by ERIN BEDFORD
"See...?" she beamed, her tongue sneaking out to lick her lips. "I knew you still wanted me."
I grunted and turned my eyes to the side. "What I want is a good meal and sleep. You are just convenient."
“A convenience?” A flash of annoyance crossed her features, before she smoothed her face out into a seductive pout. "Little ol' me? I'm flattered. I thought I'd made it quite difficult for you to catch me."
"But I did catch you." I leaned forward and grabbed the hand that had reached beneath my towel mere seconds away from grasping my very uninterested member. "Now, I'm bored."
"I see," Shirazan murmured slowly, pushing up to her knees so our lips were millimeters apart. "Just one more kiss then? Then I'll be on my way."
Sighing in frustration, I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her mouth to mine. No matter what she said, I knew this wasn't the end.
Chapter 17
Ericka
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen with the other servants. It took my mind off of what had almost happened to me. At least, until I arrived back at my room.
Now, alone, all of it came crashing back.
My knees wobbled, and I sank to the floor. My back against my bedroom door, I grabbed my chest as racking sobs burst through. I'd almost died. I could have died. Why did Balefire stop?
There was so much about the king I didn't understand. So much about the fae world I didn't know. I'd lived here my whole life, and still, I couldn't comprehend the violence and bloodshed the fae seemed to thrive on.
When I was a little girl, I once saw a fight break out in the marketplace. Two fae went at each other like it was just a normal Tuesday. The humans rushed to their homes and closed the doors and windows, hiding their children. The fae stood around them in a circle cheering or jeering them on. My mother had ushered me back into the bakery, but I snuck over to the big glass window that usually displayed that day’s goods. My little face peeked above the shelf, watching with astonishment as they tore each other apart. When they were done and only one was left being clapped on the back by his peers, my mother caught me and sent me to bed without dinner.
I didn't sleep well for a week after that.
One would think that I would be used to the mayhem that was my life. Sometimes I wished I'd never come to the castle. I wished to be back at my parents' bakery without a friend in the world but safe. I'd been in more danger since living at the palace than I ever had back home.
Sure, it was boring there, and it smelled like the stinky underside of a troll’s armpit, but it was familiar. It was home.
Here, everything was politics and watching what you said and did. I could only truly be myself while I was cooking, and even then, I had to be careful. The fae that worked with me were nice, normal even, but they were still fae. They still had the ability to turn rabid at the smallest slight.
If I was truthful, I didn't want to be here anymore. I wanted to go home. I needed to go home. But to do that, I would have to talk to the king, and that wasn't something I wanted to do ever again.
My teeth ground, angry at me for my weakness. Look at me! I was blubbering on the ground like some pathetic creature. I was everything the fae thought humans to be. They didn't believe us equal or worthy of being respected or protected. And why? Because a king threw temper tantrums like a child?
I couldn't let him treat me this way and get away with it. I wouldn't. If I wanted to go home, I would, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
He could kill you.
He already tried and failed.
But you can't leave without telling him.
Why not? He didn't ask me if I wanted to be fed to a dragon.
Still, you have to at least say goodbye.
I chewed my lower lip as I mulled over the thought. I was angry with Balefire, of course. Who wouldn't be? But my mother taught me manners, and those manners demanded that I tell him of my intentions. If I tried to run away without telling him that I was leaving, I could cause issues for not only myself but for those in the kitchen. While I hated him the most right now, I couldn't do that to them.
I wiped my tears roughly off my face and stood. Going to my bathing chamber, I poured some water into my hands and washed my face. No reason to let him see that I'd been crying. Not when I was leaving. I had some dignity.
Glancing in the mirror, I nodded at my appearance. Not perfect, but it would do.
I turned from the mirror and brushed my hands over my hair and dress. The dress was partly covered in flour, but I didn't want to change. If I did, then I might have time to talk myself out of this, and I couldn't do that. I needed to go home, and I had to talk to Balefire.
