“So, you agree with my cousin, then? About humans being lesser than Immortals.” I would worry about the heir comment later… much later.
“Those responsible for the baseless deaths of Immortals will be dealt with, but I don’t hold an entire race responsible for the actions of a few.” He positioned an arm behind me on my chair, effectively imprisoning me. Even though he wasn’t touching me, I could feel the warmth emanating from his skin. “What about you, Elena? You could have stayed in the human temple, out of sight and out of mind and refused to be bound. You know the ceremony requires the agreement from both parties to prevent an unwilling union.”
I met his gaze straight on. “My father is ill, my brother’s position at court is tenuous at best, and my own life would be at stake unprotected. Either I accept you as a mate or fail my family again. There are no other options.”
For some reason, instead of infuriating him, my answer pleased him. Though there was no hint of it on his lips, his eyes seemed to smile. “Then we have an understanding,” he said with a nod as though my response answered all his questions.
I, however, was left with more questions than when I started. Servants appeared in the hall, their arms loaded with platters heavily laden with food. The scents of buttered vegetables and roast pig wafted throughout the hall. My mouth watered as the first course was served and wine poured. Even Lord Blaque’s presence didn’t dull my appetite.
The routine of food tasting was so ingrained I barely paid any mind to the men who were tasked with ensuring my food wasn’t poisoned.I didn’t know the identity of the castle guard who stepped forward to test my plate. He sipped my fresh glass of wine and tasted the course of roast pig and vegetables. When nothing happened, I took the glass of wine greedily, hoping to calm my nerves. As I brought it to my lips, I felt Lord Blaque tense beside me.
Before the wine could bathe my tongue, he ripped the goblet from my grasp, knocking the cup against my teeth and splitting my lip. Wine spilled, staining my dress and soaking my plate of food. I frowned at the ruined meal for a moment. Gasps went up from the tables closest to us and murmurs broke out.
Puzzled, I turned to Lord Blaque who’d gotten to his feet, his blue eyes brightening unnaturally as though he were filled with lightning. Recognition speared through me and before I knew it, I was on my feet and putting distance between us, reacting purely on instinct.
But he wasn’t focused on me. His gaze was on the guard who’d tasted my food. “Who sent you?” he demanded.
Confused, I glanced to the guard whose face had gone pure white. The first strains of unease trickled through me.
Lord Blaque vaulted over the high chair with staggering ease and slammed the guard to the ground with one hand on his throat. With his other, he reached for my goblet of wine and looked inside. A small swallow remained in the bottom. Beneath him, the guard gulped convulsively.
“Who sent you?” Lord Blaque repeated.
The guard could only shake his head. With his face set in an impassivemask, Lord Blaque brought my wine goblet to the guard’s lips and forced him to swallow. Within seconds, blood poured from the guard’s ears and nose. White froth bubbled from his lips.
Lord Blaque got to his feet and looked to me. “We complete the binding ceremony immediately,” he said. “Before the person who tried to assassinate you succeeds, and I bury my mate instead of bedding her.”
6
Rhysander
“Skip the ceremony, it’s all a façade anyway. All you need is a couple incantations from a priest. Return to the North before it’s too late,” Alaric said.
It wasn’t Alaric himself, but a magicked replica I’d summoned. It required powerful magick, even for me, to produce the spell, but it was a useful one. Calledmirroringthe spell allowed one to summon another to speak with, even over long distances, and show their visage on any reflective surface nearby. In this instance, Alaric’smirrorappeared in a basin full of water at the side table in my quarters. Even as a replica, Alaric looked gravely worried after I relayed the story of what happened at dinner.
“I won’t have one threat scare me away, Alaric. If I ran every time someone tried, I’d be running forever. I’ll go through with the ceremony tomorrow, bed my mate, then I’ll head for the Northlands and never return to this Goddess-forsaken place again.”
Alaric frowned even more. “This isn’t only your life anymore. You have a mate now you have to think about. Do you think she’ll want you dashing off to battle at every spare moment?”
I prowled about my rooms wishing for my caves, for the mountain, my castle. The capital keep was too stuffy, full to the brim of useless things, and despite the wintery air outside, it was stifling hot. All I wanted was to leap from the balcony and soar the skies for a few hours, but I didn’t dare leave the castle with my future mate sharing walls with the person who tried to kill her.
It was taking all of my restraint to keep from roosting on her balcony, and watching her as she slept, to make sure there wasn’t another attempt made on her life during the night. The thought pleased my dragon. It wanted me to shift and take her in my armswhile he kept her safe. Maybe the beast wasn’t half wrong. If they were bold enough toassassinate her in front of the whole court, what would happen to her when she was alone without protection?
“Prince Gideon secured a guard watch for her rooms. No one but her maid will go in or out for the next twenty-four hours. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll be bound in front of the entire capital, and then she’ll be under my personal protection. I may not be an enthusiastic mate, but I won’t let anything happen to her.” Not when I needed her. My clan needed her.
Alaric’smirrorlooked like he wanted to argue, but he wisely bit his tongue. “And the guard gave no indication about who put him up to it?”
Smoke curled from my nose in a delicate filigree. “Not before he choked on his own poison. He refused to talk, but it could be one of my many enemies, or any of the enemies against the crown.” Or both. There were many, Immortal and human alike.
Themirrorimage of Alaric opened his mouth to speak, but a flash from the corner of my eye distracted me. I rushed to the balcony doors and flung them open, thinking I’d catch a thief or an assassin scaling the walls of the castle, but no. Instead, I caught the flash of a cloak disappearing into the forest beyond the castle. Then, the sliver of a face—one I recognized. One who made my dragon quiver with excitement at the thrill of a chase.
“Excuse me, Alaric,” I said over my shoulder, as I allowed my wings to form. I extinguished the magick that conjured themirrorand jumped from the balcony into the obsidian blanket of sky. My dragon hummed his approval, enjoying unleashing even a modicum of his power, relishing the endless dark that swallowed us up and carried us away from the cloistering oppression of the castle. It wasn’t the Northlands, but it was an acceptable substitute for now.
I found her by the marshy bank of a creek, deep in the woods. Her skinblue from sitting in the freezing night air, but there was a smile on her lips and she reclined against a tree on the banks, her eyes closed and completely unaware of her surroundings. How easy it would be to kill her here. I could slit her throat with one claw and watch her blood stain the snow. Did she not realize how dangerous it wasto be on her own?
I landed behind her, the sound muffled by the thick dusting of snow. As much as I wanted to wring her neck for risking her safety, I kept back and watched her, like I had in her father’s room. It seemed I had a penchant for watching her, an urge I’d have to curb once we’re bound and living together under one roof. It wouldn’t do to be so consumed by her. I’d let it happen to me once, and I’d never fall victim to such idiocy again.
At first, I considered the possibility she was meeting a spurned lover for one last night of passion, but no one came. She merely sat and watched the water ripple over the rocks, seemingly enjoying the peace and quiet away from the castle. She wasn’t the only one. Already the open spaces and the promise of the sky above were calming my nerves.
