Page 15 of The Ruthless Fae King
I decided then that it was safer to not speak at all. I wasn’t sure how to handle Lucien Thorne. I liked it a lot better when I hated him and imagined him as a cruel, abusive prick. But this man wasn’t that. He wasn’t black or white, he was gray, and I didn’t know what to do with gray.
* * *
By the timewe reached Spring Court it was dark and we went straight to the Spring palace, where the duke and duchess were hosting us. The second I stepped out of the carriage, Princess Sheera squealed and ran for me. I laughed as she pulled me into a hug.
“Betrothed to the winter king! Come, we must talk.” She pulled on my hand, but then stopped.
Lucien stepped out of the carriage with Piper then, and Sheera bowed deeply, as her parents stepped up behind her.
“Welcome to Spring Court, Your Highness.” Sheera’s voice was clipped and her glare evident. She didn’t like him.
“Thank you.” Lucien’s voice was just as clipped.
As Lucien and the duke and duchess spoke, Sheera pulled me into the palace. I inhaled the warm night air as we went. I loved spring—not as much as fall of course but who could deny the beauty of the purple flowers that lined the walkway? Of the fragrant breeze that stayed in the air and smelled of an approaching rain.
I stared at Sheera’s honey brown hair and dark brown skin, which were all in a stark contrast to her icy blue eyes. The tips of her pointed ears were painted with glitter dust, and I smiled at the latest fashion. Sheera always knew what the up-and-coming styles were.
I came twice a year to visit her on Spring Equinox and a leader’s event my parents attended, and she did the same to me. Four times a year we got to stay up all night talking about boys, powers, who we would one day marry. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Lucien Thorne would be my betrothed.
Once we were in her room with the door closed, she spun. “Tell me everything. Is he awful? Has he hurt you?” she said in a rush. “We can run away together, hide out in Cinder Mountain if we need to.”
I processed her questions rapidly, not blaming her for thinking Lucien was a monster, I had thought the same thing yesterday morning. And maybe he still was, but not to me. Not that I had seen.
“He’s… kind of… sweet?” I wasn’t even sure if my assessment was correct. I barely knew the man, but he had let me negotiate my own dowry and paid me whatever I asked. He’d complimented me at every turn and made it seem as if he actually desired to marry me for more than the politics involved.
Sheera’s dark brown eyebrows knotted together in the center of her forehead. Reaching out, she touched my cheek. “Are you ill? You just called Lucien Thornesweet.”
A nervous peal of laughter escaped me and I began to pace the room.
“Madelynn, he froze the entire realm, killing dozens. And since then it’s been story after story of his menacing rule.Sweetis not how I would describe him.” Her voice was sharp and cutting. I’d never heard her like this.
“Well, he’s been… accommodating,” I amended. “My staff said he was nice to them as well.”
She watched me pace her room. “Because he wants your power.” She stepped in front of me and I stopped to face her. “Maddie, it’s well known that you are the second-most powerful fae next to him. He will tell you anything to get you to marry him and have his heirs.”
I frowned. Was that what he was doing? Being fake nice to me so that I wouldn’t put up a fight?
“I told him I don’t want children at first. He said that was okay.”
Sheera laughed. “Don’t be that naïve. The second you marry him the mask will drop and his true nature will show. You’ll be pregnant within the first month and he’ll be forcing you to fight at his side.”
I frowned. “Fight? Fight who?”
She looked like she’d said too much, casting a glance over her shoulder at the door.
I placed a hand on my dearest friend’s shoulder and forced her to look at me. “Sheera, fight who?”
She swallowed hard. “I overheard my parents saying that the winter king is pledging his army to join an upcoming battle with the elves and the dragon-folk.”
My eyes grew wide. “A joint battle with Archmere and Embergate? Against who—?” But as soon as I said it I knew. “The Nightfall queen.” She made life Hades for the other realms but she left us relatively alone thanks to Lucien. I’d heard that Lucien let the frost and snow from his border cross over into her land every once in a while to remind her what he was capable of. It must have worked, because she left us alone for the most part.
Sheera leaned into me. “Spring and Summer don’t want war. We won’t send soldiers to die for the winter king so that he can help his buddies.”
I licked my lips. “Well, if he demands it, then you would have no choice.”
She shrugged. “If he’s not our king anymore, then he can’t demand it.”
Confusion pressed in on me. What was she saying? How could Lucien not be king anymore? Unless…
