AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was just the consort to their king.
The dining room was already warm when I stepped into it, the first of the sun’s rays streaming through the window. I crossed the room to open it as wide as possible, standing there to feel the cool breeze before the air began to heat as the day progressed.
I only turned to sit down when I heard Jora bustling in with a heavy tray. I watched in silence as she placed a big bowl of porridge in front of me, topped with nuts and berries. A teapot with steam curling from its spout. A glass dish of gleaming amber honey with a wooden dipper. A delicate bowl of cut fruit, two thick slices of freshly baked bread and a little dish of whipped butter.
“Can I get you anything else, Prince Lonan?” she asked politely as she picked up the empty tray.
I cleared my throat. “Could I have some more honey, please?”
She paused, eyes darting to the bowl already on the table, but inclined her head. “Of course.”
When she left the room, I poured myself a cup of tea and drizzled honey into it, staring down into the steaming liquid as I stirred it with a spoon. After tasting it, I added more.
I was pouring some onto my porridge when Jora returned with a jar. She set it on the table without a word, giving me a small smile and a bow before leaving.
I ate in silence, keenly aware of the empty seat opposite me. I drizzled more honey over the fruit. I covered the bread in it after I’d buttered it. Every bite of my breakfast was achingly sweet, making my teeth hurt, but it felt like what I needed, even though I had never overly liked sweet things before.
But everything here was too savoury. Too earthy. Too rich.
Wrong.
Sweat had beaded on my hairline by the time I finished my breakfast, even though I had pushed the steaming teapot as far away from me as possible. I told Jora that I appreciated the meal when she came to clear everything away, and once she was gone, I continued to sit there in silence.
What am I supposed to do now?
The question crossed my mind every morning. Every time Ash woke up and grumbled about his packed schedule as he got ready for the day, while I quietly and slowly dressed beside him, trying to think of something, anything, that would make my time feel somewhat productive.
Every time Ash kissed me and told me to spend the day relaxing, I wanted to snap at him, and I hated the brief flashes of anger that rose. He was just trying to be kind. He wasn’t trying to be patronising.
I knew, deep down, that he had no intention of making me his pet, his pampered consort and nothing more, but that was how I felt. Like a black sheep that had been shunned by its flock and taken in by a pitying shepherd.
Like a wolf desperately trying to fit in with a pack of domesticated dogs.
Finally rising from my seat, I made my way back to our bedroom to collect my blades, another long day of sword practice the only thing I could think of to fill my time. Ash had offered to teach me archery, but he hadn’t had the time yet, too busy with his new duties.
He’d asked before if I’d ever been to the palace library while he was busy. I hadn’t. I supposed I could, but why? What would it achieve? I had sometimes read to pass the time when I was on unseelie, but it wasn’t a pastime I particularly enjoyed. My days had mostly been filled with spying on the Folk for my mother. Attending meetings with her and my brothers to put up a united front, even though we all hated each other. Killing those she wanted me to kill.
At least I’d had a purpose there. At least I’d been doing something, even if my duties had been abhorrent. At least I’d been… useful. That was all I’d ever been to my mother—a tool for her to use. A blade for her to wield. It was all I’d ever known.
It was already unbearably hot when I stepped into the training ring. I almost went straight back inside, but I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in silence in our bedroom without Ash.
A guard was posted by the door, so as I strode to the centre of the training ring, I glanced back at her over my shoulder.
“You. Come here.”
Her green eyes widened a touch, but she inclined her head and dutifully walked forward to meet me. “Yes, Prince Lonan?”
I eyed her in silence, a little shocked by the level of formality she displayed towards me in Ash’s absence. When he was around, the seelie were unfailingly polite to me. Deferential. When he wasn’t, they largely ignored me or gave me looks that downright seethed with disgust.
“How are you with a sword?” I asked, unsheathing the one on my hip and inspecting the blade.
There was a pause, before she answered, “Quite good.”
I nodded once, backing up a few steps. “Then you can practise with me today.”
To my surprise, her mouth quirked. All the seelie guards wore gleaming gold helmets, intricately carved with vines and leaves that framed their faces. She tugged hers off to reveal curly dark brown hair, tightly wound into a plait flat against her scalp, and tossed it to the side of the ring before taking the sword from her hip.
“I’ve seen you out here many times,” she commented as we both backed up to get some distance between us. “You’re very skilled.”
