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Before I can respond, the king slips into the hall and leaves me alone with the healers. One gently nudges me toward the bed and the harsh gesture eats away the last of my fuse. Throwing my hands up, the man takes flight and slams into the wall hard enough to knock the clay mask off his face.
“I’m aware of my purpose, but I will do so on my own accord,” I snap as I stalk toward the bed.
If this is going to be the last thing I do, I’ll do it with dignity. The king will remember me. If not for the time we spent together, he will when he looks at our daughter. I won’t leave this world without ensuring so, for nothing and no one is more scornful than a witch with a broken heart.
1
Scarlet
Myheadslapsintothe duck feather-filled pillow, stunting the breath from escaping my lungs. I don’t think I’ve ever come so fast before. Clearly, my impending fate is having some effect on the man positioned between my legs. It shouldn’t, but it does, or else he wouldn’t be here. Not today.
His forehead rests against my collarbone, and the warmth of his ragged breaths heats my skin. This isn’t the first time we’ve slept together. Honestly, I’ve lost count, but we both have things at stake if our secret was to get out. It would be both of our death sentences.
Zelix is a shadow shroud, or in more vulgar terms, an assassin who makes whoever my father tells him to disappear. Such a job required an oath of both allegiance and celibacy, and that’s precisely why I’ve allowed him in my bed.
As a Princess of Solaria, chastity is a must. My father enchants his daughter’s forbidden places to keep unwanted visitors out. Except magic doesn’t work the same on me... and breaking such enchantments has become my favorite pastime, second only to our secret trysts.
“We could run.”
Zelix pushes up, his honey-ringed eyes meeting mine before he leans in for one last kiss. I cringe internally, but let him have his moment. We typically have a no-kissing rule. Kissing is emotional, and knowing what my future brings, we shouldn’t be. Yet that didn’t stop him from falling, and today is ruining him with every second that ticks by. Poor guy... His heart never stood a chance.
“And if we ran, you’d be dead by morning. I wouldn’t be much long after.” I hold up his wrist, flashing him the metal cuff around it. It’s enchanted, and my father uses it to control the creatures in our realm. He can shut off their magic with a whispered incantation and kill them just as quickly. “No one runs from this, nor would I want to.” Dropping his hand, I grip the sheet and pull it around my torso as we sit up.
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Maybe to you. I like my head attached to my shoulders and my organs seated in their proper spots.”
He snorts, twisting to sit on the edge of the bed. In pure silence and stealth, he bends to retrieve his trousers from the floor.
“Ironic, considering most of your sisters end up in pieces. Your father is running out of room in the crypt. He’s started consolidating the bones. I believe his exact words were, we don’t need an entire casket for an arm. Yet, you’re acting like this tradition is a privilege.”
“It’s my duty... It’s what I was born for. I won’t run from my responsibilities. Not when my kingdom is relying on me to do what’s right.”
The layers of muscle along his back tighten before he peers at me over his sun-kissed shoulder. “Right? Your father is as wicked as they come. The only reason he still wears that crown is because your kingdom is terrified of who he used to be.”
“We don’t speak of it.”
He glances around the room. “Last I checked, it’s just you and me here. We don’t need to lie. Your father is nowhere close to as powerful as he used to be when he became king. He’s absorbed too many abilities over the last few decades, now he can barely wield any of them with precision. If it weren’t for Asmodeus and his ‘chosen sons’ protecting him, he wouldn’t be on the throne anymore.”
“His power remains in his name and those he surrounds himself with. He doesn’t need to deliver the killing blow if he has enough men beneath him who would do it in a heartbeat or enchanted wristbands that could force someone to do it in seconds. That’s all that matters.”
“You still talk about it like it’s Sunday tea in the garden and not impending death.” A growl sounds from his throat as he threads his arms through his shirt. “Excuse me if I’d rather see you live.”
“What would you expect me to do? Like I said, I can’t run from it. I don’t have a wristband, but my father would find me, eventually. I can’t harm him. I’m biologically incapable of doing so. Even then, there’s more at stake than my life. If I don’t go through with the ceremony, people will die. The peace within our realm will be shattered, and where would I be then? The clans are fighting as is. The gauntlet has been long overdue, and it’s the only thing that will bring them together for the next ten years.”
“Sure, except the king had a twenty-year dry spell. Do you think one gauntlet is going to hold off war until your younger sisters turn of age? Even if it does, the cycle will repeat itself. When does it end?”
“I don’t know... but it’s too late to change that now. We both knew this day would come, just as we both have obligations that are bigger than us.”
The frown he gives makes me avert my eyes. I gather the bedding closer, wishing I could shrink beneath it and avoid the rest of this conversation. If only dreams did come true.
“What happens when they come to check?” he asks, clenching his jaw as if to prevent grinding his teeth.
“To see if I’m still sanctified? Don’t worry about it. I have it handled.”
“You’re forgetting that we’re both caught up in this. If they find out you’re not a virgin—”
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and storm toward the bedroom door, taking the sheets with me. “I hate to break it to you, but it’d be a hell of a lot worse for me. You’d get to slip off into the night, no one the wiser, because I wouldn’t tell a soul who defiled me. I, however, would get fed to a fucking beast that also happens to be my half-sibling. Now, I’ll say it again. I have it covered.”
