Page 26 of The Ruthless Fae King
The strangled sound of pure grief that ripped from his throat constricted my heart. He staggered backwards, clutching his chest as if I’d stabbed him. I couldn’t believe that this entire time I thought him to be a cold monster who didn’t care for anyone. Simply hearing my words had affected him so deeply and I regretted how hard I’d been with his pain. Rushing forward, I grasped his hands, pulling them to my stomach.
“I’m sorry. I was merely trying to get you to see how the others view you. How the silence has fed their hatred of you and therefore their desire to separate.” I felt ashamed for causing this much emotion in him right before a big dinner with the prince of Summer. Had I known how deeply it would affect him, I never would have brought it up.
Lucien blinked rapidly and then cleared his throat. “I wrote a realm-wide letter a thousand times,” he said, “but no words could do justice in explaining my actions. No words would give peace to those who had lost someone at my hand. No one wants excuses, they want their family member back.”
“So you sent gold instead?” I asked him. The next day each court had gotten a little sack of gold for “damages.” It looked callous.Sorry for the death and destruction, here is some coin.
He sighed. “I was young, without a mother for guidance. I didn’t know how to handle it.”
Reaching up, I tilted his chin down with my fingers to force him to look at me. “You’re older now, Lucien. I think it’s time for an apology—and an explanation of what happened that night.”
He bristled, staring into my eyes with an unknown depth. There was so much pain there, and yet I saw anger too, like roiling clouds in a thunderstorm. What had happened that night? It was a few months after his mother’s death, so I knew it couldn’t have been solely that.
“I cannot explain, but if you think it will help I can apologize,” he said, and then his eyes dropped to my lips.
“I think it would help.” My fingers were still on his chiseled jaw, and I licked my lips, my chest heaving as I imagined what it would be like to kiss him.
Kissing a classmate behind school was one thing, but kissing a king in a courtship was another. It wasn’t done—not that I thought Lucien would mind breaking a modesty rule. Surely not in full view of the Summer courtiers! Protocol stated we would have our first kiss at the altar, before the Maker and our people.
Pulling my hand away from him, I stepped back and released a breath. Lucien cocked a smile and I glared at him. “What’s so funny?”
Lucien leaned forward, whispering into my ear. “Watching you wrestle with how much you want me brings me great satisfaction.”
Heat flushed through my entire body at that. I scoffed, “You think too highly of yourself.” But I felt caught. I felt like maybe I wasn’t hiding my thoughts as well as I hoped.
Lucien reached out and pulled a stray chunk of red hair behind my ear. “No, my sugar plum. I think too highly of you.”
A full body flush hit me again then, and dammit he saw, because he grinned wider. Being a redhead meant that my fair skin flushed at the slightest chance, and now I knew I would never be able to conceal my thoughts around him.
I changed the subject. “Let’s go to dinner, shall we?”
He nodded. “We shall.”
Extending his arm, he hooked mine into the crook of his elbow and then looked back at Piper. “Best you come along, we don’t want the rumor mill starting that Madelynn and I actually like each other,” Lucien told her.
Piper grinned at the king. “A love marriage would be a scandal,” she agreed as she tucked her book under her arm and walked a few feet behind us.
I loved that he got along with Piper. I loved that he was saying sinfully sexy things to me at every turn, and I loved that he’d taken my advice to heart and agreed to apologize tonight at dinner. The more I got to know Lucien Thorne, the more I loved.
* * *
Oh Hades.When we stepped into the dining hall my stomach dropped. It wasn’t an intimate dinner with Marcelle and a few of his closest advisors. There were over a hundred courtiers in here, and each and every one was sending a frosty glare at Lucien.
He did this on purpose.
Prince Haze invited as many people as possible to make Lucien and I feel alienated.
I turned to Lucien before Prince Haze could reach us. “I didn’t realize there would be so many people. You don’t have to go ahead with the planned apology in front of so many.”
Lucien looked out across the room and then back to me. “No. It’s okay. I think you’re right. My silence and space have done more harm than intended. The more the better, so that Marcelle cannot change my words with rumors.”
I swallowed hard, nerves clenching my gut. He was right. More witnesses meant less chance of a rumor changing his words, but also more people who could heckle him.
Marcelle had reached us and I plastered a smile on my face.
“My king.” Marcelle’s voice was thick with disdain as he bowed minimally to Lucien.
“Marcelle.” Lucien dropped the title from his name, and of course did not return the bow.
