Stolen Princess

by Nikki Jefford

  “It’s Hensley,” came her voice.

  Oh pit. Seeing Jhaeros had so blindsided me that I’d forgotten all about poor Hensley and her sham of an engagement to Ryo. A twinge of guilt fluttered through me for leaving the ball early. Normally I would have stuck around to provide moral support.

  As soon as I opened the door, Hensley flew inside like a cat chasing after a mouse. She still wore her yellow ballgown, and half of her hair had come unpinned, falling over her shoulders in brown wisps.

  Devdan started in after Hensley. I caught his eye and shook my head. “It’s all right. I’ll let you know if we need anything.” I shut my door and turned to find Hensley rapidly pacing my room.

  She lifted and dropped her arms, squeezed and loosened her fists. A flush ran from her neck to her rosy cheeks. I tried to determine if her eyes were shiny because she’d been crying, but there were no tear tracks on her cheeks, and her eyes most certainly were not bloodshot. Aside from her frantic movements, Hensley almost seemed to glow.

  “Hensley, what is it?”

  She jerked to a stop and, for a moment, looked at me as though I’d been the one to appear unexpectedly in her bedchamber. Then Hensley clutched her chest and cried out, “Forgive me, Aerith!”

  Seven hells, now what?

  “What do you mean?”

  Quivering lips pressed together on the human’s face.

  I groaned in exasperation. Better to release the arrow and hit me with it rather than delay any longer. “Hensley,” I prodded. “What happened?”

  Shimmering green eyes looked through me dreamily before snapping back to attention. Hensley started toward me then stopped and leaned back as though I was a snake that might strike her. “I blame the faerie wine,” she said. “That’s my excuse, although I don’t know what his is. He most definitely was not drunk.”

  Oh no. I folded my arms. “What did Ryo do?”

  “Not Ryo. Liri. I mean, King Liri.” Hensley’s cheeks flushed brighter. “He, uh, took me back to his room.”

  “He what?” I screeched, my arms flying to my sides.

  Though fully awake, my brain didn’t have time to process what Hensley had just confessed before a knock sounded at the door.

  Had Devdan heard my shriek? As I started toward the door to tell Devdan I was fine, the door flew open and Sarfina strode in with Devdan chasing after.

  “You can’t just burst into the princess’s room,” he bellowed at her back.

  She had on her same gown from the ball, another transparent white frock with a gold slip underneath. Sarfina’s blonde-and-gold hair was pulled into a thick high ponytail with a golden tiara encrusted in sunstones.

  Her smile of triumph didn’t vanish as she addressed Devdan without facing him. “You’re new here, elf, so I’ll explain things this once. I was born a princess, which gives me the right to burst into any room of the palace, save the king’s, whenever I choose.”

  Devdan glared at her back with pure loathing.

  “Now go back outside like a good guard,” Sarfina said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

  “Actually, I want him to stay,” I said. Sarfina didn’t get to dismiss my guard, who also happened to be my sorta friend. Being in Faerie certainly redefined friendships.

  She shrugged. “Suit yourself, though I doubt you’ll want any more ears than necessary to hear what I have to say.” She lowered her voice and smiled slyly. “It’s a bit of a personal matter.” Her eyes slid over to Hensley, taking on a cruel shine.

  Hensley paled. She turned to me. “He can wait outside, can’t he?” Pleading eyes stared into mine.

  I sighed. “Fine.” I turned to Devdan. “Mind waiting outside while I sort this out?”

  With a tight jaw, Devdan inclined his head. “Yell if you need me.”

  Once he’d left the room and shut the door behind him, Sarfina rubbed her hands together and grinned wickedly. “Did your human tell you about the mischief she got into with my brother, the king?”

  “I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I snapped.

  Sarfina pouted her lips, but her eyes glittered. “You’re not jealous?” When I didn’t answer, she grinned. “Well, you have no reason to be. Liri would never lower himself to bed a human dog.” She smirked at Hensley. “I placed an enchantment to make her look like you. I had hoped it would wear off while she was still with him, but I'd say it lasted long enough.”

  I made a growling sound, half-tempted to fetch my dagger and stab it straight through Sarfina’s golden slip until I pierced her black heart. But killing her wouldn’t help any of us. Sarfina was only a shrub in this game—a vicious one but still a shrub.

