Des meets my eyes and nods his gratitude that I didn’t forget the task he asked me to complete. He wanted me to look into the discrepancy, and I found quite the gaping hole in our books. Before the day is done, it will be rectified.
Father waves his hand to dismiss the topic. “We can discuss the tariffs later. I wish to raise them, and that would make us even in what we owe Drexdenberg.”
“Raise the tariffs?” Des repeats, his eyes narrowing.
“Did you really think the price would never go up?”
Des’ gaze fixes on Father, and I know it won’t be as simple as all that. “King Ronin and I look forward to discussing this with you. But as we haven’t signed anything to agree on a raise in the tariff, you’ll give us what you owe.”
Father changes the subject in lieu of actually admitting to any wrongdoing. He rubs his temples as if Lily’s whole situation is beyond his understanding. “Why? Why would Klein do something like that? Why would he fake your death?”
Lily is silent, though I’m not sure any of us actually expect she’ll answer for a madman’s crimes.
My voice comes out low through my teeth, my fists clenched. “I want the General’s job and title revoked. I want a public apology, and then I want his head for trying to murder my future wife.”
Just like that, Father’s face irons of all its fear. He’s the ruler now, not a dad. To be fair, he’s never really been all that dad-like, so it’s not too hard a transition. “I will deal with the General. Until then, the girl is to be kept in the palace. We need to work on our story before misinformation gets out.”
My nose crinkles. “Our story? We know the story. I just told you the story.”
“The betrayal I feel right now would be chaos in the hearts of our people. They’ll be told…” I can see Father carefully crafting a web of stories he’s growing more convinced of by the second. And just like that, his face looks unaffected, his tone conversational. “Lilya Klein ran away when she saw her classmates murdered. The General presumed her among the dead, because her name was listed on the classroom roster. He’s been a broken man for years, but now he’s whole again since his young flower has returned. Lily, you had some sort of insanity fit and ran away to Neutral Territory, where you’ve been processing the deaths of your classmates ever since. Alexavier found you not too long ago, and it was love at second sight.”
Mother picks up her martini and drinks it down to the olive, swallowing any protest about how awful this whole thing is.
Father praises his own idea when it becomes clear no one else is going to. “Oo, I like that. Love at second sight. I’ll set the court minstrel to compose a song with that title. It can be played at the wedding.” Then his mouth pulls in distaste. “And Alexavier didn’t find Lilya,” he corrects himself. He’s the only one who can get away with that particular crime. “That’s so droll. He rescued her.” Father tilts his head back, grinning. “Yes, that’s much better. Alexavier rescued her from a shifter’s attack, which is how she got that hideous scar, but he loved her anyway, even though she’s deformed. Then the two of them fell in love—childhood playmates, together again.” His eyes fix on me, as if he can’t see the steam rolling off of me at the many offenses laced through his fictional account. “You’re to be married in the spring. We’ll expect an heir in a year’s time, and then the fae throne is secure. Everyone can rejoice.”
I struggle with the bile that rises, and though I’ve seen him do this sort of thing before, it’s the first time I’m truly sickened by it all.
8
The Stories We Tell
Alexavier
A woebegone bleat escapes Lily’s lips, tearing at my heart that this is how her meeting my parents is going.
If looks could kill, my parents would be torn through by the temper in Salem’s glare. “If ye ever wonder why my people don’t trust the fae, this is why. Putting all the blame on a shifter for crimes your General set in motion. Making the lass who was almost murdered lie to cover for the murderer.”
Father motions to Lily. “Forgive me, but is that or is that not the work of a shifter who disfigured the future queen of Faveda? The only thing fudged is the timeline.”
I’m going to rule Faveda one day, and I’m not willing to wait this out, playing along with a lie that was never mine. “The point in telling you the truth was so that lies wouldn’t have space to fester. I said I want the General gone, and that’s what’s going to happen. As future king, I have every right to protect my bride from the man who tried to murder her. I have no use for anyone on my cabinet who has such deadly skeletons in his closet.”
