“I know.” I rise on my toes to press a soft kiss to his lips, then step back before he can deepen it. “But I’m not afraid of a little danger.”
I leave him standing there in the kitchen, aroused and frustrated and probably plotting revenge. But as I settle back into his bed, surrounded by his scent and the lingering traces of our passion, I’m smiling.
Eighteen days to drive him completely insane with want.
I can hardly wait to get started.
CHAPTER 10
AELIN
Seventeen days.
The number burns in my mind as I pace the throne room, ice crackling beneath my feet with each step. Seventeen days until the Solstice, until the choice is snatched from me entirely. Seventeen days to decide between the crown I’ve worn for three centuries and the woman who’s become my entire world.
The bond pulses in my chest like a second heartbeat, stronger now, more insistent. I can feel Jessa even from this distance—her warmth, her contentment, the lingering traces of arousal from our encounter in the kitchen this morning. The memory of her naked body pressed against me, of her challenge to let go of my control, makes my cock twitch despite the political crisis brewing around me.
She’s driving me insane, just as she promised she would.
“My lord?” Theron’s voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts. “The council awaits your presence.”
I turn to find my advisor standing in the doorway, his expression carefully neutral. But I can see the tension in hisshoulders, the way he holds himself like a man bracing for battle. Whatever the council wants to discuss, it will not be pleasant.
“Let them wait,” I growl, but even as I say it, I know I can’t avoid this confrontation forever. The magical disturbances caused by my bond with Jessa have been growing stronger, impossible to hide from my people. They have questions, and they deserve answers.
Even if I’m not sure I have any to give.
The council chamber feels smaller than usual when I enter, the twelve ancient faces turned toward me filled with a mixture of concern and barely concealed disapproval. At their head sits Morel, her silver hair braided with mistletoe and judgment, her pale eyes cutting as winter wind.
“You summoned me,” I say, taking my place at the head of the crystalline table. Ice spreads from my touch, and I don’t bother trying to control it. Let them see what their questions cost me. “Speak.”
“The human,” Morel says without preamble, her voice sharp as breaking glass. “This… infatuation of yours grows dangerous.”
“Infatuation?” The word comes out as a snarl, and several council members flinch. “You dare reduce the Yulebond to mere infatuation?”
“We dare speak the truth,” Councilor Valdris interjects, his weathered face set in disapproving lines. “Your obsession with this mortal woman threatens the very fabric of our realm. The magic grows unstable, unpredictable. Our borders weaken while you play house with a creature who doesn’t belong here.”
Rage builds in my chest, hot and violent. The temperature in the chamber drops several degrees, frost spreading across the walls in jagged patterns that mirror my fury.
“Choose your next words carefully,” I warn, letting power ripple through my voice. “You speak of my mate.”
“We speak of a human,” Morel says coldly. “A mortal whose very presence pollutes the ancient bloodlines. Do you truly believe the realm will accept a half-breed queen? That our people will follow a ruler whose children carry tainted blood?”
The words hit me like physical blows, each one designed to cut deep. But it’s not their effect on me that matters—it’s the kernel of truth buried within the venom. The fae are proud, traditional, and slow to accept change. A human queen would be… challenging for them to embrace.
“The bond has chosen,” I say, but even I can hear how the words lack conviction. “I cannot fight what fate has decreed.”
“Can’t you?” Theron leans forward, his expression earnest. “You are king, Aelin. Your will shapes reality itself within these borders. If you truly wished to break the bond?—”
“It would kill us both,” I finish, my voice flat. “Is that what you’re suggesting? That I murder my mate to preserve your precious traditions?”
“Better two deaths than the fall of an entire realm,” Valdris says, and the casual cruelty in his tone makes something snap inside me.
I’m on my feet before conscious thought kicks in, power exploding outward in a wave that sends several council members tumbling from their chairs. The chamber walls crackunder the force of my rage, and icicles rain from the ceiling like deadly spears.
“Enough!” My voice carries harmonics that shake the very foundations of the palace. “You forget yourselves. I am your king, not some petulant child to be lectured and threatened.”
Morel remains seated, unmoved by the display of power, her pale eyes fixed on mine with calculating intelligence. “You are a king who has forgotten his duty. A ruler who puts his own desires above the welfare of his people.”
