Page 14 of The Ruthless Fae King
As I stepped into the hallway with Lucien, I prepared to go right to my room as he would go left to the guest quarters, but instead he just stopped and looked down at me.
I paused, sensing he wanted to say something.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an unknown object and kept it in his fist.
“I… was hoping you would wear this, but if you want to design your own I completely understand.” He reached for my hand and dropped a delicate ring into it.
Looking down at the golden band with a snowflake design in the middle, I gasped.
“It was my mother’s,” he confessed, and my heart dropped into my stomach. “I know she would want you to have it.”
Giving the bride a ring was customary after the dowry, but his mother’s? It was very touching. I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s beautiful,” I told him, and then slipped it onto my marriage finger. Seeing this ring on my hand made everything so real in that moment.
“Sleep well, Madelynn.” He bowed lightly to me, which was unheard of, and again befuddled my mind.
“Goodnight, Lucien.” I bowed lightly to him as we prepared to go separate ways to our rooms.
The way he said my name, delicately and with such care, it stayed on my mind long after I slipped into bed.
THREE
Libby did not take the news well. She cried and screamed and hugged me, and then ran to her room, locking herself in. My heart broke at her tantrum but I knew I’d be back in less than a week to see her again, so we set off on our tour of the four courts of Thorngate. Fall was first, and my people were thrilled for me, chanting my name and throwing flower petals at the carriage as we passed. But some of them glared at the king like he was a monster, like I had yesterday when I’d first met him.
I was at odds with the stories I’d heard and the man before me. As we passed the last outlying fields of Fall, Lucien sat back into his seat of the carriage and looked out the open window. We would head to Spring now, and then Summer, and then his realm.Winter. After that, he would drop me back home and I wouldn’t see him again until our wedding night. The entire trip would take about five days, and I had Piper at my side to stave off any rumors of impurity before the wedding night.
My parents would stay back in Fall with Libby and await my return.
I glanced at Piper, who was currently reading a steamy romance book I’d loaned her, then my gaze flicked to the king’s movements. He carried no weapon, which was common with the highly powerful fae in our realm, and he was very clean. If one speck of lint marred his pants, he would pull it off and flick it out the open carriage window.
“King Th—” I started, and then remembered he’d asked me to call him by his first name. “Lucien, tell me about yourself. What do you do for fun? What makes you happy?” If I was going to be chained to this man for the rest of my life, I might as well get to know him better.
He bristled at the simple question, his gaze going from Piper to me, and then staring out the window at the passing trees.
An awkward silence stretched through the carriage and I wondered if he was going to ignore the question when he finally spoke.
“Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I was truly happy. Sometime before my mother died probably. I used to like riding horses.”
His honest answer reached into my chest and squeezed every last drop of blood from my heart. I felt Piper stiffen beside me but she stayed glued to her book. He didn’t know what made him happy? His mother died when he was sixteen. He was twenty-one now… he hadn’t felt happiness in five years? It was heartbreaking.
Had he given up horseback riding for fun after his mother’s tragic accident? I swallowed hard, knowing there was something deeper there, but also knowing I could not go near it. Was that why he started drinking wine and then had a problem with it?
“Oh, well, I shall have to try and change that and find something to make you happy,” I told him.
Yesterday I hated the man and now I was vowing to make him happy?What is happening?
His steely gray gaze met mine and my entire body melted under his look. His gaze traveled down my dress to my exposed ankles and he grinned. “I can think of some ways you could make me happy.”
Piper sucked in a breath and I gasped, reaching out to smack his shoulder playfully. “Lucien Thorne, you can’t speak like that. It isn’t appropriate.” I glanced to Piper for backup but she was glued to her book. Fake glued to it, because she was totally hiding a smile.
Lucien leaned forward, giving me a devilish look. “I never was good at being appropriate.”
Good night!
This man was… outrageous! I fell back into the seat, heat flushing my entire chest. I snuck glances at him, waiting for him to laugh and tell me he was kidding, but he never did.
He wasn’t.
