Page 14 of Brutal Fae King

A jolt runs through me—more powerful than before.

“That’s enough!” I snap. “You… you don’t have to do anymore. You’re dismissed.”

She sighs a little, but her cheeks are still flushed and she hides her face as she hastily exits my room.

Once she’s gone, I sigh in relief.

It's been a long time since I got even that close to losing control…

What did she do to me? Is she a witch after all…?

Either way, that was supposed to coax the answers out of her, but it did nothing. Nothing but…

I can never allow anything like that to happen ever again.

Chapter 5 - Ebelor

As I mop the floor, my mind keeps whirring. I can’t get last night out of my mind. I hate it, but I can’t stop thinking about the warm skin under my fingers, the peaks and valleys of his body…

Was that his plan? Seduction? I don’t know if that’s what he was planning—hewas the one to recoil from my touch in the end, when he… when we…

If his plan was seduction, then I can never fall for it… even if he…

I shake my head. Forget it. Forget him. Concentrate.

I dip the mop into the bucket and then wring it out.

I need to be concentrating on how I can get back to Thawallow…

As I finish wringing the mop out, I look up at the guard nearby. He’s in full armor, so I can’t tell what his expression is, but the helmet is facing my direction. His helmet isalwaysfacing my direction—the king doesn’t leave me alone for a moment. If it’s not him in person, then it’s a guard or another member of staff. Just dropping the mop and bolting is not an option.

It seems like he very particularly wants something from me—every time I finish a task, he comes and asks me to tell him what I know. He’ll do it again when I finish mopping here. If I knew what he wanted, I could possibly use it as leverage to get home, but I genuinely don’t know what he wants from me…

The witch said I was a queen. That’s my only clue right now. Me? A queen? It’s ridiculous. I came from themost impoverished, plague-ridden village in the realm—what is queenly about that?

It doesn’t make sense.

As I smear the wet ribbons of material over the floor, I wonder about it. Who could I ask about it? Who would know?

I can’t think of anyone specifically I could speak to. I think my only option there is to talk to… well, everyone.

I nod determinedly to myself and continue my task.

***

“The queen?” Valirey asks. “There’s never been a queen in Eyston Keep.”

She continues cooking for a moment, and I keep dishwashing, but I have to keep asking questions whilst I have the chance; every night, I’m locked up in the dungeon alone, so I have to take the opportunity to ask whilst I have it.

“Are there no tales of a queen? A lost queen, maybe?” I ask.

“I’m not sure why you’re asking.”

“I know it has something to do with why they keep kidnapping humans from around the ice wall,” I answer.

Valirey’s wings give a twitch in time with her cocked eyebrow. She can try to hide it, but I know curiosity when I see it. Many of the other members of staff have asked me a question every now and again about the kidnappings and my visit to the witch.

Apparently, it’s the first time that anyone has survived the visit to the witch…