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Rune stepped behind her, snaking his arm around her waist before pulling her against him. He smoothed his lips over the side of her neck, his teeth scraping her skin. “What is the name of your new court, my queen?” He rasped.
Faye leaned into him, caressing the side of his face, and answered, “The Court of Chaos and Darkness.”
Alisterjerkedawake.Hescanned his surroundings, assessing his situation. He expected to be imprisoned in Standing Shadows, his father’s crystalline palace. Or tied to a torturer’s wrack with Rune waiting for him to wake before he went to work on him.
Instead Alister was in his home. His own bed.
He gingerly touched his side, feeling for the wound Rune’s chosen left him. There was no pain. Alister pulled up his shirt. His mouth went slack as he stared. His alabaster skin was untouched. There was no wound.
Rune’s chosen had the opportunity to kill him, and she’d chosen mercy.
“Jareth,” Alister called for his brother, getting out of bed.
“On the front porch with Prin.” His brother answered.
Alister stepped onto his porch. Prinia had chosen this cottage so long ago. A place Alister expected to spend a quiet life with the woman he loved. Jareth and Prinia sat in rocking chairs overlooking the flower fields she once loved.
“He didn’t come for her.” Alister smoothed his fingertips over the side of Prinia’s face, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear before taking his seat next to her. His mind reeled.
“Time has changed both of you.”
Alister didn’t respond.
“You live. Proof his queen is gentle,” Jareth said.
Alister nodded, taking Prinia’s hand. “Rune somehow found a kind queen.” Her words circled his mind.
Rune has gravely wronged you. I will make it right.
Alister no longer remembered the sound of Prinia’s voice. How she would laugh as he slowly exhaled when she picked these ugly flowers every day.
Hope became a bitter thing to him. He hoped she would return to him. Hoped each morning when he woke, he would see recognition in her eyes. He held onto that hope for decades. The centuries that followed without his kind, gentle Prinia, petrified his heart. His bitterness twisted him.
But Rune’s queen sought to save her. Bring his Prin back to him.
For the first time in centuries, Alister let himself hope.