  Clutching her stomach, Hensley looked ready to double over. The thought of Liri thinking he’d bedded me made me want to pull every last golden strand of hair out of my sister-in-law’s head.

  “I don’t know what you’re smiling at,” I snarled at her. “Liri will punish you severely for this.”

  “Punish,” Sarfina said eagerly, pronouncing the word as though it was the start of foreplay in a game of seduction. “Maybe, but he’ll end her.” Her eyes gleamed when she looked at Hensley. “Liri will either kill her or lock her away for the rest of her life once he learns he was deceived by a human.”

  Hensley’s head snapped up. “I didn’t deceive him!” she cried.

  Sarfina smiled smugly. “It doesn’t matter. You, a mere mortal, dared lie with him.” She snarled. “Serves him right after trying to force you on poor Ryo.”

  My nostrils flared. “Liri ordered you not to harm me or Hensley,” I practically yelled.

  Sarfina adjusted the golden tiara on her head as though we were her subjects to command. “I did no harm.”

  “By enchanting her to look like me, you were going against your brother.”

  “It wouldn’t have worked if she hadn’t thrown herself at him.” Sarfina’s lip curled when she looked at Hensley.

  “It was the faerie wine,” Hensley sputtered, cheeks flaming. But even to my ears, her protest sounded weak. Could it be she felt an attraction toward Liri? I felt my lip curling in a mirror image of Sarfina’s.

  Sarfina shrugged. “I was just giving my brother what he wants. Maybe not the real thing but close enough. Elves are only a step above humans.”

  I started for her, but Hensley jumped between us. “Aerith, no!” she said, grabbing for my arms.

  “Step aside, Hensley,” I growled, not taking my eyes off Sarfina. “My sister-in-law’s been begging for a beating.”

  “Ohh, a beating.” Sarfina laughed with delight. “I’d like to see you try, sister of mine.” She looked turned on by the idea of a smackdown.

  “Please!” Hensley shouted. Her eyes were wide, expression frantic.

  I stormed past both her and Sarfina, straight for the door, yanking it open. “Leave now, Sarfina,” I ordered. “Before I make you.”

  Sarfina’s eyes glittered, feeding off our fight. My heart pounded with anticipation, almost eager for her to refuse so I could forcibly remove her. She must have read the anticipation in my eyes.

  Flicking her ponytail over her shoulder, Sarfina strutted out of the room. As she passed me, she smiled gleefully. “Have a lovely morning, Sister,” came her sugary voice. She paused to look over her shoulder. “Goodbye, Hensley. I’d say it was nice knowing you, but I’m incapable of lying. I hope having my brother between your legs was worth dying over.” She blew her a kiss and exited into the hall.

  Devdan came forward again, and again I told him, “Everything’s fine,” then closed the door in his face.

  It took me several seconds to clear the smoke in my head. Hensley didn’t interrupt my murderous thoughts. She’d gone as rigid as a marble statue and as pale as Sarfina’s gown.

  “He’ll kill me,” she whispered, staring glassy-eyed at the floor.

  “Not if he doesn’t find out,” I said.

  Hensley’s eyes expanded as she looked up at me. “But that would mean—” She didn’t fi
nish her sentence.

  I shuddered as revulsion swept through me. I knew exactly what it meant. My brother-in-law would think he’d bedded me. Even worse, he’d think I’d gone to him willingly. Why did Hensley have to have such pit-poor taste in males? My skin crawled at the mere thought. I scratched at my arm as though Liri had touched me.

  “What exactly happened?” I asked Hensley.

  Color returned to her cheeks as she blushed. She quickly looked down and rubbed one of the ruffles on her gown. Other than her partially undone hair, the rest of her attire was in place. Lust didn’t appear to turn Liri into a hungry beast the way it had with Jhaeros.

  Pain shot through my heart thinking his name. I shook my head. One thing at a time.

  Hensley cleared her throat. “He didn’t actually bed me.”

  “He didn’t?” My chest expanded as some of the weight lifted off.

  Hensley used two hands to fiddle with her ruffled skirt. “He, uh, pleasured me with his, um, mouth.”

