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“Happy?” He asks. At least it’s his normal, grating voice, not the soothing one.
He’s staring at me, really staring, as if examining my face.
A nervous laugh escapes my lips. “I should be, right? My wedding day.” I don’t hide the sarcasm in my words.
He runs a ringed hand through his curls. “Oh, yes. What a happy day. I’m also thrilled.” His voice is flat.
“Why, then?” I dare ask. “What’s the point of this?”
He glares at me. “What did you honestly expect? Did you think you could steal into my dreams, rip my secrets, and life would go on as usual? Did you think you could humiliate me, and there would be no consequences?”
Dreams? The dream about the Pit of Death? It can’t be. If he’s seen that, then he’s seen… No. I feel all cold inside, and tell myself he must be talking about the incident in the cave, which is already humiliating enough for a few lifetimes.
“Oh.” I manage to sound surprised, and then I chuckle. “Now I’m responsible for your dreams? Funny.” I know it’s wild to provoke him when I don’t know what he’ll do, but I don’t see any other way out of this.
“You know what’s hilarious? They had no qualms giving you away for nothing to be raped on your wedding night.” I see a sheen of fury in his eyes—but it isn’t a threat.
I don’t think it is, at least. Or maybe that’s my pointless, crazy hope. “You wouldn’t do that.” I can still recall his promise, still remember his soft, whispered words.
He smirks. “But they don’t know that, do they?”
“It wouldn’t cross their mind.” Wouldn’t it? I recall Andrezza’s words… He’ll expect it to hurt. It makes him feel powerful. Ugh.
“Come on, you can’t be that naïve, wife.” The word is laced in mockery, turned into some odd insult. “What do you think I told them? What was my reason to want you so badly?” He chuckles. “Political alliance? It was more like oh, she’s so pretty, I can’t stop thinking about her.” His voice is mocking and high and extremely irritating.
I feel shaken to my bones, and decide to throw all my inexistent caution to the wind. “So you think they expect you to be a brute who doesn’t know how to seduce a woman?”
He cocks his head. “What else would they expect? Unless… Fair. They might think I’ll rape you gently tonight.”
That’s not true. At all. “They did ask me—just so you know. And I chose to do my duty.”
“Oh, I have no doubt they asked. Right after you had already been sold like a cow.” As if his words didn’t hurt enough, he adds, “For a couple cheap trinkets and some pointless promises.”
Cheap trinkets. I’m not going to show him how deep his words cut, so I smile instead. “Congratulations, you got a bargain.”
“I know. Impressive, right? That’s the value of power, and why it’s so coveted.” He snaps his fingers. “You can just do what you want. Take what you want.”
Like the fae relics. “Are you proud of that?”
“That’s not how you should treat people. But this time it came in handy.” He stares at me again. “A forced hand. I can’t let you tatter my secrets to my brother. I just can’t, wife.” The word carries less bite this time. “You gave me no choice.”
There’s no point trying to be nice to him. I don’t think he even likes me, so I decide to be honest—in part, at least.
“That makes no sense. Even if I could see your secrets, and let’s not forget you’re the one with the mind magic, how does that relate to King Renel?”
“Prince Renel. He’s never been crowned.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh. Have you?”
He laughs and looks away. “I must admit, wife, your power is quite impressive. Quite impressive. Doesn’t impress me, but explains what they were raising you for.”
He knows too much about me, and yet, I’m not sure what he’s referring to. “Really? Enlighten me.”
There’s still a smug smile on his face, but it softens as he looks at me, speaking slowly. “With your powers, you could bring my brother to his knees. You could make him your slave. It would be a beautiful thing to see, except for the part where he would get access to my mind. Now, I can’t have that, can I?”
Right. Marlak’s insane. “Wow, you concocted quite a story. What do you think the Crystal Court king would do with a human wife?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” He shrugs. “Rape her. I doubt he’d do it gently.”