With a renewed determination, I marched to my bedroom door and flung it open. Finch was on the other side.
"Woah!" Finch held his hands up in front of him, his eyes wide. "Going out?"
Flabbergasted, I fumbled for an answer. "Uh, yeah. I was going to, uh, talk to the king."
"Why would you want to do that?" Finch's brows furrowed.
"Because," I huffed as I pushed past him and into the hallway, "I want to go home."
"Home?" Finch chased after me, his long legs easily keeping up with my short ones. "Why would you want to do that? You just got here."
I didn't answer him, my eyes forward and focused on getting to Balefire's room. However, Finch grabbed my shoulder, stopping and turning me.
"What did he do now?" he groaned.
To avoid his gaze, I stared hard at the wall. I couldn't tell him what happened. He'd just stop me from seeing Balefire, and I couldn't let that happen.
"Nothing," I mumbled and crossed my arms over my chest. "I just wanted to discuss... kitchen things. Yeah. We need new pots in the kitchen." I lifted my chin, meeting his gaze and almost daring him to call me out in a lie.
"You know, there's a form for that. I'm sure Jasmine could fill it out for you.” Finch frowned. “You don't need to go to the king for that."
I held back my huff of annoyance and shrugged off his hand. "I know, but I want to ask him in person. If I wait for the form to be filled out and then given to him, it will take weeks to get them, and we need them now."
Finch hurried after me as I tried to get away. "What's wrong with the ones you have now? They worked perfectly fine at lunch."
I scrambled for a reason but came up with nothing. Stopping in place, I placed my hands on my hips and glared at him.
"Look, I need to talk to the king,” I pleaded. “Why do you need to make a big production of this? Can't I just want to talk to him."
Watching me curiously for a moment, a slow sly smile slid up his face. "Oooh, I see. You want to 'talk' to the king. I see his plan to get into your good graces has worked. I hope he at least apologized for his mistreatment of you."
"If you could call it that," I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
Finch chuckled. "Our king has a hard time expressing himself, I'm sure he meant well. Obviously, it did something for you, or you wouldn't be so keen on speaking to him now."
Oh, it did something for me alright. Made me want to run for the bog. Something I never thought I'd ever say in my life. Playing along as the lovesick human, I fluttered my lashes up at him and pretended to hide a blush.
"I just want to get to know him is all. Can I go now? I don't want to miss him before he goes to dinner."
Finch waved me on with a nod. "Go on. The gods know he needs some happiness in his life." I spun on my heel and practically sprinted away as Finch's voice followed me. "Good luck!"
I waved a hand behind me, all the while clenching my jaw so hard, I thought it might break. When I arrived at Balefire's door, my nerves reared their ugly head. My heart pounded in my chest, and my hands became clammy. I'd been determined to talk to him, but now that I was at his door, I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to say.
Sorry, you're such a dick, but I can't take it anymore?
Make your own damn food, I'm out?
No,
I had to say something that wouldn't make him come after me. Maybe I got word from my mother that my father is sick? On his deathbed? And I had to go see him before he died? Yes, that's it. A family emergency. He would have no reason to worry or try and come after me.
My hand touched the door handle, and I prepared to open the door. A giggle stopped me. It was muffled and faint, but I heard it. I held onto the door handle and pressed my cheek against the door my ear straining to hear behind the wood.
A low moan followed my distinctive smacking filled my ears. Someone was in there with him. Who? Shirazan?
Rage rolled through me, and before I knew what I was doing, I threw the door open and found exactly what I thought before me.
Balefire sat in a chair, clad only in a towel. His hair and skin were still damp from his bath, but what really caught my attention was the scantily dressed fae pressed between his thighs. Her hands tangled in his hair, and her lips attached to his. Balefire had one hand on the back of her head, but nothing else was touching her, almost as if he didn't want to be kissing her, but he didn't precisely push her away. Guess he couldn't have wanted her gone that bad.
