Page 48 of Wickedly Ever After (A Fairy Tale Romp, #1)
“But I am married,” Amber said. “To a prince. A prince of dragons. I’m a princess, don’t you remember?”
“By magic—and it was absolutely the wrong thing to do—”
“By marriage.” Alistair growled. “I have mated with her.”
The look that passed between them was laden with longing and hunger.
She needed to put an end to that right now. “Can I speak frankly to you, Alistair?” she said, folding her arms.
His face said no, but he said nothing and she didn’t see fire brewing in his throat, so she continued.
“You weren’t meant to be involved to this degree. All you were meant to do was kidnap the princess, deliver her to the mountain lair, and then let the prince discover her.”
“She is not my prisoner! I offered to set her down anywhere between the city and the mountains.”
“Repeatedly,” Amber said with a hint of a smile.
Ida held up her hand. “I’m using the word kidnap in terms of Happily-Ever-After. Amber was to be rescued by a prince, fall in love, and live with him in his palace. That was how the magic was written.”
“Alistair is a prince! He did rescue me, I’m in love with him, and I will live with him in his palace!”
“It’s not that simple,” Ida said. “Think about it, Amber. What did you tell me when we met? Your world was the forge, your family business, and that’s all you wanted to do with your life.
You wouldn’t give them up for any man. I was foolish not to listen to you.
I’m here to give that back to you. You didn’t want to marry a prince—any prince—but certainly not a dragon prince.
In fact, you were willing to kill him to avoid that fate only a few days ago.
And now you think you are in love with him? Is that logical?”
Amber said nothing.
“Alistair, Hector told me how you hesitated. You didn’t want a princess. You only came to the Happily-Ever-After because he reminded you of your duty. And now you want to marry this girl? A human girl? You aren’t a man. You can never love Amber as a man.”
Alistair’s heated breath warmed Ida’s face.
“I love Amber more than she has ever been loved by anyone. It doesn’t matter that I’m not a man.
Isn’t that the point of your ridiculous Happily-Ever-After?
” He turned his back on Ida and walked to the large open window admitting the chill of the darkening mountains.
“The point of this ridiculous Happily-Ever-After was to preserve the peace,” Ida said.
“Two people agree to an arranged marriage so everyone else can live happily ever after. Whether or not that’s right or wrong is beside the point right now—both of you are victims of a misplaced spell.
That’s why you feel attracted so strongly to Amber.
She may even have feelings for her captor; that’s not uncommon—”
“First of all,” Amber said. “I’d appreciate if you’d stop calling me a victim. I said I’d be the princess when you gave me that spiel about duty and honor, didn’t I? I came of my own free will!”
Alistair turned and draped both his arms over Amber’s shoulders.
“I too came of my own free will. Hector reminded me of all the sacrifices my dragon ancestors have made to keep our people safe. It’s not just humans who have given up their choice for Happily-Ever-After.
Many dragons have died for your peace. I chose to honor that tradition in the end.
How could I call myself a prince of dragons and not? ”
He turned to Ida. “If Amber wants to go back to her home, I will take her myself. I’ve always been willing to. But I won’t stop loving her, no matter what kind of spell you throw at me. And if you think a potion might change my mind, you can ask Hector what happens when you give one to a dragon.”
“What happens, darling?” Amber asked.
“Wicked gas for one thing,” Alistair said, grinning. “But the acid in our stomachs generally deactivates anything our venom doesn’t.”
“I’m sure your venom isn’t good for Amber, either,” Ida said with a snort.
Alistair burst out laughing. When he collected himself in spasms of fire and smoke, he said, “Put that on your list of questions to ask Hector about dragons.”
“Should I also ask him about how to get a dragon to be reasonable?” Ida said. “You say you care about your people, and you want to marry a human? How is that thinking about your people and their traditions?”
With a roar, Alistair loomed in front of her, glaring down from his considerable height, smoking at the ears.
“You think I haven’t been thinking about tradition since I met Amber?
I could’ve kept her at my lair and hidden her from everyone, kept her for myself.
Instead, I brought her here to meet my parents, to get to know my people because she’s my mate! ”
“And that’s going so well.” Ida scoffed, although she felt like her heart was in her throat and not back in the box at home. “Is that why you bit your father?”
The smoke drifted away. He gazed down at her with more respect.
“You aren’t short on courage, Witch. But I didn’t bite my father out of anger.
I challenged him as our tradition demanded.
I won. Now I am king.” He turned his back on Ida and went back to Amber, taking her by the shoulders and pressing his nose against her neck.
“And I’m your queen,” Amber said, nuzzling him back.
“I suggest you both take some time to think about what I’ve said,” Ida said. “Because from where I stand, I don’t see a king and a queen. I see two children making the biggest mistake of their lives because of my magic, and I’m no kind of good witch if I let that happen.”
Alistair wrapped his arms around Amber. “Maybe you’re no kind of good witch if you can’t see what it means to love someone so much you’ll do anything to be with them forever. I think you’d better leave now.”
His voice was soft and nonthreatening, but Ida backed out of the door, far more terrified than she’d been when he blew up in her face.