  I wrinkled my nose. If I’d been Mel, I would have cried out, “Ew,” but I kept it to myself and it resembled more of a “yech,” because this was Liri we were talking about, and he was under the impression his mouth had been on me. My lips drew back in disgust.

  “How did he get you to his room in the first place?”

  “He invited me.”

  I groaned at Hensley’s succinct answer. I couldn’t imagine Liri striding up to my side and casually inviting me to his bedchamber for a little one-on-one action. Ugg.

  “That’s it?” I prodded.

  Hensley stared at the floor. “Well, uh, he invited me to dance first, so we danced—and stuff.”

  “Stuff?” I raised my eyebrows.

  “We kissed.”

  “He kissed you or you kissed him?” I demanded.

  Hensley still wouldn’t meet my eye. “Er, I suppose I started it.”

  I slapped my hand to my forehead. Really, I should have been slapping the sense into Hensley. How had I been so blind to her feelings for Liri? I’d always believed her to be stubbornly loyal, but never infatuated. Enraptured. Insane!

  “Once we went to his room, it was hard to think past all the orgasms,” Hensley said, poking at her dress.

  I clapped my hands over my ears and groaned. I didn’t want to picture it, but I had to know everything. I uncovered my ears. “Then what happened? Did he fall asleep?”

  Hensley smiled with too many teeth. “Um.”

  “He didn’t say my name once?” I asked. I was beginning to wonder how oblivious Hensley had truly been or whether she’d suspected the enchantment and kept going anyway.

  Hensley’s eyes darted to the chandelier for a moment as she thought. “No, but he did say he could give me, I mean you, more orgasms than his brother—and all before he ever properly bedded me. You!” She grimaced. “It was really confusing. I assumed he meant Ryo, but it didn’t really make sense since I was drunk on faerie wine.”

  It looked like she was still feeling the effects. Despite her alarm at Sarfina’s words, Hensley still acted giddy.

  I rolled my wrist, wanting to wrap things up. “Okay, so he did the oral stuff.” I winced in disgust. “Then what?”

  “Then I thought it only fair I return the favor,” Hensley said.

  “Ew.” This time I said it aloud because Liri . . . orgasm . . . pleasure. Ew!

  Ugh, could this get any worse? Now, supposedly, I’d pleasured him back.

  “He enjoyed it immensely.” Hensley smiled proudly.

  “I’m sure he did,” I snapped. How in the seven hells was I going to protect Hensley when I didn’t have the stomach to pretend I’d been the one to engage in these intimate acts with Liri?

  The thought was so sickening I could feel my disgust rising up my throat. I barely made it to the trash receptacle in time to empty my stomach.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Aerith

  Napkins shaped into white swans perched on each plate at the long table of the dining hall. Small crystal bowls filled with berries topped in cream waited at each place setting. But even my favorite treat wasn’t enough to tempt me. It might as well have been a bowl of pits glazed in tar. I did not feel like eating breakfast, especially not with my Fae in-laws.

  I inched my way to the table as though approaching the plank on a pirate’s ship as the sharks swarmed at the surface below.

  I would have preferred sharks.

  “Princess Aerith, your seat is here,” a short, plump, and matronly Fae announced, indicating a high-back chair in the center of the table.

  A footman stepped forward and pulled back the chair. At least being in the middle meant I was as far as possible from the head of the table on either side. I wouldn’t have to sit near or look at Liri or Naesala.

  The king and his queen aunt had yet to appear, leaving me with Liri’s sisters, Ryo, and Hensley. Since our early morning encounter, Hensley and Sarfina had changed into new frocks and were doing their best to ignore one another. Both cast looks my way, which I ignored. I smoothed my sky-blue skirts back as I took my seat, lifting my head regally. I’d had plenty of time to dress since there was no going back to sleep after the dreadful news I’d been delivered. My stomach still roiled.

  Mel had changed places with Devdan but had been forced to wait outside the dining room. Liri hadn't gotten around to changing her status from guard to guest. I’d updated Mel on everything with the exception of Hensley’s drunken mistake, which sounded like a welcome mistake, while unknowingly glamoured to look like me. Mel had apologized profusely for Jhaeros as though his capture was somehow her fault. None of this was. We were all here for one reason: Liri’s stupid obsession with me. I’d thought Cirrus’s death had freed me, but the months following his death had been merely an intermission before act two.

