Justice hangs his head. “Ye captured General Klein? Do ye think tha’s wise? Isn’t tha an act of war on the fae? What could he have possibly done tha we haven’t done ten times over?”
I keep my eyes on the orange in my fist. “He shot Des with a silver-tipped arrow and tried to kill me, Alex, my future bride, and a whole slew of fae.”
Justice reels back, his slightly less bulky frame filling the doorway. We look a lot alike, only I’m more grizzled and went gray in my teens, and he looks the part of the strapping, dashing prince. “Where do I start?” He runs his hands over his face, a grin taking over.
Tha’s another thing Justice does better than me. When I smile, people recoil. He looks like he was born to be happy, and the territory’s been slowly snatching it away from him.
“King Fairbucks had his chance to lock General Klein up, and he failed. My turn. Speaking of failing, Sir Muttrend orchestrated an attack on my carriage. When I dropped off General Klein at the barracks, I sent out an order to have him arrested and taken in.” I keep my eyes on the orange in my fist. “I know tha thins out your cabinet, but I can’t abide it. My…” I want to tell him I’ve mated with a lass, but I can’t work out the words. So I jump to a safer word, but one tha’s just as foreign on my tongue. “My girlfriend was in the carriage, so Mutt’s new address is my prison. He’ll find a loophole to get himself out soon enough, but for now, tha’s where he’ll stay. I can’t stand to look at his gob another second.”
Justice waves his hand like it’s all no big deal. “Ye only did me a favor. I’ve been trying to get him off the cabinet forever, but ye know it has to be a unanimous vote. Cheers, Salem. At least he’s off for a little while, until he tugs at tha loophole he always manages to find.” A smirk sneaks onto his gob while his eyebrows dance in tha way only a brother can get away with without earning a punch. “Ye finally did it. Ye met someone. Who is she? I’ll throw her a grand banquet the moment she comes to meet me.” He runs his hand through his hair. “This calls for a celebration. Tonight, even. Tell me, who is she? Who is my new sister?”
I decide not to pull punches, but cut straight to the point, telling the story in the completely wrong order. “She’s married to Des, and then she married Alex.”
Oh, tha was stupid. Why did I start there?
My brother stills, his lips popping open. “I don’t understand. Or maybe now I completely understand why Alexavier isn’t here. When did Destino get married and then divorced? Am I really so out of touch? I didn’t know a thing about tha. And then Alexavier up and marries Destino’s ex?” He shakes his head. “Tha’s cold.” His nose wrinkles. “But tha’s not possible. How could it be? Is she vampire or fae? She can’t be both.” He picks up two oranges—Lily’s oranges—and juggles them while his mouth pulls to the side. “Start over. I missed something.”
I don’t want to explain the whole thing to my brother, but I know I have to at least try, even though it’s not going to make a lick of sense to him. “I’m tired of the fighting between the territories. I know ye are too.” Ah, tha’s the place to start the story. At the beginning. “I was jumped when I went for a walk in vampire territory a while back. Just walking. We waste a lot of manpower fighting border wars. So Des, Alex and I decided to do something about it. We picked a woman to marry. All three of us wed to the same woman. One woman all the territories would then have to look to.”
Justice stumbles backwards, dropping the oranges on the stone floor as if tha’ll undo it all. “What? Tha’s not a plan!”
I ignore Justice, because it’s already done. “So Des married her, and it all blew up in Drexdenberg. Tha’s where I was for a long time, making sure they were safe.”
Justice casts around for a chair. “I need to sit down. Maybe I need to lie down. Maybe I need a drink. Maybe ye need a mallet to the head, thinking up stuff like this. King Ronin didn’t disinherit Destino for doing this? Like, it actually happened?” He locates a stool at the counter near where I’m squeezing my oranges, his eyes wide as he clutches another he steals from my pile.
“Ronin didn’t disinherit Des, though we were worried about tha in the beginning. Ronin’s all for the plan. He named Des next in line to receive the crown, actually. Des will sit on the throne in a little less than a year, with his fae wife holding equal power over the vampires.”
“What?” Justice blurts, rubbing his temples. “I thought old King Ronin would never give up his rule. Much less to something like this.”