A small gasp escaped my throat, and Balefire's eyes flew open. They locked with mine, and in the next instant, he threw Shirazan out of his lap and stood. Unfortunately, the towel around his waist did not stay tied and fluttered to the ground uselessly. My eyes darted down to his groin, my cheeks heating.
"Ericka," Balefire growled out, his voice husky with desire, "what are you doing here?" He didn't even seem to notice that he wasn't wearing his towel anymore.
Shirazan sure did though. She eased to her feet and then wrapped her arms around Balefire's shoulders and waist.
"Oh, look,” she growled, but her tone wasn’t full of desire. It was full of venom. “It's the human. What do you want, human? We're busy."
My eyes jerked between them, from her hands on him to his face. He seemed annoyed, but he didn't push Shirazan off him nor did he give me any explanation. So, it must be me.
My mouth dry, I licked my lips and shook my head. "Never mind. I shouldn't have come here." I twisted around and rushed down the hall, not bothering to close the door behind me.
I couldn't believe what an idiot I'd been. Sure, I was coming to tell him I was leaving but a small part of me hoped he'd beg me to stay, to apologize for what happened. But he wouldn't have done either. I was just another human for him to play with and then discard when he was done with me. Which based on how I'd almost died today, my expiration date was closing in soon.
Chapter 18
Balefire
"I thought she'd never leave." Shirazan purred as her fingernails scraped along my shoulders and chest. "Now, where were we?" The hand on my chest moved down, trailing over my abs and reaching for my—
"Stop." I grabbed her wrist and flung her away. Reaching down, I picked up the towel and threw it in the laundry basket. Then I turned my back on her, went to the wardrobe, and threw the doors open. Not caring what I grabbed, I pulled on a pair of black pants and a light blue button-down shirt. My eyes flicked up to Shirazan as she huffed and then smoothed her hands over her hair, a playful smile on her lips.
"Oh, so we're playing that game today. I can play along." Her hands moved over her neck and down her body, cupping her breasts in her hands as she moaned. With a shrug of her shoulder, one strap of her dress and then the other fell off her shoulders. A slight shimmy and the entire dress fell to the ground, leaving her bare to the world.
Normally, at the sight of such beauty, my cock would harden, and I would waste no time burying myself inside of her before sending her on her way, sated and pacified for a time. Not this time. The very sight of her nude form made me think of Ericka. The long expansion of Shirazan's legs compared to Ericka's no less impressive but shorter ones. The slight swell of her hips had nothing on Ericka’s curvy ones. While Shirazan forced seduction and sex into her every movement, Ericka caused my blood to rush and my cock to come to attention just from being covered from head to toe in flour. That human didn't have a sexy bone in her body, and yet she made me want her, nonetheless.
"Shirazan," I sneered, my lip quirking up in a scowl, "put your clothes back on. You're embarrassing yourself."
When I turned my back on her to find my shoes, a seething presence pushed against my back. I had not made her happy. However, giving her more attention would only cause myself more trouble, so I shoved my feet into my boots and made for the door.
Shirazan had reclothed herself by then and caught my arm. "You are rejecting me? Me! No one rejects me and gets away with it." Her nails dug into my arm, and I didn't give her the satisfaction in knowing she'd made me bleed.
Leaning in until our faces were close together, I met her glare with a smile. "You'll get over it. Now, get out of my room, and don't let me see you causing havoc. We have enough going on without you on a rampage."
Leaving Shirazan raging in my wake, I threw open the bedroom door and searched the hallway. No sign of Ericka. With quickening steps, I made my way to Ericka's bedroom door and Leaned in to listen for any sign that she was in there. She'd been so upset when she saw me with that dragon bitch. I knew I should have sent Shirazan away when I had the chance, but I was worried about what she would do if I denied her. The dragon was playing nice because she thought she had me wrapped around her finger. I worried about what she might do now that I finally cast her aside.
Finally.
