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I felt hot and cold all over, humiliated with just a few words. This cold, vicious woman was Draven’s mother? I wasn’t sure what I had expected. A welcome perhaps. Or at least a courteous address.
Queen Sephone had not even shown an inkling of concern for the fallen competitors back in the throne room–nor for those unlucky few who had been ravaged by the undead children.
Was she so jaded to death and blood that they were all but meaningless to her?
Draven’s father must have been quite a piece of work, I decided, to have either chosen a queen like Sephone or to have shaped her until she became this... this... monarch of ice.
“We don’t require her approval,” a deep voice said in my ear. “Ignore her.”
I turned to see Draven. He must have just entered.
“Is that an order?”
“I can make it one if you like.” He smiled sensuously.
I glanced at the Queen Regent. “We don’t require her approval. Are you sure about that?”
“Believe me, I’m sure. I never expected it. That’s not... the kind of relationship we have.” His deep voice was terse and clipped. “She would never approve of anyone I chose. I have my doubts she even approves of me.”
“But...” There were so many problems with this statement. “She’s your mother. And also, you haven’tchosenme. This is all a farce.”
There was a moment’s pause.
“You’re right. She’s not my true mother. She’s my aunt.”
I was stunned. “Your aunt?”
“My father married her when my own mother died,” he said casually. “It’s common for royal children to be matched with pairs of nobleborn siblings. She was married to my father’s brother first.”
“Like Lyrastra,” I blurted out.
Draven raised a fine dark brow. “Yes.”
“And now you and Lyrastra are both free. Why not simply marry Lyrastra?” I asked bluntly. “If it’s tradition, wouldn’t that be simplest?”
He studied my features. “Who told you that?”
“No one,” I said stubbornly. “But it’s obvious to anyone that Lyrastra wouldn’t mind.”
“Wouldn’t she?” Draven’s voice was quiet. “Believe me, we wouldn’t be good for one another. I’m not what she needs. Walk with me.”
His hand slid around my waist, solid and warm.
He led us down a darkened path, into a small grove surrounded by softly glowing blue trees.
Glancing behind, he pulled me to him. I let out a little gasp as my breasts hit his chest.
All of this was incredibly strange. We had been sharing a bed for days and yet this felt like the most intimate we had ever been. Something had shifted, changed. Was it because Draven was so fully in control and I was being forced to follow his lead?
A tangled barrier in him seemed to have unraveled and as I looked up into his eyes, I saw a stark longing that shocked me.
None of this was real, I reminded myself sternly.
The problem was that my pounding heart didn’t seem fully convinced of that.
I gave a little nervous laugh and Draven smiled slightly, his beautiful lips turning upwards like a radiant arc of light.
My heart gave a pitter-patter that warned me I was treading on dangerous ground.
