Page 42 of Wedlock

“Falcon!”

“I apologise, Mother,” I sigh as I sit back down. I’ve had enough. I need to leave this room, this castle. I need to get away and think, but I know rudeness will only lengthen the torture of this visit by adding a lecture about my role and responsibilities. “Her visit was unexpected; I didn’t invite her. I know how you feel about her, but I have more pressing matters to address at the moment than who is sharing my bed, as you well know.”

“She bit Angelina.”

I still, my fangs instantly descending.

“Pardon?”

“You heard. I walked in on her not a second too late. She was just about to end your wife’s life, and I fear she would have gone for your son next.”

“She’d never overstep the mark that much,” I mutter, ignoring the reference to ‘my son’ as I focus on the issue at hand.

“You and I both know that isn’t true,” she murmurs.

I can’t help but nod. We’ve both known Revna for centuries, and she was never one to sit back and wait for life to hand her what she wanted when she could just grab it and wring its neck. She probably did plan to do exactly as Mother was suggesting and would likely have just smiled and apologised later.

‘Bitch!’

The desire to confront her and rip her to shreds wars with my urge to run and check on my wife, but I shake my head and grit my teeth as I get my rage under control.

Mother, predictably, waits, watching me silently over the rim of her cup.

Eventually, I regain the power of speech.

“How is Angie?”

“She has bite marks and a bruised neck, but she’s otherwise unhurt. I came straight to you once I’d dealt with Revna. There is a great deal more I have to tell you.”

“Dealt with?” I quirk an eyebrow.

‘That’s something I would have paid to see.’

“We had dinner together, and she left. She wasn’t happy. But that’s not all…”

I hold up my hand to cut her off. I don’t have the time or the inclination to deal with the Princess. I’m still mulling over what she’d told me about the Queen, Spider, and The Games. Now the confirmation that Viper had bitten Angie, news of his death,Mother’s assertion that the child was mine… It feels like a giant net is closing in on me.

“Please tell me you’ll dispense with her soon, Son,” Mother whispers. “For your own good and the future of this seat.”

“You’d presume to meddle in my relationships after the total fuck-up you’ve made of my marriage?”

“Falcon, please, I had only the best intentions…”

“Yes, well, the blame doesn’t lie solely on your shoulders. Apparently you’re not the only woman who thinks they can manipulate my life!” I narrow my eyes at her. “There’s a whole network scheming to secure my hand and my future.”

“I don’t understand. To whom do you now refer?”

“Revna told me the Queen was the one who put me in The Games, both times. She had her preferred candidates selected, as she apparently does every season. The whole system is rigged.”

Mother’s hand begins to shake, rattling her cup. Her face pales as she carefully places it on her desk.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard. The Queen wants me to marry Revna. She put me in The Games to speed me into marrying and producing an heir so I’d leave this seat and become the future King Consort of Denmark. I was only to go on once. Spider may or may not have suggested it initially. But you know how that first series turned out…”

Mother’s hand moves to her throat, her eyes wide, face paler than I’ve ever seen.

“Oh, dear God!”