Page 30 of Vow of the Undead (The Bloodrune Saga #1)
“Tomorrow,” he said, cupping my jaw. His lips paused right over mine, brushing against me as he spoke. “When you are my wife, you’ll share in every truth I can give you.”
My pulse thumped faster and faster, yearning for all that implied.
Every truth. There was so much possibility wrapped in those two words, everything I’d wanted to expose the reality that my mother and the other witches weren’t a threat.
It could change the entire course of my life and the women I cared for
“Why did you say the plan to explore The Sea of Skalds wasn't your doing?”
“Tomorrow.” It was all he said before he drew my face closer, pressing his lips to mine. Like the other kiss, he started gently, until I returned it. His aggressive hunger sunk into me with increasing firmness.
No. I refused to give in to this desire. Questions still plagued me, and Freya couldn’t give me every answer I wanted.
Pulling away, I pressed him with questions. “Aren’t you the king? How did the council plan something that is not sanctioned by the king himself? You’re the one in control here, right?”
He sucked down the last of the blood from his cup and bared his teeth as he slammed to goblet down against the armrest. “Fuck, Silver!” he snapped. His teeth were stained with red until he swiped his tongue across them, and faced me with fury in his eyes.
There it was. The monster within.
He pushed me off of him and stood, raking his fingers through his hair. Nobody else noticed, servants too busy with their jobs and guests drunkenly dancing and laughing.
Turning his head to his shoulder, he kept his eyes on the ground. “Remember when I said you do what I want when you’re in my throne room?” I didn’t dignify his question with a response. He twisted, flicking his intense gaze to me. “Keep that pretty mouth shut about the damn council.”
Finally, someone took notice of the king’s outburst. A plump man I vaguely recognized fixed his eyes on us .
Darius approached the throne with a commoner at his side. A belt kept his buttoned pants from slipping off the hips that were buried by his oversized belly. Thoughts of a vampire overeating sent chills down my neck. How many vessels did Darius feed on in a given night?
“My king, the courtiers don’t like that your betrothed sleeps late into the night,” he said.
What the fuck? That certainly wasn’t what I expected to come from this man’s mouth.
He continued despite the fact that King Drakkar only grunted at Darius’s first comment.
“Rumors that she suffers from an illness do not appease them. Order and tradition say any celebrations hosted at Mara’s Keep begin when the sun would set. ”
“There’s no sun during the Polar Nocturne, so maybe we should give up these ridiculous and antiquated traditions.”
“You know we can’t do that.” His meaty hands flexed into reddened fists as he shifted his gaze to me and then back to the king. King Drakkar only huffed and shook his head, not even looking at Darius.
The commoner cut in. “Illness or not, Silver is rude?—”
Before he could finish, the king turned to him, fisted the front of the man’s tunic, and yanked him closer. “Say that again.”
Darius jumped to his friend’s defense. “My king, you can’t treat Vigg like this.”
Vigg nodded. “I’m Ylva and Darius’ guest, invited by the council?—”
“Call my wife rude again,” King Drakkar snarled.
Vigg grit his teeth. “The council will make you pay for this.”
“Say. It.”
Breath went stale at the back of my tongue. The music and blur of dancing kept most of the people oblivious to the scene, but several courtiers and a few commoners stopped to watch .
Vigg frowned at me. “She’s rude.”
The king shoved Vigg back, releasing the man before curling his fingers into a fist. The thick thwack of his knuckles across Vigg’s face drew more onlookers.
A yelp escaped me as I found myself sinking to perch at the edge of the throne.
Vigg tumbled to the floor, smacking his ass against the black stone.
He fell at the feet of the gawking dancers.
Blood poured from his broken nose, dripping down his chin and over his wrinkled cream tunic.
King Drakkar stepped over him, a spot of red dropping from his knuckles onto Vigg’s forehead as he passed by.
Follow the blood he leaves behind.
Ylva materialized from somewhere beyond the crowd and shadows. Fury twisted her features and her mouth dropped open like a skeleton who’d wasted away to nothing but bone.
Looking from the king to Vigg, her eyes narrowed. “Have you lost your fucking mind?” she asked, between her teeth. “He’s bleeding.”
“And I’m the king.”
“There are still laws.”
Forgetting about Vigg, both Darius and Ylva flanked the king.
His guards made no move to step in. King Drakkar twisted to meet my gaze, he shoved past them and put his hands on either side of me, leaning against the tall back of the throne.
His entire body caged me there where I sat at the edge of the throne.
I rolled my neck back to look up at him.
“I’ll be back soon,” he said. “Eat and enjoy some wine for me.” Dropping his voice, he dipped his mouth to my ear. “If he calls you rude again, you have my blessing to gut him. I know you have it in you.”
My lips parted and breath escaped me. When he pulled back, we locked eyes until he turned and stalked out of the throne room after Ylva and Darius and three other members of the council. My eyes trailed them until the heavy doors groaned and sealed shut in their wake .
I had it in me to attack, that much he knew, and maybe his fascination finally made sense.
The darkness in me called to the monster in him.
I should cut this thought out of me before I took pleasure in it, but he saw—he saw the real me.
For once, I wanted him to call me his wife again.