“He likes the idea of uniting. Tired of the way things are going, too, I guess. He was happy Des took initiative to fix a problem he couldn’t.”
It’s not meant to be a dig at my brother. We’re both doing the best we can. He’s not technically king, but all the final decisions fall on his shoulders, ever since our mammy took ill years ago.
I clear my throat. “When King Fairbanks and Queen Kloe balked at Alex marrying the same lass as Des, Ronin stepped in and married them in secret. King Fairbanks has to hand the throne down to Alex, so tha’s two out of three territories united under her.”
“Who is she? Is she a vampire?”
“Fae,” I tell him. “Her name is Lily. She’s from Neutral Territory, so she doesn’t have any real affiliations. Now she’s in line to help rule Drexdenberg and Faveda. And before ye ask, she has no magical affinity, so she can’t help us get more water.”
Justice’s expression sours. “Do ye hear yourself? And ye said you’re set on marrying her too, aye? Salem, no. This can’t work. Ye have no idea what you’ve done.” Then he shakes his head at his words. “But perhaps it’s not too late for us. Ye haven’t married her yet.”
But I know exactly what I’ve done, and I’d do it all over again, given the opportunity. “My men are tired, Justice. Just because we inherited a disaster doesn’t mean we have no responsibility to clean it up. I don’t want us all fighting a losing battle until we’re old men.” I grind the orange harder than I need to. “I already feel like I’m getting old.” Lily’s young, and I’m… not. Fae and shifter genetics aside, we look strange together. I’m too big, too gray, too dirty. She’s slender and lavender and clean, so much tha sometimes I’m afraid to touch her.
But I need to.
Justice shakes his head, and for a second, I think he’s going to yell at me. But when he speaks, his voice comes out quiet, controlled, and with the authority he uses to rule the throne. “No, Salem. Ye cannot marry this fae woman. I will not allow it.”
5
Headache
Destino
I watch from the hallway as Justice shakes his head. It’s clear Salem’s given him too much information to digest. Ever since I left Lily’s side to come down here, there’s this echo in my mind. A voice I can’t decipher that draws my attention. It’s Lily’s cadence, but I can’t understand the individual words. She doesn’t sound panicked. I made three half-trips downstairs, bolting back each time I was certain I heard her voice.
Only she promised she hadn’t called for me. But though I’m a floor below where she’s resting, I can hear her now, her voice in my head. I hear without understanding, which is quite the predicament. Her tone sounds like she’s worried, and also like she’s trying to logic herself out of getting worked up. But every time I double back, she gives me her “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Now I’m hovering worse than Salem. Splendid.
Salem’s gruff voice refocuses me. “Ye can’t forbid me from marrying someone, Justice.”
“I’m in charge of things while mammy is taking her rest, and I say you’re not marrying a fae lass. It’s mad, Salem! Do ye even hear yourself?”
“Rule the kingdom all ye like. I’m your brother, not your slave. Ye get full say over the laws of the land, but not who I marry. The only thing ye can control is whether or not you’re going to make yourself miserable over it. Have a grand time with tha. It’s happening either way, whether ye want a sister or not.”
Justice’s eyes bug. “A sister? I�
��ll not have it laughed around at pubs tha I’ve got a fae sister.” He hangs his head, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why he grinds the orange in his fist across his forehead. “No, no. And now you’re here, which means she’s here? Tha’s the fae lass Vera’s so worked up about?”
Salem nods. “Her name is Lily. She’s with a healer upstairs. We were attacked on our way in.”
“And ye think the territories can unite? Tha anything good can come of our kind intermingling with the fae and vampires? Brother, I know you’re an idealist, but I never realized it pushed ye to the point of delusional. There’s no way!”
“It’s done. The fae and vampires are already going to be under her rule. Uniting with them is wisest, otherwise it’s two territories and their pooled resources against just us.”
I can’t stand back and say nothing anymore. “Think it through,” I tell Justice as I enter the kitchen. He angles his chin over his shoulder and growls, no doubt wondering how long I’ve been listening. “You need more fertile land and water, and the fae can’t grow the plumapples on their soil that could heal a lot of their maladies. Think of how beautiful Jacoba could be if you shared resources—if the fae helped you build your territory. If you were united.”