Mother pauses drowning her true opinions in her second or third martini to shoot me a dubious look, as if to say “good luck finding someone innocent on the cabinet.”
Father huffs. “What do you propose, then?”
“Prison, at the very least,” I rule. My body feels like it’s lengthening, like I’m somehow taller and ready to take the reins on something as big as this. “A man dropped his own daughter off in shifter territory and abandoned her. A lifetime rotting in our cells will be sufficient if a beheading is off the table.”
Father straightens the curtains so Des is safe from the sunlight. “You know we don’t condone capital punishment of our own kind.”
My father is not in charge in this moment. He’s lost his chance to do the right thing for his people. For his family. I make that clear when I deliver the plan without leaving room for argument. “The General is not ‘our kind’ if this is what he does to his own. But fine. Prison. No hearing. The absolute truth to the public. I don’t care if they feel unsafe about it all. They should. They’ve been lied to every time that man opened his mouth and claimed to care about them.”
I run my hand through my hair, taking in Lily’s closed mouth and the ashen look on her face when Des leads her to the chaise lounge and sits her down. She’s utterly destroyed, and my stomach twists at the sight of it.
My voice is steady, though I want nothing more than to take her away from here. “We’ll be married when Lily deems she’s ready, and if you don’t bother her with more lies and nonsense, you might just be invited.” I can’t tear my eyes away from her devastation, so I swallow hard and drink in the sight of it, locking the image in my heart to torment myself with it whenever I like. “And we’ll have children whenever she feels it’s time. There will be no more discussion about it. I look forward to seeing how you’ll apologize to her tomorrow.”
Father’s long pause tricks me into thinking I have a voice, a choice. I normally don’t put my foot down on anything because, well, it’s not my throne yet. But it will be, and I’m tired of watching the mess pile up.
When Father rolls back his shoulders, I see defiance setting in deep. His voice comes out to the tune of a command, and though I don’t hold much affection for the man, I’ve never outright hated him as much as I do in this moment. “How it’s going to go is that the General and I will have words about what happened so many years ago. He will be reprimanded in private, not in public. The people have no need to fear their leaders, and that’s all this would do. Lilya, you are whole and well, are you not?”
She gazes up at him through watery eyes, her chin firmly set. “No, I am not whole. No, I am not well.”
“Then you have no business marrying a prince,” he rules, taking the breath from my lungs and holding it in his tight fist. “I’ll ask again. Lilya Klein, you are whole and well, are you not?”
Her tears still, her once trembling body locks down in a complete freeze that makes her look ready to pounce. “I am whole and well enough to marry Lexi. I am whole and well enough to listen and care about the people of Faveda—a skill that after all these years, you still have never learned.”
Good. Don’t let him knock you down. It’s moments like these where I can see she’s my equal, that she’ll play the game, but she won’t be completely played.
Father holds her gaze a few beats and then shakes off the tension with a s
mile I cannot imagine how he produces. He slaps his hands together, as if we’re talking about something exciting. I hate it when he shifts personalities so suddenly like this. I’ve always found if off-putting, but Lily looks horrified. “We’ll have a grand announcement later this week. After a public reunion between the General and his lost daughter who’s been found, we’ll announce to the nation that my son has finally found his bride. They need some good news. The Gorgonell chewed a hole in the iron fence.”
My eyes widen. “Did he escape?”
“No, and the hole has been repaired. The beast is still trapped in the Stone Graveyard, but it could have been a disaster. People are talking about how devastating it could’ve been.”
My jaw sets in a firm line. “That’s a relief. But Father, I don’t want Lily near the General.”
Father’s glare sneaks back in, polluting his feigned cheeriness. “Lilya’s announcement will happen in the order I’ve expressed, or the marriage doesn’t happen at all. Come, Kloe. There’s much to prepare. The people will no doubt be celebrating all night. Goodness knows, the territory needs this.” He holds his arm out to Mother in what looks like an invitation, but I understand, as does she, that it’s really a command the moment he snaps his fingers at her. Mother wobbles on her heels as she follows where he demands.
