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“Fine,” she replied curtly. He didn’t appear put off by her. Didn’t even blink.
“I can imagine it’s difficult to understand the intricacies of this realm,” he said. He folded his hands behind his back and stared into the sky. “I’ll happily help you navigate it.”
“I’m fine.” Either she was the least hospitable human ever, or Morten had instructed her to be short.
King Ulther inclined his head. “As you wish. You really ought to come visit the western edge of the realm. The lakes are so clear that you can see through to the bottom, and the sands are made from the dust of jades. Peacocks roam through the thicket and eat fruit from your hand.”
This realm would never fail to fascinate me.
Dhalia, it seemed, possessed less curiosity than I did. “I think not. I don’t care for peacocks.” She kept fidgeting with her bracelets and glancing toward the double doors of the palace.
King Ulther let out a defeated sigh. “I see an alliance with me is not in your interests. I might have suspected such from someone aligned with the House of Delvers. If I may, my daughter has long adored the Mortal Queens and picked this out for you. I suspect it would barely fit on your little finger, but I promised to grant it to you all the same.”
He produced a silver ring from his pocket, nothing grand. Not even a design was etched into the side, and no gems adorned the band. His shoulders slumped with her rejection, and pity gripped me.
Dhalia stuck out her hand. He dropped the ring into her palm.
An air of mischief wafted about us. King Ulther’s smile might be too wide, his show of giving up too obvious, or the ring too simple. I took all of these into account while sniffing for deceit, but it was the smallest detail that snagged my mind.
After coming in with a flurry of coughs, he hadn’t coughed once after Morten left.
His ploy came into view, but while Dhalia’s thoughts were mine, I couldn’t push my own warning through to her. All I could do was watch.
King Ulther’s eye twitched as Dhalia inspected the ring, then thoughtlessly slipped it over her pinky finger. I felt what she did, the unmistakable tinge of heat seeping from the ring into her skin.
Her breathing quickened. She tried to remove the ring, but it held fast to her finger.
She didn’t hide her nerves. King Ulther stood silently as her gasping intensified and she tore at the jewelry. At that precise moment, Morten came out with a platter and three glasses.
At Dhalia’s face, he dropped the platter and ran to her.
“What is it?” Dhalia cried out. “What is wrong with the ring?”
King Ulther’s smile was just as broad, but far more wicked than before. He buttoned his jacket slowly, the mark of a job done. “Your acceptance of the ring comes with an acceptance of marriage.”
Morten froze.
Dhalia frantically pried at the ring until the spot was raw. “Mortal Queens don’t marry. It’s pointless for us. Two years isn’t enough.”
So, in her first month of being here, she already knew the terrible fate that awaited her. I wondered if Morten had told her, and if he did so with more tact than Talen had.
“You will,” the king said. “Your refusal of an alliance with me has led us into an alliance far more powerful. I thank you.” He had the audacity and the cruelty to bow. “I’ve long wanted a bride.”
Her frantic breathing broke into sobs. Morten wrapped his arms around her in a gesture that couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than fondness. King Ulther shifted his gaze between the two of them.
“Careful, lad,” he said sharply. “I don’t take kindly to those who take what is mine.”
He turned away to climb into his chariot. Before he left, he gave one more bow. “This is a happy day, indeed.”
King Ulther left as Dhalia sank to her knees. “I’m so sorry,” she choked. “I didn’t think anything of the ring. I didn’t think.” Her words burned away in a heave of heart-wrenching tears. Morten laid his hand on her back.
“We will think of something,” he stated. “We will find a way to free you from this marriage.” His voice hitched. He was as Dhalia was, empty in that moment, and they grasped each other to absorb the shock of what had happened. I felt Dhalia’s fear, her horror, her disgust. How her muscles quivered just as mine did, and her lungs squeezed.
And I felt the moment that changed. It hardened into something stronger, and a burst of strength pulsed through her.
“We will have to do more than that.” She spoke with resolve. “You and I can’t flee to my land anymore. He will find us.”
She spoke too quickly for me to process that nugget of information. She wiped her face dry.