“Did ye leave Lily alone with the healer?” Salem shouts at me.
I wince at his volume when it adds to Lily’s indecipherable cadence that’s still playing in my head. “Settle, brother. Healer Wesley gave her something for the pain after she was stitched up, and I walked him out the front door. She’s not with anyone up there. She’s lying down to take a nap.”
To his credit, Justice sticks a wary hand in my direction. “I hear congratulations are in order. Ye got yourself one-third of a wife.”
My smile is stiff at the implication that Lily isn’t wholly mine. “The future queen of Drexdenberg and Faveda is resting upstairs, and shouldn’t be disturbed. We can spend a bit more time talking about unification, yeah?” Though I can still hear Lily’s cadence, poking at my brain and challenging me to get to the bottom of this puzzle I cannot understand. I plop down on a stool and smack Justice on the meat of his bicep. “Just three blokes mucking about, planning out better days ahead.”
Justice is dubious at best. “What makes ye think I need the help of a fae? They’re not good for anything but looking superior.”
“Ah, but you’re wrong. Faveda is lush and beautiful.”
“Beauty only matters to the vain.”
“Beauty matters to the beasts as well. I know your wells are drying up. I know it’s getting harder for you to graze. An alliance could solve all of your problems, though it would require you to think of the good of your people, valuing their wellbeing over your prejudices and pride. Tough decision, that.”
Justice shoots Salem a scathing look for spilling Jacoba’s weaknesses to me, but Salem is unapologetic. “We won’t last much longer if we don’t take the help tha’s right across our borders. I know ye care about the people more than ye worship your pride. So I’m going to marry Lily. Tha way we’ll all be united.”
Justice shakes his head. “But she’ll never be queen of Jacoba. I would have to marry her for tha to happen, and I’m not as sold on this mad plan as ye are.”
Everything in Salem tightens at the notion of his brother marrying Lily. I lift my palm in Salem’s direction, trying to communicate tranquility. “Settle, Salem.” Lily’s voice in my head is still muddling my thoughts, though I can’t understand her. I wonder if I’m more exhausted than I realized. Still, I can’t leave to go back to her now. If I don’t keep Salem calm while he gets used to his mate bond, he might attack his own brother, which is a thing for which he’d never forgive himself.
Salem pitches the orange rinds into the compost bin with more force than necessary. “Ye won’t marry her. I will. She might not be queen of Jacoba, but she’ll have partial control over our militia because she’ll rule by my side. Tha’s good enough.”
Justice hangs his head. “I suppose there’s no talking ye out of this?”
“It’s done,” I tell him, rubbing my temples. Lily’s voice is louder the further away from her I get. When I get off my stool and step toward the hallway but still remain in the kitchen, the volume softens just enough to let me think. “Lily’s my wife, and Alex’s. If she agrees, she’ll be Salem’s wife, too.” I move back into the kitchen and slap Justice on the back, hoping he rallies. “The world is changing, yeah? Best not fall behind the curve on this one. They need their leaders to lead, not constantly react to the latest fire that needs snuffing out.”
“Easy for ye to say when it’s not ye they scream at when their world burns.”
“It will be,” I remind him, noting the bags under his eyes. “And when my time comes, I don’t want the same problems the kings and queens before me couldn’t solve. I want something better for my people. Deep down, I know you do, too. You’re a brilliant ruler, Justice. Always have been. Sometimes the road to a better life doesn’t look like we think it should. But it’s there, if you can learn to look for it.”
My temples feel hot through the beginnings of a headache. Lily’s voice is too loud where I’m standing, so I move to stand in the doorway.
“It’s dangerous, what you’re doing. Ye may have goodness in your heart and grand plans on your mind, but the people are going to revolt. They’ll hate her for forcing them into a change none of them asked to be part of. You’ve painted a target on her back. If I wasn’t so angry at ye all for pulling this stunt behind my back, I’d actually feel sorry for all you’re putting her through. Fae are delicate, and you’re thrusting her in front of the bullseye.”
