Page 84 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

Queen Mollah certainly knew how to play her cards. I stood and splayed my hands on the wooden table, knocking over a wine glass. The dark liquid slowly flowed over broken shards in the light of the torches lining the wall. “Please! Your Majesty, I didn’t plan for any of this to happen. I truly just want to keep myself and Cora safe, and the only way to do that is to keep Gabriel on my side. I love my daughter. Just as much as you love your younglings. From a mother to a mother, I won’t put you or your children in jeopardy with your secret. Please don’t share mine.”

“To ensure that you keep my secret, I propose a covenant binding. Do you know what that is?”

“I have heard of them, Your Highness.”

“It is an agreement made between two or more beings that cannot be broken, or the one who breaks it will suffer whatever consequences are set forth by the agreement. It is ensured by enchants. We lay out our terms and then seal them in blood. If you do not agree to this, I am afraid that I will have to find a reason to send you to the atoner. Or maybe Anya, for her part in helping you deceive Gabriel? She is a defiant little thing. I sent her to be your attendant because she refused the noble match I made for her. She is too old not to think about betrothal. I see she did not learn her lesson.”

I remembered from my history lessons that covenant bindings with seraphs were dangerous when humans and seraphs lived among each other. The binding almost always favored the seraph, and their enchants made it easier for them to work around the binding effect of their part of the bargain. Many a treaty was broken this way during the conflicts and uprisings.

I swallowed against a dry throat. “Your Majesty,” I pleaded, “Please don’t punish Anya. She has been a great help in acclimating Cora and me to this kingdom. It was my fault. I dragged her into my own mess. And I have no reason to tell anyone. I believe everyone deserves to find a love like you have with Devoruh.”

She clapped. “Perfect, then let's make the binding!”

The Queen slid her bejeweled hand under the slit in her dress and pulled out a small golden dagger encrusted in moonstones and sapphires. She snatched my hand in hers, turning my palm upward.

Shit.

Queen Mollah tapped her perfectly pointed chin with the hilt of the dagger, choosing her words. “If you tell anyone about what you saw between Devoruh and me during the ball, then the binding is broken, and you will suffer a painful, unseen death that lasts for three days’ time, until your soul is finally sent to the underworld, leaving behind your daughter.”

I stiffened at the thought of Cora being all alone in this land and with these people.

Queen Mollah pulled the jeweled blade across my palm, and I hissed through gritted teeth, leaving a stinging pain and a trail of blood in its wake. “Now,” her voice returned to demure and kind, “you say, ‘I take this binding into me and agree to the terms set forth by Queen Mollah.’”

I swallowed and nodded. Her grip on my wrist was bruising. “I take this binding into me and agr—” The doors to the dining hall opened to a pair of lapis blue eyes. Mollah quickly pulled the dagger back to her chest, out of Gabriel’s line of sight. She thrust a blue linen napkin into my hand.

“Gabriel!” She turned, hiding the dagger behind her back. Her sweet-as-honey voice was calm and collected. “Thank you for caring for your brother. He sometimes gets carried away with the ale.”

Gabriel strode toward us, watching me with gleaming eyes. “You’re welcome, Your Majesty. I just forgot my sword, and I came to retrieve it. Am I interrupting? I can escort you and Aurora back to your respective rooms.”

“Always a gentleman.” She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Actually, Aurora cut her palm on some broken glass, and I was about to heal it.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up, and he moved to my side, grabbing my wrist and turning my palm up to look at it. I met her eyes as she discreetly slid the dagger back under her dress at her thigh.

She continued, “I am a little rusty with my healing enchant. Would you mind?”

Gabriel placed his warm palm on mine, and his white light glowed, healing my palm. Only incessant fear remained. “There you go.” He kissed my hand, and I stifled a shudder. “Be more careful, my darling.”

Mollah smiled sweetly. “I am so happy Themis brought you to Gabriel, Aurora. You’re beautiful together.” She turned to Gabriel, who was beaming. My stomach soured. “We were just having a little chit-chat. Woman to woman. You know how it is,” she said with a wink to Gabriel. “We can finish our conversation tomorrow during tea in my rooms, right, Aurora?”

I nodded, pulling a smile from the depths of me that I hoped Gabriel couldn't see through. “I would love that, Your Majesty.”

“Perfect! I will see you then.”

I didn’t waste any time following Gabriel out of the dining room and into the hallway. The one time I was thankful to be by his side.

“I am glad to see you getting along so well with Queen Mollah. If you agree to stay, you’ll be spending a lot more time in her company,” Gabriel said. It felt more like a threat now that she had shown me her true colors.

By the time I got to my rooms, I had calculated and formulated everything that was in the best interest of Cora and me, and it involved leaving as soon as I got my hands on that book in Gabriel’s office. Now more than ever, I was convinced that it held the key to getting back through the barrier. I had to go tonight, or tomorrow, I faced having to bind myself to the Queen of Seraphs.

I lay awake well into the darkest parts of the night. My mind spun an endless web of scenarios and what-ifs. Cora’s soft breathing helped me focus on what I was about to do, a reminder of why I had to do it. For her.

My plan was dangerous. Walking about the halls with guards patrolling could get me caught. If that happened, I planned on playing the stupid human woman who was wandering around to find Gabriel. I just hoped that would work. If Gabriel caught me in his office, the only thing I had to give up was my body. A distraction. I would slip into the role of seductress and tell him I couldn’t bear to wait any longer. My stomach turned just thinking about the possibility of having to do that. I had already packed my satchel, ready to grab and go once I had that book in hand.

Silently, I climbed out of bed, pulled on trousers and a warm tunic, and slipped on my riding boots. The leather made far less noise on the marble floors than the slippers I wore with dresses. The moon was high and bright in the sky, illuminating my daughter’s soft curls, deep asleep in our bed. My heart clenched at how much I loved her and how scared I was to do this. I slipped out of the door to our rooms and walked straight down the hallway with bated breath. The thrumming of my heart was so hard that I could feel it push against my chest. Could Queen Mollah hear it from her rooms if she were awake?

At the top of the stairs, only one guard was walking through the hallway, heading in the opposite direction from Gabriel’s office. Was it luck or Clotha helping me along tonight? It certainly wasn’t Themis. Hallway after hallway and room after room, I focused on where Gabriel had brought me a few days ago. Finally, I turned a corner to the familiar painting of a battle scene with swords and enchants flying through the air. Gabriel’s office door lay just past it.

This was it. As soon as I had the book in hand, I would get Cora out of here. I slowly walked down the hall to the door. The light lining the hallway in sconces gave off a dim glow, creating an ominous feeling as I approached. I turned the handle of the door, praying it wouldn’t be locked, but it opened with ease, and I crept into his office, lit with a soft, glowing lantern on the desk, forgotten as he left for the evening. Of course, nothing could ever be that easy, and the mead book was not lying on Gabriel’s desk as it had a few days ago.