Page 38 of Ruin of Revenants
Fire demons.
Unnatural death-defiers…like living corpses burning themselves alive again and again.
Death’s whores.
That flame of anger kept me warm as I tugged my arm from Archer’s and ventured toward the tables. I plated some fruits and an exorbitant dollop of melted chocolate, trying to pretend like I was enjoying myself. My emotions were making it harder to control my power, heating my skin and threatening to unleash flames.
I breathed deeply, trying to concentrate on the explosion of flavors across my tongue. As I finished my dessert, my gaze snagged on the sugar dish left out for coating berries, and inspiration struck. I started a second plate, dipping one berry carefully in sugar before leaving to find another table.
The male across the table, piling his plate high with various meats and cheeses, shot me a curious look, but I ignored him. Making my way back to Archer, who was still surrounded by a growing circle of courtiers, I stopped in front of him, fluttering my lashes as I offered the plate. “Surely all this talk has made you hungry, my prince,” I said with false sweetness.
Even now, Archer didn’t meet my eyes, instead keeping his focus on the plate I held up to him. His brow scrunched with suspicion. To assuage it and make him trust I was merely playing along as his doting betrothed, I picked up the one sugar-coated berry and popped it into my mouth.
Archer accepted the plate, turning to speak to another male as he picked up a salt-dusted berry and slipped it into his mouth.
The effect was instantaneous: While the male went on and on, imagining he had an avid listener in his beloved crown prince, Archer’s eyes widened and watered. He tried to cover his gag with a false cough as he covered his mouth with a fist. His attempts at looking cavalier all but failing, he held up a hand, seizing a wineglass off a tray from the first servant who passed by, and threw back its entire glistening gold contents in a single gulp.
All the while, I had to bite my own lip to keep from laughing aloud.
Your punishment will come. Archer’s voice was dark and smooth and nearly made me shiver despite the humid night.
It was worth it.
After a round of cheers and applause from the awful crowd at Archer’s raised empty glass, as if he’d accomplished something, the prince announced he needed to take me to the king for my official introduction.
“I can’t believe he’s settling down,” sighed a female nearby, pouting and tossing her lavender hair.
A blonde beside her shrugged. “Or maybe it’s a political marriage. No one said anything about settling down. Maybe he’ll still take lovers.” She winked before cutting me an appraising look.
I smiled back at her, the picture of composure, until she turned away, appearing unsettled. What did this court, dressed in their blacks and greens and reds, drenched in weapons as if they were accessories, think of me in frothy pink and gold? I was like the first rays of sun cutting through their night, an oddity among my own kind simply due to my magic and my nature.
“Father,” Archer drawled as we approached the makeshift throne, “I see you’ve neglected to make a place of honor for my soon-to-be-wife.”
“Soon?” Wystan’s orange eyes turned their full searing weight from Archer to me.
Instinctively, I held my breath, a tendril of doubt making me wonder if he’d read my thoughts after all. All my fury. All my fear. All my aching longing to escape and go home and never see a single one of the fae gathered here again.
Archer set his jaw stubbornly. “Soon. Why wait when one is in love?”
His sister burst out into laughter, musical yet harsh. “You have scarcely looked at the female since you’ve arrived. I don’t believe you, brother.” She turned to her latest suitor in line, fluttering her lashes and blushing as if he were the first to ever give her attention.
King Wystan leaned back, looking lazy. “Briar is right. I’m not wasting time preparing a celebration for some odd farce, Archer. I don’t know what you are doing, but—”
Archer whirled, finally facing me and truly looking at me for the first time that night. His eyes consumed me, raking over my unbound hair cascading past my bare shoulders, along the curves my dress set off, and back to my face. If I hadn’t known that he was putting on a show for the benefit of onlookers, I would have feared there was something like desire in that fervent green gaze. He seized me by the waist, the heat of his hands making the fabric feel like an ineffective barrier, like his touch was a battering ram shattering the walls I wished could stay between us.
He leaned forward, his ragged breath sweet from the wine he’d consumed.
“No need for that.” The king waved impatiently, and I sucked in a harried breath.
Archer smirked, but he didn’t release me. Heart pounding, I told myself it was for the best, that we wouldn’t fool anyone if we didn’t appear to want to be near one another. If you glare at me like you’re imagining feeding me more salted berries, no one will believe us. Archer’s thought was sharp in my mind, as cutting as his voice when he was speaking to me and not coating it in smooth charm for others.
I was imagining feeding you some of my flames, I thought back sweetly.
Unexpectedly, Archer burst into laughter, the sound rumbling through his chest as he held me against him. “Father, please announce my bride to the court.”
King Wystan stood, and immediately, the riotous gathering grew quiet: conversations halted, the music stopped, and the citizens and nobility turned, suddenly respectful. Or afraid. “My good citizens of Emberglade, it seems that tonight is no normal party, but one in which my son and heir would like me to announce that he has chosen a bride.” He gestured toward us. Archer’s arms remained entwined around me, as if we truly were besotted. “Please make Isoria Gildmere welcome as our newest member of the court and soon-to-be member of your esteemed Emberglade family.”
A round of uproarious applause, stamping, and cheers filled the air, and I smiled prettily in acknowledgement, as if I cared. If they knew what I was, they’d be calling for my execution instead.
