Page 66 of The Ruthless Fae King
“Did he…?” she muffled into my jacket. “…did he hurt you?” She pulled back and looked into my eyes. I knew what she was asking: did hebedme? Piper took guarding my purity very seriously, and I knew this would kill her. She had to know.
“The marriage was legal,” I told her, trying to avoid saying anything that would be too graphic for her. “But Lucien still wants me, so it doesn’t matter.”
It did matter. A small part of me died that day and would never come back. That innocent, carefree childhood part of me that thought the world was a safe place and I would always be protected was dead. But Piper didn’t need to know that.
She looked beside herself. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”
I grasped her shoulders and forced her to look at me. “It’s not your fault. Nothing you could have done would have changed my fate.”
She frowned. “I hate being so weak in my magic. I want to learn swordsmanship!” she suddenly declared.
I grinned. “I was thinking the same thing when my magic was bound. Let’s learn together.”
She nodded, and then snuggled into my side.
The rest of the ride was smooth and took no time at all before the peaks of the Spring palace came into view.
“Land there!” I yelled over the wind to the dragon king. I’d been managing the wind for optimal flying speed for him, but I was still coming to terms with my ability to call snow and ice into being. I wondered if it would be permanent or last just a few days. Kailani had said it was experimental in nature so she wasn’t sure. Either my blood would absorb and flush his out, or bind to it, keeping his magic with mine forever.
Either way, it was kind of cool to have. It felt so much more volatile than my fall magic. Winter was volatile in nature and so it made sense. I had a little more compassion for Lucien now and how he’d handled all these years with this power.
People began to come out of their homes, looking up and pointing at the dragon streaking across the sky.
“There’s Sheera!” Piper announced, and then glanced over at me. “Do you have a plan?”
I sighed, watching my friend step out into the garden of her home and look up at me. I didn’t want to do this the hard way. I wanted to be soft and loving, but Sheera and her parents had plotted an uprising against my future husband behind my back. Did they also know Marcelle planned to take me for himself?
No.I couldn’t think that they would and not warn me.
Still, niceness had only gotten me so far in life. It was time to fully embrace this queen of Hazeville title I now carried.
Sheera’s mother, father, and household staff were in the garden, as well as half a dozen courtiers and a handful of guards. The dragon king landed expertly before them and I jumped out of the basket attached to his back, landing on my worn leather boots.
“Madelynn?” Sheera grasped her chest in shock at what she was seeing. No doubt she’d never seen a dragon, as I had not before yesterday.
“You may now address me as Your Highness. Or did you not hear? I was married to Marcelle and I am now your queen.” I tilted my chin high and carried every ounce of royal superiority I could.
The air instantly changed. Sheera’s eyes went wide and she gave me a light curtsy. “Of course, Your Highness. I heard.”
I felt bad for causing my old friend to speak to me in such formal terms, but I could make no mistakes here. Any friendly banter might get me taken advantage of, and time was of the essence.
I glared at her parents, the real perpetrators in all of this. “You made me your queen and now you will live withmyrule,” I growled. “Zaphira tried to kidnap my sister—” they all gasped, even some of the courtiers “—and the winter king is currently holding her off at the border while I bring reinforcements. So gather your army and head to Winter Court or I will kill you for treason and failure to follow orders.”
Duke Barrett’s mouth hung open like a gasping fish. Then he laughed. “My darling, you may be my queen in theory, but I takeordersfrom King Marcelle.”
He didn’t know. Word hadn’t reached him. I grabbed the wind around him and raised his body up into the air.
Sheera and her mother shrieked, backing up and looking at me wide-eyed.
“Marcelle is dead! And you will be too if you do not make it very clear where your loyalties lie,” I bellowed. “The Nightfall queen is coming for all of us! The treaty Marcelle made with her was never taken seriously. She still encroached on Fall Court lands and tried to kidnap Libby. She only wanted to divide our people! You will either unite and help us or you will be ripped apart by this wind!” The leaves and dirt spun in a small whirlwind at his feet as I held him above the air. I knew he had great power over the dirt in the earth and the rain in the sky and could probably swallow me whole, but not before I took the breath from his lungs.
He seemed to be considering it too.
Sheera’s mom jumped in front of her husband. “We are with you! Madelynn, look at me!” she commanded. I’d known this family since I was a little girl. The way she said my name reminded me of when I was small.
I looked at her and found there was compassion in her gaze. “It was a mistake to split the realm. To think that the Nightfall queen would leave us untouched. We were just trying to protect our loved ones. But it was a mistake, and we are with you. Right, Barrett?” She looked up at her husband.
He sighed, the wind swirling around him and causing his hair to fly across his face. “We’re with you,” he said, resigned.
