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“His trips to the bathroom?” I quipped.
Axel’s face darkened as Maywin gasped behind me. She didn’t utter my name, but in my head, I heard her pleading with me to stop and behave. I couldn’t help myself.
“Is this a joke to you?” Axel hissed.
“I’m really hoping that this isyourpoor idea of a joke,” I retorted sharply. “You’re talking to me like we live in the dark ages, so if that’s what he expects, he will need to find someone else. Oh… but wait, he can’t, can he? He’s stuck with me, and I can tell you with complete certainty that I will not beadhering to the whimsof the King. If the King wants another maid, he can hire twenty. He doesn’t need a wife for that. He can get all the prostitutes and servants that money can buy.”
Axel’s expression went black. “If you don’t know the difference between a queen and a prostitute, then you’re in the wrong place.”
My mouth twisted into a sneer of contempt, and I rose to my feet, hands curling into fists over the table.
“Andyouwould be wise to remember that I amyourfuture queen,Axel,” I spat back.
His leer grew, but he wasn’t amused in the least, a fact dictated by the crimson stain spreading over his cheeks. “Which is exactly the reason that I am trying to educate you,miss. Your role is to cater to your king. The sooner you figure out how to do that, the better off Ironhelm will be for it.”
I scoffed loudly. “I cater to no one,” I said as Maywin released a sound that resembled a whimper of distress. “Just because I am queen does not automatically make me the King’s toy. If that’s what he’s expecting, I’ll pack my things and head home to Carrottrove today. I should have seen this coming from a fae who lives in a palace with forty rooms and a village full of staff. King Cade is clearly never satisfied.”
Axel’s jaw slacked. “Your parents should have prepared you better for your position,” he growled. “But it seems you know nothing about the ways of nobility.”
“You leave my parents out of this,” I whiplashed. “I would have thought that a servant would have better sense than to question my authority. Do you have anything of value to offer me, or should we consider today’s lesson complete?”
I shook inside but refused to show this self-righteous ass that his presence was making me woozy.
Axel also rose, his gorgeous eyes blazing with malice. At that moment, the maidservant turned the corner with two bowls of soup in her hands, but she froze in place to see the magic pulsating between us. Blood drained out of her face.
A heartbeat passed, and Axel finally relented, releasing a massive breath.
“Maybe we should take some time to collect ourselves,” Axel suggested coldly. “You look like you could use some more rest.”
“What a wonderful idea,Axel,” I retorted sarcastically. “Come along, Maywin.”
Without waiting for his response, I whirled around, and with my head held high, I stormed out of the ballroom, Maywin rushing after me.
“Oh, Miss Zephyrine, why did you antagonize him like that?” my maid squeaked, the terror in her voice palpable.
I stopped abruptly and looked at her, shaking my head.
“Why do you care? He’s nobody, Maywin. He shouldn’t be talking to me like that in the first place. It doesn’t affect you at all.”
“Maybe not, but he must be someone important if he was given such an important task.”
“Or the King thinks so little of me he they threw me with any asshole he could find,” I muttered furiously.
“You can’t really pack up and leave,” Maywin whispered, her eyes flying around as if the walls all had ears. “Your parents… The oath…”
“Maywin, don’t worry,” I told her with far more confidence than I felt. “Nothing is going to happen because I put some jerk in his place.”
“If you say so.”
I pursed my lips and continued forward through the hallway, unsure if I was heading in the right direction or not. It wasn’t like Maywin to contradict me, but her nervousness was tangible. I didn’t really care where I was going. I just wanted to put distance between myself and Axel… and his magnetic, infuriating energy.
“Please, slow down,” Maywin panted from behind me.
I continued to storm through the palace, the rubber soles of my shoes absorbing in the hallway runners. This place was really in desperate need of some modern décor. Everything about this place was stifling. Between my newhomeand the expectations of my behavior as queen, I felt like I’d been thrown back in time. This wouldn’t do, and I wouldn’t tolerate being treated like my only role in life was to serve some pompous, conceited king.
“Even if that is what the King expects of me, Axel should have more reverence for his future queen,” I insisted, talking myself through what had happened.
Maywin continued to be my sounding board, as always.