I vow to never control Lily like that.
They exit, and the four of us gape at each other in various degrees of shock and worry. Des opens his mouth, but Salem holds up his hand. “Not until we’re in the room. They have their plan, and we’ll have ours.”
I move to offer my arm to Lily, but Des beats me to it. He sticks tight to her left, with Salem stealing the other side. The four of us make our way back to my room, where I can finally exhale. Des is wholly focused on Lily, giving no one else the opportunity to comfort her. “Sit down, blue eyes. Salem, can you get her some water?”
“It’ll be okay, Lily-girl,” I offer.
She takes two steps toward me, and I realize how much I’ve missed her touch. I reach for her, but freeze when her tremulous eyes narrow into a vengeful glare that lands in my direction.
“How could you do that to me?” Her shout is shaky but no less venomous. It shocks me to my core when her hand pulls back, and she punches me across the face.
9
Help Versus Control
Lilya
My smile is fake. Can’t the soldiers see that? Or have they grown so used to the façade that the real thing looks off to them? I can’t decide if I despise them or if I feel bad for them.
Nothing. I nothing them. I can’t feel happiness when the soldiers bow to us as we stroll through the barracks toward the exit. I’m told the soldiers are excited that their prince now has the promise of a princess. I almost wish for the boos and the curses flung at me in earnest honesty in Drexenberg. They hated me to my face, but as I stare at the smiles of the men my age who have the calculating look of sizing me up to see what assets I possess that they covet, I wish for the outright hatred. Their eyes rake over my body appraisingly, then tear away from my face when the scars are too hideous to look at directly. I can see their pity. Lexi is the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom, sought after by the finest women (as his father has been so kind as to inform me), yet somehow he ended up with a “deformed” fae.
The worst part is I still can barely stand to look at him.
It’s been a full day, and I’m no less livid than I was when Lexi ditched the plan to keep my identity a secret and threw me to the wolves. He’s apologized, but I don’t want to hear it. I’m in the mess now, deeply set in the muck I’m now expected to navigate flawlessly.
So I play the role of the loving new fiancée I’m supposed to convince the soldiers I am. We’re leaving the barracks after telling them the insider information of our engagement, so they know how best to guard us on the big day of the announcement. My stomach is in knots, even though I’ve been assured the General isn’t there. He’s in the palace, so I’ve been shunted off the grounds to greet the troops that Lexi and I will one day command.
The General hasn’t been allowed to see me. In fact, we won’t see each other until the grand unveiling and engagement announcement. I want nothing to do with any of it, any of them. I want to take Des and Salem and run far, far away.
But this is the job. This is what I signed on for. Uniting the three territories isn’t going to be easy, but I never dreamed it would be this horrible. I looked up to King Fairbucks as a girl, back when I was too young to know better. He gave me treats. He smiled at me when the General was a monster.
Now I understand that monsters come in all forms. Some even smile.
I spent the morning in lessons, trying to cram in as much knowledge as Lexi’s tutors could shove in my head. Then there were the elocution lessons, ironing out my “village idiot-speak” as they so charmingly put it. I’m to talk proper, so I make sure to do a perfect imitation of Lexi’s mother in public, so I sound the part. It’s an unused muscle, but I can fake decorum well enough, I’ve learned.
I slept in Des’ arms last night, sneaking from Lexi’s room to somewhere I felt safe. My hand needs to be on Des’ chest at all times these days. With all the deceitfulness swarming around me, I need something true, and Des is my one true thing. I breathe easier when my hand is on his chest. I can think clearer. I crave truth in this world of lies.
