Page 44 of The Dark Prince
Tyr and Maddeus walked off, with the latter shooting me an apologetic look. At leastoneman around here could read the room.
The cold surrounded me, slipping beneath my heavy stockings and putting a chill in my bones. I shot a glance at the fake beast that stood to the side; the blood finished pouring out and drying in a clump on the ground.
I shivered, remembering the fear that lurked in Tyr’s gaze. Fear, sorrow, despair, and anger. I would find what he was afraid of, and I would destroy it.
I spit at the beast’s wooden feet.
Turning toward Aella, I tucked the wedding knife into my cloak pocket and stiffly offered my arm.
“Shall we go to dinner?” I asked lightly.
Aella smiled tightly at me, expectant. “You’re changing first, right?”
I pulled up my chin. I had to act like the lady of the castle even if I didn’t feel like it yet. “Of course. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Twenty One
TYR
Iwatched Aella go with narrowed eyes. She shot Maddeus a flirtatious grin and Maddeus waved back, the tips of his ears red.
“What?” he shot back, obviously noticing my glare.
The two of them may have decided to play dumb to everyone else, but I wouldn’t be insulted by it. As if I could forget the image of my sister’s bare ass up in the air at the tender age of seventeen.
I scowled and shook my head. I wasn’t my sister’s keeper, even if the urge to punch Maddeus in the face was growing the longer she was here. It wasn’t jealousy. It was an urge to protect her. Not from Maddeus, but from the consequences if our father found out she wasn’t the pure princess he thought she was. “What news on the king’s men?”
Maddeus turned serious. “They think they’re quite sneaky, but this village is so tight an outsider stands out. We’ve run three of them out now. I’m just worried that this will force them to tip their hand and show up in force. They will keep trying to sneak in.”
That was a concern. I had hoped that my marriage to Isadora would stay the king’s hand for a bit, but if he left soldiers to spy on me, it meant he didn’t trust me to follow through on my promise. Or he would try to kill her again. I couldn’t decide which way he was going to go, and it was driving me mad.
“We can’t worry about something that hasn’t happened yet,” I said, walking briskly to the stables. A ride around the town and the surrounding woods always did wonders to clear my head and make my inner beast easier to contain. The facade of hunting for the beast always made my people feel safer as well.
“The staff loves Isadora. The people in the village are eager to meet her.”
I huffed. “Everyone loves Isadora. What’s not to love?”
Maddeus lifted an eyebrow at me, then turned oddly serious. He stopped, his gaze on the ground.
“What is it?” I asked. Usually Maddeus had no issue telling me difficult news to my face.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “You just really seem to like Isadora. Not that I blame you. All of us like her.”
He paused, gauging my reaction.
“Yes?” I confirmed, wondering where he was going with this.
“Well, it’s just … Maybe we could look into breaking the curse instead of passing it on. We both know the witch has settled deep into the woods.”
Which was one reason I routinely patrolled it. The king had ordered her killed decades ago. I nearly died in the attempt, and she’d laughed and laughed then forced me to transform and chained me in the dirt so it forced me to attack myself to relieve the rage.
My face twinged in sympathetic pain just remembering it. After that, I’d just let her live in the woods. She didn’t bother me, so I didn’t bother her.
I had no power over the witch who’d laid this curse when I was a child. We both knew it, but for whatever reason, she took great pleasure in living inmyforest right in front of my father’s nose. As long as she left my people alone, I didn’t hunt her.
My father would be angry beyond belief if he found out about my lies, but there was nothing he could do. As much as he favored me as his only son, he also feared the cursed beast that lurked inside.
“I’m just saying, maybe talk to her. No demands or deals or tricks. Last time you were rude, trying to chop her in half with your ax after she refused to help.”
