Page 6 of The Ruthless Fae King
He was evil incarnate, and yet wrapped in the most delicious package I’d ever seen. I wasn’t sure I could resist whatever he would offer as a dowry.
I can’t marry this man.
Shaking myself, I pulled out of whatever spell he’d cast over me and remembered his reputation.
“My king…” I curtsied the least amount possible to still be considered polite and then stepped closer to greet him.
My mother curtsied next to me, deeply and overly respectful.
He watched me like an animal tracking prey, and I swallowed hard.
“Madelynn Windstrong, you are far more beautiful than the songs written about you,” he stated, and stepped forward, reaching for my hand. I offered it to him and he kissed it lightly, a zap of cold traveling up my arm as he did.
A charmer too. Great.
I gave him a curt smile. He then kissed my mother’s hand as well. Because he was so handsome, I took this time to remind myself of every horrible story I’d heard of him, and then turned to my father.
“I’ve spoken to Mother about wanting to negotiate my dowry myself and she agrees,” I told him right in front of the king.
My father made a choking sound and my gaze flicked to the king to see what he would say or do, but he just watched me with amusement. His hands were clasped behind his back calmly and his eyes crinkled as he assessed me.
“That’s not done. It’s men’s work,” my father said, and then gave a nervous peal of laughter before looking at the king. “I’m sorry, my lord, I think I raised her to be a littletooindependent and headstrong.”
The king was still watching me, his steel gray eyes boring into mine. “I think I’d pay extra for independent and headstrong.”
His comment shocked me. What the Hades didthatmean? Was he joking? I didn’t like it if he was.
My father didn’t even know what to do with that, so he remained silent.
“I would be happy to negotiate your dowry with you, Madelynn,” the king said to me, and I gulped. Saying I wanted to negotiate my own payment was one thing, doing it was another.
I hadn’t actually expected him to accept. I’d hoped he would have seen the move as too pushy and domineering and called the entire thing off.
I looked to my father and mother, knowing that if I were about to actually agree to marry this man I needed to have a private conversation with him first.
“Mother, Father, if you will excuse us, I need to speak with King Thorne alone before I can agree to marry him.”
A panicked look flashed across my father’s face. He knew me too well, and was probably imagining all of the horrible things I would say or do.
“You cannot be alone with an unmarried man. It’s not proper,” my mother reminded me, giving a nervous laugh.
I nodded. “Go fetch Piper. She can chaperone.”
My father was frozen by the fireplace as if unsure he could break protocol and allow this. We all stared at the king for guidance, but the king appeared to be perfectly calm and enjoying himself. He leaned against the brick wall of the drawing room casually.
“I look forward to our private chat,” he stated to me.
My mother scurried off then to look for Piper, and I started to grow uneasy with the winter king’s accommodating personality. Surely the monstrous king I had heard of would forbid such a thing. A woman negotiating her own dowry was unheard of, yet he looked as if this amused him, which infuriated me.
What was he playing at? It seemed if I’d hoped to turn him off with this behavior, I was mistaken.
A moment later my mother appeared with Piper, who bowed deeply to the king and then stood in the far corner of the room to be a silent spectator.
My father cleared his throat, obviously out of his element.
“You may leave us,” I told my father. My mother was already standing in the doorway.
My father looked to the king, who nodded, and then my parents reluctantly left. As soon as the door shut, I stepped closer to Lucien Thorne. I decided to be as honest as possible so that he knew where I was coming from.