Salem hasn’t talked much, but he warms my toes while I sleep, so I think maybe that means he’s making good on his word to watch over me while I’m living in Faveda. He’s stuck to his wolf form since the meeting with Lexi’s parents. I haven’t seen his handsome face since.
Lexi doesn’t sleep with us.
My fiancé’s smile fades the moment we climb inside the carriage to return to the palace. He closes his eyes and leans his head back, looking more exhausted than usual. He’s got bags under his eyes and actually looks like he’s in pain.
I’m angry with him, but he’s still my Lexi. Theirs but mine. I want to comfort him and also push him away. It’s hard to reconcile those two men, not knowing which I’m sitting beside. I don’t trust him, which is something I never thought I’d say.
Lexi runs his hand over his face. “I know you’re not ready to speak to me, but we really should discuss when the wedding should happen. If you want a say, I’d like to hear your opinion. My father is controlling too much; we need to be firm on something.”
My choice to keep quiet feels like it’s come to an end, so I choose my words carefully, since they’re the first I’ve spoken directly to him in far too long. “The sooner the better. Get it over with. Next week. Next month. I don’t care about the particulars.”
He leans his elbow on the carriage wall, his knuckle between his teeth while he chews on his response before it tumbles out unchecked. “I suppose apologizing again wouldn’t help matters.”
“No. I don’t need to hear it. You made a choice. It is what it is. I can be civil, but I don’t trust you. Luckily, I don’t know of a single fae marriage that’s built on trust, so we should fit right in.”
“I told them the truth. That’s my biggest crime, I hope you realize.”
I can’t believe this is the path he’s taking. I scoff at him. “Your crime is that you thought you knew best, so you went over my head and changed the plan without telling me a single thing. We agreed we wouldn’t tell them about my childhood. Then you waltzed in there and told them the most painful part of my past in the first minute they re-met me, as if that’s all I am.” I iron out a crease in my white silk dress. Kloe Fairbucks always notices the wrinkles. She’s not mean about it, but I know she sees them. “Well, I’ve got news for you: I barely think about the General and all of it. I barely remember a lick of it,” I lie. “We had a plan, and you went rogue. We were supposed to be a team.”
Lexi doesn’t argue, though I can tell by his raised shoulders that he wants to. “You’re right. Even if I stand by telling them what I did, I should’ve talked to you about it. I thoug
ht I knew better.”
“About me. You thought you knew me better than me. Your father speaks for your mom, I hope you realize. He doesn’t give her a voice in her own home. That’s what you did to me.”
He hangs his head, and I see clearly his self-loathing. “I was wrong. We were supposed to be a team, the four of us. I can’t take it all back. I can only promise not to do that in the future.”
I push at my gown again. It’s so thin, it’s nearly transparent, especially in the sunlight. But I can see the creases, mocking me as I try to control them. I’m not wearing a bra or underwear, since every line can be seen through the thin fabric. I’m not sure how the seamstress talked me into that, but I regretted it the second I left the palace this morning. It’s nearly time for the announcement, and I want desperately to hide out inside.
Lexi unleashes a heavy sigh. “I did something you’re not going to like. In my defense, I’m an idiot.”
“That’s your defense?”
“I suppose begging for your pity has a better likelihood of success than pleading for forgiveness.”
It’s the first time I’ve almost smiled for real in a while. “Okay. What am I supposed to shake my head at you for doing?”
He slides a note from his pocket, handing it to me without looking in my direction. “It’s from the General, sent to you. It arrived this morning, sealed with his signet ring.”
My blood goes cold as I freeze. “If he sealed it, why is the envelope open?”
“I opened it. I was being controlling again, apparently. I guess I have a problem with that. I wanted to know what he would say to his daughter after all these years. I wanted to know what a vile man he truly is. I wanted… My intention was to destroy the letter so you never had to look at it, but I realize now that’s just another version of making a decision without your input. Apparently that’s bad. I admit, I’m new to the whole marriage thing myself.”
Wicked Prince: Book Two in the Territorial Mates Series Page 6
