Page 140 of The Faceless Queen

My chest tightened. And suddenly, I was face to face with my groom. My prince. Kienan left my side, and Brennan took my hands in his, his grip cool for once, his hold firm. Not soft, not possessive as it had been in the past, as it had been through events we’d attended together these last couple of weeks. He was formal, almost indifferent. His thumbs still, not stroking my skin the way they used to. His golden sigil ring gleamed in the sun.

I looked up at him, but he was looking pointedly away from me, his nostrils flaring. He didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to be doing this. Not now. Not with me. I couldn't think–could barely breathe.

The high priest lifted his arms over his head, and wind blew against the white lace ribbons, rustling through my veil, and Brennan’s hair.

I knew I understood the priest’s words on some level, but it felt like a storm was raging in my head, and I couldn’t process a single thing.

Brennan frowned, his eyes focused the way they did when he was listening carefully to someone. Then it was time. He spoke his vows, making promises to care for me, to love me, to protect me. Only he didn’t mean a single word of it. He was speaking out of duty, out of the need to look strong, to avoid war. Promising to love a girl who didn’t exist. A girl who wasn’t even there.

When he finished, the high priest looked my way, prompting me to say the words. To make the same vows, to swear care for Brennan, or rather, Crown Prince Jaron. I promised to love him and protect him.

And only when I said I vowed to keep him safe, did the scar on my wrist begin to burn again. It was the vow I knew I would immediately break.

He will die.

The high priest grinned when I finished, nodding to King Tirian.

And it was done. We were married. We were actually married. Everyone was clapping and shouting at us, shouting the same word again and again and again. Just as they had that first night at the tourney, when I had called him Brennan and given away the first clue something was wrong.

“Kiss!”

“Kiss”

“Kiss!”

Brennan’s jaw clenched, and he reached for my veil, pulling it up over my head and revealing my face. Olivay’s face. His eyes blazed, staring into mine as he took a sharp breath, his brows furrowed.

And then he leaned in, his breath on my lips, soft and smelling of fresh mint.

“Can I?” he asked. “Can I kiss you again?”

I could only hear the drumbeat of my heart in my ears. Could only see the green of his eyes. My stomach knotted and twisted and then heated with want, with desire. His face was still, but so close that our noses touched.

“You know what will happen,” I said.

He blinked and nodded. He knew, but he was asking anyway. His eyebrows lifted, the same question was in his eyes.

“Yes,” I said.

It was brief and chaste, just a soft press of his lips against mine. Nothing like the kisses we’d shared before. Alone or in public. But despite the stillness of his lips, he kept them pressed to mine, his touch lingering and sending shivers down my spine until heat coiled low in my belly. Then something uncoiled. The Azete.

He pulled away, just as the thing inside me began to feed.

“To the married couple,” King Tirian yelled out.

Brennan took my hand in his, raising it above our heads. Finlay and Thomas began to play anew, and the cheers and shouts of congratulations rang out along with calls of House Lafir’s words. “From the ashes we rise, we fly.”

I turned back to the audience. Seeing Jaron’s eyes darken as they appraised me. Brennan was leading me quickly back down the aisle, almost racing past our guests. And then I saw one I had missed—a pair of dark eyes and oily hair in the last row. Geoffrey.

He grinned widely and chuckled, reaching out a hand and grabbing my wrist, stopping our procession.

“Congratulations to the happy couple,” he said and bowed low

Brennan’s nostrils flared, his eyes narrowing at Geoffrey’s hand on me.

“Thank you, excuse us,” Brennan said curtly, and tugged me away.

“I look forward to celebrating with you,” Geoffrey called out. “Especially the bedding.”