again.
I found Fox staring at me from across the room. He’d settled onto the sofa closer to the door, stretching out his plaster-covered leg on the plush cushions. His injuries had been nasty but not life-threatening. He’d happily been fussed over by his girlfriend when I’d dragged his sorry bruised carcass back to Haven Hollow to be treated. His injuries were going to heal human-slow, thanks to the presence of darkest winter in the wounds. He might have been banged up, but he wasn’t in danger. Not like Mav was.
Charlie and Sean insisted on playing tic-tac-toe on Fox’s leg cast. It was harder to hate him after watching him charm both the boys. He was terrible with women, but he seemed to have a knack for making friends with almost everyone else. He’d played a few rounds with them, letting both win the majority of the time, never letting on that he’d thrown the game for them.
“Among other things,” I said quietly.
His lips turned up at the ends. It made him look softer and more handsome than he’d been the entire time I’d known him. Maybe power didn’t corrupt absolutely. Maybe it just turned you into a rigid asshole. He seemed less insufferable now that he’d given all that power up and decided to settle down with a cute vampire veterinarian.
“Too much on the mind,” he said with a nod. “I know the feeling well. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”
And my head did wear a crown. Metaphorically, of course. The boys at the station would never let me live it down if I wore a tiara or something equally nonsensical to work. But I was a queen now. The ruler of a court of faerie. I’d have to lead from afar, but I still had to... well... lead. Which was scary. I didn’t know the first thing about being a queen. And it wasn’t like Priss could take over anytime soon.
“I hate that, you know,” I whispered, clasping my hands together, desperately wishing I had a drink. “I didn’t want it. I still don’t. I just...”
Couldn’t let Janara win. I was the lesser of two evils. Winter needed someone to rule, and I was the only one fit to do it at the moment. Damn it all to hell.
“Don’t look so glum,” Fox said, offering me a cheerful smile. “It’s not so different from the politics you had to play in Portland, just... on a macro scale.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means showing up to key events, reassuring the right people, and always keeping in contact with informants. The rest can be delegated to the lords and ladies of Winter that you trust.”
I still didn’t like it, but it sounded less soul-crushing put that way.
“I can stay here?” I checked.
“Yes,” Fox said tiredly. “You can. I recommend setting up some kind of embassy, and you’ll need a more fortified home than you currently live in. Your enemies will be clever and determined. You have to outfox them, if you’ll pardon the pun. You can’t do it here.”
“I still have—” I started.
“Of course,” Fox interrupted. “And you always will. That’s what it means to be the ruler of a kingdom.”
I almost told him where he could shove his critique of my house. Because he was right, I let it go. I wouldn’t feel safe leaving the boys here after everything that had happened in the past few weeks. A fresh place and a fresh start sounded nice, the more I thought about it.
“Are you staying?” I asked. “I mean, you’re free now, right? No war with Winter. The need for an heir has gotten less urgent now. You could take your time. Travel with Astrid.”
Fox nodded vaguely. “I plan to travel at some point, but a more subdued layover here, in Haven Hollow wouldn’t go amiss. I know Charlotte wants to study to become a doctor. That should be another eight years, at least.”
Eight years with Fox as my neighbor. Egad. Maverick would blow a gasket at the idea. I didn’t like it much either. We’d probably share some shiny faerie embassy in town, but like hell was I living on the same block. He’d be insufferable by the end of the month. I was good at controlling Winter, but the prince could try the patience of a fucking saint. I was about as far from one of those as it got.
“We’re still ending up joint rulers, you know,” Fox said with a wry smile. “Regents, in place of our heirs. They’ll need the guidance.”
I blew out a sigh. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t rub it in. It’s pissing me off enough already.”
At least I hadn’t married him. He’d won the battle, not the war. I still wasn’t a full-time queen of faerie. Not his perfect Sidhe wife. I’d remained me, and that was what mattered.
He laughed, but there wasn’t a lot of life in it. “It’s not how either of us pictured this going, is it?”
“No. I’m glad it happened this way, though, aren’t you?”
Surely he couldn’t still be butt hurt that I’d turned him down? Charlie Rose had gone to bat for him, lying to me about his desire to be rescued. It took guts, and a lot more care than she was willing to admit aloud to do that for someone she’d only just started dating.
Fox looked thoughtful. “I suppose I am. The situation is not ideal, but I suppose that’s the evidence of a good compromise. No one gets exactly what they want. But you’re deflecting, Chief Morgan. How is my nephew doing?”
It was odd to think of Mav as his nephew, though I knew it was true. Maverick took after his mother: dark hair, gray eyes, and smoldering good looks. Astrid leaned more toward her father’s side of the family: sharp, vulpine features, and hair the color of aspen leaves. It was impossible not to see a bit of resemblance in the line of the jaw when I stared at Fox, though. They were family, no matter how much I disliked it.
“They said he’ll pull through. The tricky part is containing the story. I hate having to muddle minds and lie to the nice doctors about what actually happened.”
“Yet it is necessity.”
I nodded, but then cocked my head to the side. “Maybe not. Astrid recently came to me with the idea of bringing in more mundanes to handle the secret. With the massive influx from Misty Hollow, we have more monsters than I know what to do with.”
He winced. “Sorry about that. I knew they’d be safe with you, but it doesn’t make the task any easier, does it?”
I gave him an arched look. “No, it doesn’t. Which means you’re going to do your part when you’re well, or so help me, I’m going to shove my boot up your ass. Astrid shouldn’t have to figure out everything about Blood Rose or any new subjects right away. If you’re sticking around, you’re going to make yourself useful.”
Fox grinned and mimed tipping a hat at me with a flourish. It was impossible not to notice the missing finger on his right hand. “Of course, your highness.”
I chucked a pillow at him. Thankfully, he was too injured to dodge it. It was satisfying to watch him eat goose down, at least until he launched the pillow back with interest.
But all’s fair in mutual tolerance and war, I suppose.