Good fucking witchtits. I’ve got to get out of here, I have to regain my equilibrium so I can be the Prince Charming that everyone knows and loves at tonight’s engagement ball.
“Time for laundry,” I say with a cheeky grin as I sweep past her, though I simply plan to throw the shirt out and have never done a bit of laundry in my entire life.
Instead, I stride out to the courtyard and begin a familiar sequence of martial arts moves.
Each strike is filled with pent-up anger and determination. As I twist and kick, I can feel the darkness pulsing through my body, but instead of succumbing to it, I use it as fuel to drive me forward.
With each move, I take control of the pain that doesn’t heal with blood, and I make it my own. My focus sharpens on what must be done. On why I've coerced Cinder into this engagement.
If only the Mice would come through and see this is the perfect time to put an end to an old fairy’s tyranny. Because if they don’t agree to help, I’m not sure what I’ll do.
And that thought scares me, not because I’m afraid of what must be done. But because if I have to bring King Valdor Charming down myself, it may be the very act that transforms me into him.
Chapter 27
Burying the Bride Before the Wedding
CINDER
The smile plastered on Charming's face is so forced that I'm surprised it hasn't cracked under the strain. Despite his amazing ability to hide it, I can see the anger simmering just beneath the surface.
It’s been there since I saw him bruised and battered, barely able to feed himself.
I play with the new engagement ring, an oversized planet made of opalescent diamonds, flanked by sapphires. Spinning it on my finger, I can’t help but think it suits me.
But the way Kai casually passed it to me to wear before this event made my stomach twist in uneasiness. As if it were an afterthought—as if I were some kind of obligation he was fulfilling.
The dark energy is a living demon shadowing him, haunting and digging at him. I see it because it hovers next to my demons—who hung out with me so long I decided to friend them. The skulls inked on my arms are some of my very best friends.
Doesn’t make it healthy, but I feel it makes the most of that darkness.
No one else notices, though. A few weeks ago, I might not have recognized it either. But I do now. I can’t miss it. It’s in his eyes, his posture, his very essence.
The pain and resentment within him are palpable.
Feelings I understand all too well. But I know how to shove those deep down into a lockbox before putting that in a different box and locking that one until I'm barely aware of what’s at the center of my nesting containers of feelings.
I don't know what happened to him earlier, but the bruises and cuts that marred his face spoke volumes. And his hands. Sweet witchtits, they were beyond mangled.
My heart broke at the sight of them.
Or was it the way he tried to put on that Charming persona and brush it off?
He can’t get anything past me. Not even that cock-and-bull story about a jealous boyfriend or husband kicking his ass.
Not that I doubt he’s pissed some people off in the past, but that isn’t the cause for that barely restrained violence I sense vibrating in him.
But now as we sweep through the ballroom arm in arm, he's the picture of a confident, proud prince showing off his bride-to-be. If only they knew the truth behind our little arrangement.
Though so far, I’ve gotten nowhere on my side of the bargain. I only grow more suspicious of the fairy court, of Kai’s father, of the darkness I know is swirling underneath this glittering façade of Midnight.
Everywhere I look, the richness of the Midnight Kingdom is on full display, from the intricate ice sculptures to the dark, opulent tapestries with depictions of King Charming leading the realm into independence. The grand ballroom, bathed in cool,ethereal light, glows with hues of deep blues, velvety blacks, and rich purples.
Crystal chandeliers hang from the high, vaulted ceilings, casting a shimmering kaleidoscope of light across the polished marble floors. The air is cool, almost chilling, and carries the faint scent of night-blooming jasmine and ancient, cold stone.
The fairy court is in rare form tonight, their ignorance and disdain for humans on full display. I catch snippets of their inane questions, each one more ridiculous than the last.
While I tune it all out, Kaison is forced to answer for both of us.