While it had been fun for a time, a heavy weight had been on my shoulders for a while now, even before I met Ericka. Part of me wanted a reason to get rid of the dragon, and now that I had one, I needed to be sure that Shirazan didn't take it away. I needed Ericka more than I knew.
If she would even talk to me now.
I sighed, raised my fist, and knocked.
"Ericka," I called out, hoping to hear her sweet voice through the door, even if it was in anger. When she didn't answer, I knocked once more. Still nothing.
When I turned the doorknob, I found it unlocked. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. I could tell right away she wasn't there. Her room was dark, her bed made up, and no sound came from the bathing chamber.
Where could she have gone?
I searched the room for some kind of answer but found nothing. With regret in my heart, I stepped back into the hallway. Perhaps she went to the kitchens. I could try there first and if she wasn't there... well, I wasn't sure where she would have gone. It wasn't like I followed her around all day.
But, before I could make my way to the kitchens, Finch appeared in the hallway distressed. His hair was frazzled, and his cheeks flushed. He grabbed my shoulders the moment he saw me, and relief flooded his eyes.
"Your Majesty, thank the gods I found you. We have to hurry." He rushed away from me and down the hall toward the throne room. I ran after him. Did it have something to do with Ericka? I could only pray that it had nothing to do with Shirazan.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"The banshees.” Finch glanced over his shoulder at me. “They're claiming that they were cheated and are demanding payment for the slight. I tried to explain the contract to them but they—"
A screeching sound pierced my ears. Finch and I clamped our hands over them to fight off the power of the wail. Somewhere in the palace, glass shattered, and screams erupted.
Damn. This was just what I needed right now.
"Come on." I smacked Finch on the arm. "Let's go deal with them before they pull the whole place down on top of us.
Finch and I ran through the corridors, passing servants and nobles scrambling to get as far away from the screaming as possible. While I wanted nothing more than to search for Ericka, to apologize, or even to explain, I had to deal with this problem first. Ericka, unfortunately, would have to wait.
As we rushed to the throne room, I wished for the power of teleportation. Of all the gifts that I had been given, that was one that had been left out. Things would be
a lot simpler if I could just appear where I needed to be, consequences be damned.
When we arrived at the throne room, we found the place in a fit of chaos. Bodies lay strewn across the marble floors with blood leaking from their ears. A dozen palace guards had the six banshees surrounded, their spears and swords pointed in their direction. Thankfully, they had earplugs in their ears, or they would be on the ground as well. It was a precaution we always had when banshees entered the castle. If I'd known they'd arrived, I'd have put some in as well.
Banshees were temperamental creatures made of darkness and sound. Some say they are the lost souls of women who have had their hearts broken, that their pain had grown too great, and in a fit of despair, they screamed until their hearts shattered. What was left were barely functioning beasts with long white hair and sharpened teeth and nails. The color of their irises were turned white as their eyeballs with only little black pupils left to see by. Their ratty grey and black cloaks covered their pale bodies which I knew were bony and malnourished. While they were one of us, they were nothing more than rapid animals seeking their next victim.
I should never have let them stay in my court, but the other courts would have seen me as prejudiced against the dark fae had I not tried. After this though, this pointless bloodshed, there was no way I could let them live.
"You sorry excuse for a fae cheated us," the leader of the banshees, Hester, hissed as she pointed her thin and jagged finger in my direction. The blackness of her claws seemed to absorb all the light around us.
Stepping to the edge of the circle of banshees, I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled a glower at them. "I did no such thing. You signed a contract, one that you were supposed to read. If you did not understand all the terms of your deal, then that is by no ways my fault."
"You think you are so smart with your big words and prettily worded lies.” Hester shook her head, her ragged hair jerking around her face. “But no one makes fools of us." She held her arms out around her and her sisters, her eyes boring daggers at me. "We will eat your entrails after we make your men bleed. We will wear your teeth as a necklace around our necks. You will rue the day you—"
