Page 16 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
Whatever this brute did, I wouldn’t beg him to stop. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
Maybe the dare showed in my eyes, because he met and held them for a long while. His eyebrows squeezed together. “You’re strangely compelling… for a human.”
Such a compliment. I rolled my eyes.
Snorting, he jerked his chin towards the fireplace. “Sit.”
I went to obey, but there was no chair, only a familiar chest.Mychest. All my belongings from the Gilded Suns. My locket containing a drawing of me and Zinnia. Her mirror, her favourite hair clip, a love letter—little inconsequential things that were all that remained of her. I thought the troupe had taken it all with them or the prince had thrown it away.
I glanced back at him. A smirk threatened at the edge of his mouth as he held up the key and placed it in a drawer, then locked that, too. “I said,sit.”
Still, there was no seat. Had I misunderstood? But his smirk was my answer.
Of course. Pets didn’t get chairs.
Flashing him a bright smile, I sank onto the rug in front of the fire.
He let out a breath, shoulders sinking a touch, before he sat behind the large desk at the other side of the room.
So began my first day as Prince Sepher’s “pet.”
* * *
He workedfor a couple of hours, occasionally trying to engage me in conversation. I pretended I was asleep and entertained myself by fantasising about killing him. I could get my dagger back and murder him in his sleep, in the bathtub, while he ate a lavish meal. Or, best of all, as he sat upon his gilded throne.
“Come.” His bark had me jolting upright, blinking away sleepiness.
The warmth from my fantasies combined with the fire and cosiness of the thick rug must’ve made me doze. The elegant clock on the mantlepiece said one o’clock. I had only eaten a little breakfast in Celestine’s rooms before being taken to the throne room, and now my stomach felt like it was imploding.
He guided me through the corridors, hand on my shoulder sometimes, the back of my head other times.
This place was labyrinthine, with corridors that twisted and turned. Sometimes I glanced down an intersection and found the hall disappearing into darkness, even though this was the middle of the day. Other times, the offshoots ended in rubble or led suddenly outside. No door, just lush ferns and grass and the gardens beyond.
There was an odd beauty to this ruined palace. Little plants I didn’t know the names of grew in cracks and crevices. Huge slabs of marble lay where they’d fallen, reminding me of the rugged landscape I loved watching when we travelled from performance to performance in the deep north of Albion.
And the light.
The light.
We’d turn a corner and find it beaming through a glassless window or shafting down from one of the cracked domes. It hazed through the air, highlighting drifting motes of dust. It caressed the edges of the invasive ferns and weeds, making them look like they belonged in a painting rather than being mere accidents of nature.
At my side, it caught in the impossible red of the prince’s hair and the slashes of cream running through it, gilding its length. It lapped at the strong angle of his jaw and the regal lines of his nose. It did nothing to soften the cruel edges of his lips. Under it, his golden skin took on a new depth, like he was a statue cast from pure metal.
This was why fae were so dangerous. Even as they threatened your life, they did it so beautifully.
At last, we arrived at a set of double doors. He paused, hand on the back of my head. “Such a little thing. Let’s see how well you serve your master.”
The doors swept open, though no one held them, and I found myself in a large dining hall. Dozens of fae already sat at the long table, including Celestine and the horned man from the front row. His black eyes fixed on me before turning to the prince.
But it was Celestine who spoke. “Sepher, I was starting to wonder if you’d ever join us. I hope you’re not working too hard.”
I had to admit, working alone in a study wasnotsomething I’d expected from His Princely Prickishness—oranyprince of Elfhame.
He scoffed and plopped into the seat next to hers. In here, every chair was large and well-upholstered, with curved arms—almost thrones. I wasn’t offered one.
That left me standing awkwardly on one side, unsure what to do. A couple of servants stood against the wall. Should I wait with them or—?
“Little bird.” He said it in a singsong voice and beckoned around the chair’s high back. “Fetch me wine.”