  The dining matron instructed the rest of the Elmrays where to sit. Teryani was placed across the table, one over from me, an empty chair left beside her. Next to the empty place setting, Ryo plopped down once directed to the spot. He folded his arms, bent his head, and glowered at the fabric swan as though he’d like to rip off its neck. Hensley was directed to the seat beside him. Sarfina was placed across from Hensley, which made it impossible to stare at me without having to lean over the table and crane her head in my direction. It was a small comfort. Jastra was given the spot between Sarfina and me.

  Once we were all seated, the matron left the room, returning shortly and ushering Jhaeros inside.

  My throat closed as Jhaeros was led to the seat directly in front of me. I couldn’t swallow. I could scarcely breathe. When the footman moved forward, hands reaching for the chair’s back, Jhaeros stepped between the servant and the chair.

  “I can get my own damn chair,” he said with a scowl.

  He sounded so much like himself that my heart gave a lurch. It was foolish to hope, but my eyes wouldn’t listen to reason as they searched him for any spark of suppressed feelings he might yet fight to unearth on my behalf.

  Jhaeros flipped back his coattails as he took his seat. Ryo glanced over and wrinkled his nose before returning his insolent glare to his plate.

  I tried desperately to catch Jhaeros’s eye, but even without Queen Naesala present, he ignored me.

  Tears swarmed my eyes. Only Teryani noticed. I waited for her smug smile, but she frowned. I knew it wasn’t out of pity. Most of the time Teryani was incapable of any type of smile, not even the arrogant kind.

  The doors of the dining room opened, and a lanky footman entered. “The king and queen have arrived,” he announced.

  Liri and Naesala swept into the room side by side. Three of the queen’s guards followed, as did Galather and Folas. A Cheshire smile lit up Liri’s face like an albino jack-o’-lantern. He looked straight at me, pinning me down with a heated stare. For the life of me, I couldn’t return his smile. I was no actress. No liar. No cold Fae devoid of all emotion and honor.

  A footman pulled back the chair at the end of the table nearest m
e. As the queen took the seat, her three guards arranged themselves several steps behind her, keeping watch over the room.

  We all waited for Liri to take the seat on the opposite end of the table. When he stopped at the chair beside me, I tried not to recoil in horror.

  A footman rushed forward to pull the seat back for Liri.

  Liri beamed at all the faces around the table. “What a splendid morning to be king,” he announced. “Please, enjoy your fruits. They were picked fresh and delivered all the way from the village of Torra early this morning.” He glanced at me as though to say, “Especially for you, sweet Aerith.”

  I ground my teeth, refusing to meet his gaze. But Liri kept staring. It wasn’t until I dipped my spoon into the cup of berries and took my first bite that he did the same. The berries were tasteless as my teeth ground them into a mushy pulp. With nothing better to do, I emptied the bowl bit by bit. I’d need my strength.

  Empty crystal bowls were cleared, replaced with breakfast plates. Each serving had a biscuit, eggs, bacon, and boiled greens. The berries had been tasteless, but at least they didn’t smell. The scent of cooked meat made my stomach spin.

  As a footman lowered a plate in front of me, Queen Naesala snapped her fingers. “You will bring me the princess’s plate and give her mine instead,” she commanded.

  The footman looked at Liri, who nodded with an amused smile. As the footman traded the plates, Liri chuckled at his aunt. “I have no desire to poison or harm you in any way. I am already king.”

  I picked up my fork, knowing that if it really had been poisoned, there was no way Liri would allow me to stab at the egg.

  Queen Naesala narrowed her eyes. “Lest you get any ideas about taking Ravensburg, let me put them to rest once and for all. You will never inherit my kingdom. Even if I were to die this very day without an heir, I’ve had a contract drawn up as to who will inherit the crown.”

  Liri’s smile didn’t waver. It was disturbing. “Good,” he said. “Then I hope we can enjoy the remainder of the week free of suspicion or malice. My days of debauchery are over. I want only to rule in the company of my beloved household. Now is the time to expand our family.”