“Spare me the pleasantries, Nephew,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. Despite her bright and vibrant attire, her expression was aloof—more so than usual with Duada. “I summoned you here precisely because of your idea of ‘pleasantries.’”
Duada knew damn well where this conversation was going, which was why he was going to waffle as long as he possibly could. “I do apologize for my tardiness in responding to your summons. But I must say, though your luminosity outshines my own on the best of days, I wished to make myself presentable to-”
“You may dispense of your efforts to change the subject as well,” she cut him off, and he let his shoulders slump, not used to his games being nipped in the bud so early. “This has become a rather serious matter, Duada. I have received word from the duchess who visited our court last month,” she said, standing up and taking slow steps down the stairs of her throne.
Duada smiled, remembering the good duchess fondly. “I remember her, yes. Will she be visiting us again? Am I to organize some kind of welcoming feast?”
“On the contrary, her letter made it sound like you did most of the ‘feasting’ while she was here,” she said pointedly, reaching Duada’s level and looking at him sternly. Duada raised his eyes to the ceiling with an innocent smile as the Queen passed by. “From the sound of it, you feasted rather sumptuously with her, as well as five of her handmaidens, her personal cook, and the captain of her guard.”
There were a few whispers around the court as Duada folded his hands behind his back, and a few of the female courtiers blushed.
“All perfectly pleasant women to entertain, dear Aunt,” he said with a smile. He didn’t even remember fucking the cook, but there were a lot of things he didn’t remember about that particular night.
“Ordinarily, dear Duada,” she continued, striding up and down the court slowly, looking as ethereal and elegant as the aurora borealis, “I turn a blind eye to your dallying. You are a member of my highest ranking circle of relatives, and I appreciate your diplomatic talents.”
Duada was genuinely surprised at the compliment, and he offered a sincere smile. “I never knew you took my work to heart, your Majesty.”
“You know well that I pay close attention to all of the goings on in my court, Duada,” she said, rolling her eyes, “and in your case, I must sometimes pay closer attention than I’d like. What I’ve found has been causing a great deal of trouble.”
“Trouble?” Duada asked, tilting his head to the side and pursing his lips.
“Your little affairs have complicated tenuous diplomatic relations I’ve been cultivating for centuries, Nephew,” she said. “The duchess isn’t the first instance of this kind of behavior. Don’t fool yourself into believing that I don’t know about your visit to the Diamond Enclave, from which I still receive missives requesting your return. And that debacle with the Contessa and her sisters who still won’t speak to each other because of your unbridled tomfoolery.”
Duada was ruffled now, his arms crossed. Such a show of insolence would be harshly punished coming from anyone but a Prince of the court, and even at his status, Duada’s roll of his eyes was putting him on thin ice, based on the daggers the Queen was now shooting him.
“As such,” she continued, folding her hands in front of her with a suddenly smug look that Duada liked even less than his public humiliation, “I cannot ignore your misbehavior any longer. I must take action. But let no one in the Summerland Court say that their Queen is unjust,” she added rather loudly, casting an icy glare over the entire court.
Duada made eye contact with a few of the courtiers, silently seething and wondering which one was the straw that broke the camel’s back. This was, no doubt, some kind of ploy to force the Queen’s hand against him. He sighed. Not even his looks could grant him immunity to the politics of the court, it seemed.
“Shall I receive forty lashes for my terrible crimes of... what are my crimes, precisely?” he asked, tilting his head and arching a triumphant brow.
“You have broken no sanctioned law,” she admitted with a cool smile that chilled Duada to the bone, “which is why you shall receive no sanctioned punishment for what you have done. However, I am sending you away from the court,” she declared, and Duada’s heart dropped, along with his jaw.
“Are... are you banishing me?”
“Don’t look at it as banishment, dear Nephew,” she said with a smile, meaning that yes, she damn well did mean ‘banishment.’ “On the contrary, you are perfectly able to return to the court, rather soon. You only need to complete a small task I have arranged, a task quite perfectly suited to someone of your... particular talents.”
Duada watched her circle him like a shark, and he ran his fingers through his dark, thick hair, his amethyst eyes locking with hers. “Is that so? It sounds like you’re sending me on a mission to do precisely what you’re kicking me out for doing.”
“That’s the delightful part, dear Nephew,” she said, turning to face him fully and folding her hands in front of him. “Prince Duada, you are to go out into the world of humans. There is a woman in the city of Newark, New Jersey, in the United States. Her name is Jasmine Duval. I hereby assign you to her as her guardian.”
There was a general gasp from the courtiers in attendance, and Duada’s face burned as he clenched his fists. As ethereal and alien as the beauty of the fae was, their fury came just as quickly as their passion.
“You cannot be serious!” the prince nearly shouted. “You’re putting me on human duty? In Jersey, of all places?! What in the name of Stars could possibly be so important to some human woman that a prince is necessary to play her babysitter?”
“Oh you needn’t worry about that,” the Queen chided, “you won’t be playing the babysitter. I keep an eye on some humans from time to time, for one reason or another, and dear Jasmine is quite the interesting case. She’s a young woman, full of bright potential and lovely looks, yet she’s squandering her talents at some coffee shop in the city. Worse yet, and more importantly to you, her love life is... abysmal, to say the least.”
Duada blinked slowly. “You... are sending me to fuck some human girl?”
“No, she’s already had the pleasure of a fae in college—and he treated her rather poorly, along with a string of humans he laid with during his stint among them, but that’s none of your concern. What you are to do is to be her matchmaker.”
“Matchmaker,” Duada repeated, his face blank. “As in, set her up with romantic partners? Are you turning me into a human dating service, Your Majesty?”
“Just for one woman,” she said, obviously trying to contain her giddiness at Duada’s discomfort. “You are to arrange Miss Jasmine Duval on human dates. You will go to her, introduce yourself and what you will do for her, and comply with her wishes as to the kind of man or woman she desires. As we speak, I’m arranging for a transfer of American funds to your accounts, so you will provide for anything she might need to make this a success. Once she is in a stable relationship that she declares herself satisfied with, then and only then will you be free from your bondage as her guardian. You will find a more detailed dossier on her in your quarters. The Queen has spoken.”
The rest of the court gave a brief bow of their heads at the Queen’s decree, but Duada was dumbstruck. This was... beyond unreasonable. To be sent to the human realm and not even be allowed to sleep around, but rather to set someone else up on a date? The fae were notoriously jealous and fickle creatures, and Duada was no exception. He clenched his jaw, but after a few moments, he simply gave a bow.
“As you wish, my Queen.”
The Queen smiled, but then tsk-ed and waved him off. “Don’t be so serious, now, this will be good for you. It’s been far too long since you’ve spent any real time out of the palace; some ‘fresh air’ will do you good. Now off with you. I expect you to leave tonight.”
The Queen turned and made her way back up to the throne, and Duada held in a groan, turning and heading back up to his qu
arters. A headache was starting to blossom in his forehead.
And it started out to be such a lovely day.
Wicked As He Comes: BBW Tiger Shifter Paranormal Romance (Tiger In Her Bed Book 3) Page 10