Salem strains the orange juice, because he’s that sensitive to Lily’s tastes. “We look out for each other.”
“Aye.” Then Justice stands, his shoulders rolling back as he tosses the orange from one fist to the other. “All the same, I’d like to have a chat with the lass. She’s going to be my sister, after all. Politics aside, I want to hear her take on it.” Justice sighs heavily. “Of all the things I want for ye, Salem, a strategic marriage isn’t on the list.”
Salem’s jaw is firm. “Of all the things I want for my people, dying because we’re too stubborn to ask for water isn’t on the list. Lily is Alex’s wife; he won’t let her die. If she’s here, he’ll send people to make sure she and her people have water.”
“But we are not her people!” Justice argues. “I wanted more for ye than this!”
Every now and then when I listen to Justice openly care about Salem’s wellbeing, I wish Alex and Salem were my actual brothers. The fact that we’re united with Lily brings that dream closer to reality. It’s nice to see the two care about each other, that Salem has someone when Alex and I aren’t around.
“Des, grab the tray over there, will ye?” Salem asks, ignoring his brother. Justice isn’t a bad guy. In fact, he’s a decent bloke. It’s Salem who’s never learned to fully let him in. Alex and I have to fight tooth and nail for Salem to let us near the smallest bit of his heart when it’s bleeding.
When I move toward the stack of trays in the far corner of the kitchen, I realize I’ve taken about four steps too many from Lily’s bedroom. Her volume is full-shout, though her words are still indecipherable. My head feels like it’s trapped in a vice, tightening too much ever since I left her side. I need to lie down. I don’t understand what my deal is, and why my head hurts the further I get from Lily.
I take eight more steps toward the stack of trays on the opposite end of the kitchen, but stop, not even halfway there. “I don’t think I can,” I admit, pointing to my head. Lily’s voice is so loud now, I know I must be shouting. I want to be helpful, but I can’t go a step farther, or I’m afraid I might go deaf from her voice ramping up in my head. “It’s too loud!”
Salem is saying something, but I can’t hear him.
I can’t hear anything but Lily’s deafening cadence thrumming through my body.
6
The Price of Separati
ng
Destino
I take another half a step toward the trays and fall to my knees, covering my ears as if that’ll do anything. “Make it stop!” I cry, my eyes watering from the pressure of her voice. My nose is suddenly wet, but I can’t move my hands from my ears to swipe at it. I need a caffure pill. A hammer to the head. Something to make the pain stop.
Salem’s kneeling by my side in the next breath, and Justice crouches in front of me. They’re saying things, but I can’t hear them. They look scared, and I know I’m the one frightening them. Justice reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief, dabbing at my nose and pulling it away to show me that I’m bleeding. I have a bloody nose. Out of nowhere.
“Lily’s shouting!” I tell them, half-explaining my conundrum.
Salem’s on his feet and bolting for the stairs, though that’s not actually going to solve the problem. “Get me to the hallway!” I beg Salem’s brother. That seems to be the only thing that quieted the shouting.
Justice holds the handkerchief to my nose and helps me to my feet. I stumble along beside him, my headache lessening with every step I take towards Lily. I can breathe without pain now. I can open my eyes without wincing. Her voice is still there, but it’s not excruciating to hear. Just a dull roar, like waves crashing in the background of my mind.
Justice leans me against the wall. “Is it better? Ye looked like ye might have a stroke or something.”
My breath comes out in hard pants. “Better now. Cheers, Justice. I need to get to Lily.”
“What is it with this lass tha’s got Salem and ye all twisted up? I don’t understand.”
I don’t have it in me to explain that what started out as a chess move is now something I can’t shake. I take Lily with me everywhere I go, and now when we’re apart, it feels wrong. It physically hurts me to be separated from her. I stumble up the steps, and the closer I get, the better I feel. I can’t hear her murmured shouting in my mind at all as I round the corner and trip over my own feet, catching myself on the wall. My headache lifts, like a veil I’ve no need for as I bolt toward Salem’s bedroom.
Malicious Prince: A Reverse Harem Romance (Territorial Mates Book 3) Page 4
