AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The Lords are ready to make their announcement of your trial,” he said, stepping away from the door and gesturing inside. “Ladies.”
Cerridwen went first, looking warily over her shoulder at us as she passed her brother, who frowned at her in a way that told me he knew she was hiding something.
Brigid gave me a quick supportive smile and followed, leaving me alone with Carnon for the first time since the alcove.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at, Red,” he said quietly, stopping me as I tried to pass him. “But a little warning would be nice the next time you plan to ambush me with kisses.”
I bristled, glaring at him. “I was trying to be convincing,my love,” I gritted out as I took his offered arm. “A little warning would be nice next time you plan to hide me in an alcove.”
“Noted,” Carnon replied dryly as we made our way to the center of the throne room. “Just so you know, it’s not the kissing I protest.”
“What is it then that you protest?” I gritted out. Carnon plucked something out of my hair and held it before me, eight wriggling legs flailing wildly as he crushed the spider between his fingers.
“Always watching,” he reminded me, wiping his hand off on his trousers. We stopped before the dais where the four Lords now stood, Brigid among them looking at me nervously.
Carnon bent his head to rumble in my ear, “The fact that I didn’t get to do it properly.” His words sent shivers straight to my core, and I raged internally at the stupid mating pull. At least now I had something I could blame my uncontrollable reactions on.
“Attention, if you please,” announced Scathanna, drawing the attention of the crowd and Carnon, who had adopted his mask of lazy amusement.
“The four Daemon Lords of the Darklands have agreed upon a trial before we bless the union of the king and his chosen bride,” Scathanna said, shooting me a smile that was colder than any look my grandmother had ever given me or my mother. “To ensure that her loyalty is to our beloved King and realm, and to deal with the ongoing threat of the witches at our borders.”
There was anxious murmuring at this, and Carnon scowled. I guessed that this was not yet common knowledge and now Scathanna had painted it like it was supposed to be. The viperous female silenced the murmuring with a pale, raised hand. She looked at me, an evil smile curling her lips, as if she somehow knew that I was a fraud and never intended to marry her king.
In a clear, sonorous voice, Scathanna announced my trial to the room, and for a moment, my heart stopped beating.
“Lady Elara will bring us the head of the Crone,” she said, grinning triumphantly.
The Tower
Part 2
Chapter 16
“You’re uncharacteristically quiet today,” Carnon said as I sat before him on the horse. Herne and Cerridwen had gone ahead to the Court of Beasts directly after the ball, and after Carnon had spent a good hour raging at Herne for the trial the Lords had chosen.
“It would solve all of our problems if she succeeds,” Herne said darkly, glancing at me as we sat in the comfy couches in Carnon’s room. “Do you not think she can do it?”
“Of course she can fucking do it,” Carnon growled. I felt myself blush at his confidence in my powers, and I gave myself a little mental kick. Mating bond. Magic. Nothing more.
“But she shouldn’thaveto do it,” he continued, stopping his pacing long enough to cast me a serious look before resuming his tirade. “This isn’t her fight, and trying to take that withered hag’s head off her shoulders could get her killed. Andthatwould start a war.”
Carnon looked at me again, and my heart gave a little thump as his meaning sank in.Hewould start a war if my grandmother killed me. He would destroy the witches in revenge if I died.
“So you do it,” Herne had finally said as he and Cerridwen prepared to leave. “Scathanna said she had tobringus the head, not chop it off herself.”
“Oh, well that’s totally fine then,” Carnon drawled sarcastically. “I’ll just pop on over there tomorrow, shall I?”
“This is pointless,” I cut in, giving both males an annoyed look. “I have no loyalty to my grandmother. I don’t relish beheading the old witch, but I’m not afraid to do it if it means rescuing my mother.”
“You shouldn’t have to murder your family to prove your loyalty,” Carnon growled. “No matter how awful they may be.”
“We will figure this out,” Cerridwen said soothingly, patting Carnon’s arm as she followed her mate out of the room. She shot me a pointed look as she left that said we would figure outmany things, and I sighed, flopping down on the couch.
“I’m sorry,” Carnon said finally after raging for another thirty minutes. “I’ll find a way around this. You don’t haveto do this.”
Carnon had seemed perfectly composed after the announcement, spending the rest of the evening glued to my side as he introduced me to what must have been every single guest. He knew all of their names and professions, and I had to admit that for a male who had just ripped open another male’s throat, he was oddly respected. Admired, even. It wasn’t until we reached the privacy of his rooms that whatever leash he had been keeping his feelings on snapped like a bowstring.
“It won’t matter anyway,” I said quietly, looking up at him. “Even if I felt something for the woman, the plan was for me to leave after we rescue my mother, remember? There will be no need for the Lords’ blessing.”
