by Ann Denton
Unless …
I grabbed Connor when we were halfway through the secret passages snaking along the castle walls. I handed him the elven chain. “Can you get that cleaned up? And then maybe test it? See if it makes the wearer do whatever you want.”
Connor gave a little grin. “We can test it right now. Hey Quinn, come back!”
Quinn stopped walking. He’d been ahead with Ryan. But he returned to us.
Connor said, “Your Queen commands you to kneel.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow at me.
I sighed. “Just briefly, if you don’t mind.”
Quinn knelt.
Connor grabbed the bloody chain, ready to slip it over Quinn’s neck.
Declan grabbed the chain and yanked it back. “No! Don’t!”
We all turned to look at him.
He rubbed his bloody palm off on his breeches, saying “I think we need a little more research into those chains. I’ve never heard of them traveling outside Sedara. I know they use them in interrogation. I don’t know much about them, to be honest. I don’t know how much is written. But logically … I mean, the chains wouldn’t be incredibly useful if anyone could control them, would they? Your enemy could just grab them and turn around and use them on you. I’m pretty sure they’ve got some kind of magical code to activate them.”
“Sard!” I clenched my fist.
“Whoever controls these chains controls the wearer completely?” Connor asked Declan.
“I … I’m not sure.”
“Mind and body?”
Declan shrugged.
“Why don’t you and I go back to Wyle’s chamber and raid his library?” Connor suggested.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
Connor pressed his lips into a thin line. “Abbas has been very good at blocking both Quinn and I from infiltrating his mind. But if he thinks he has control, complete control over someone, then he might let his guard drop—”
“That’s too dangerous!” I protested. “What if we can’t get control back?”
Quinn slid his hand around my waist. Would you deny one of my men the opportunity to protect their country? Save it from an invader?
“Not fair.”
We have to protect Evaness, Dove.
Quinn, Connor, and Declan tromped back toward Wyle’s tower, leaving the chain (and me) with Ryan. They wouldn’t let me go with them.
“You need to bathe. You haven’t eaten today. And it’s going to take them three hours to get you into that golden coronation monstrosity with the giant collar,” Connor twisted his hand out of my grip.
Ryan guided my unwilling feet the rest of the way to my chamber. He rang for maidservants and helped me out of my mourning dress himself so that no one else would see the bloodstains.
As I slipped into the steaming water I asked the question that was making my stomach churn. “What secret do you think Wyle gave up?”
Ryan stared into my eyes. “Honestly? I think he told them about you.”
“How’d he get around the geas?”
“Djinn magic is different than ours. I don’t know. You just asked what I thought.”
Sard. I felt the truth of what he said in my bones. Someone out there knew my weakness. Knew I wasn’t really a threat. Knew how easy it would be to defeat me. I sank below the surface and stayed under as long as I could. The hot water surrounded me like a cocoon. It made me feel separate and safe. It was an illusion. But I clung to it.
Eventually, Ryan’s hand dipped below the surface and pulled me up. “You were starting to scare me.”
“Sorry. I just … they just passed this morning. And already, Lady Agatha and her son and—”
“Deep breath, Bloss. Soldiers perform better under pressure. You’ve been training with that insane mother of yours all your life. You’ve had drill after drill for this. Look at me,” Ryan grabbed my chin and gently turned my face to his. “Tell me what you’d tell her. What do you want us to do?”
My mind raced. Images flew through my head, but they were so quick and fleeting I couldn’t pull any of them down. I couldn’t see them. This wasn’t just a drill. And my mind knew it. My body knew it. I pulled back from Ryan and looked down, disappointed in myself. Ashamed. “I don’t know.”
Ryan grabbed my waist and hauled me out of the tub, ignoring the fact that I dripped water all over him. He turned me around and put my hands on the tub, bending me forward over the water. The dark strands of my hair danced along the top of the water, floating, as I stared at my reflection.
“You have one minute to come up with a plan before I spank you, Little Dearling,” Ryan said.
I gasped. My core clenched. The physical response of my body to Ryan’s dominance was immediate. His hand caressed my backside and the fear and swirling images in my mind disappeared. My brain cleared. My body and mind were focused on only one thing. His touch. The soft trails left by his fingertips that slowly disappeared as he backed away.
Smack!
The impact of Ryan’s hit sent my chest into the side of the tub. It hurt. But at the same time, my core fluttered. My breathing quickened. My breasts, hanging down, bobbed with need, with the desire to be touched, grabbed, man-handled until sensation rocketed up from my core to my spine.
But Ryan didn’t caress me again. Didn’t move to rub the spot he’d hit. Didn’t sneak his hand around my thigh to feel how achingly wet I was. He simply growled. “One minute, Bloss.”
I scrambled to think. To focus. To pretend this was all just a training session. But, just as I had gathered my thoughts—
Smack!
He hit me again. The second time, the reality of the situation sunk in. I had to think. Quickly. I opened my mouth and spouted out the first things that came to mind. “Willard needs to be scared. We need to limit his capacity for damage, quickly. He and his mother know about the dragons. I’d give Lady Agatha a hallucinogen, so she starts spouting off nonsense for a few days. With her age, people would think it was an episode. That she’s deluded. Willard—maybe he needs a fall from his horse. A good kick to the head. To scare him. And incapacitate him long enough to give me some time to think. Abbas … I’m not sure yet.” I cringed, waiting for a smack for my indecision.
But Ryan whirled me around, pulled me flush against him and kissed me. Hard. So hard he stole my breath. “That was sarding amazing, Princess. God, I love your mind almost as much as this body,” he teased.
His kisses grew more frantic. Desperate. His hands roamed up my sides, pushing me back slightly so he could tweak my nipples.
I moaned into his mouth. This was what I wanted. This was the kind of release I needed after everything that had happened.
One of Ryan’s hands abandoned my breasts, swirled down over my stomach, and started sliding over my opening. Up and down. Up and down. He spread my lips slightly and slid his finger just below them, still caressing my center. Up and down. He added a back and forth motion as he went, tracing a literal lightning bolt over my pussy. I shuddered against him.
“Yes,” I breathed, when our kiss broke and he lifted me off the ground so he could suckle a breast, one hand holding my back, the other maintaining friction on my core. Having a half giant hold me suspended, vulnerable in midair, while he fully controlled my body—the very thought of it made me wild. That I could buck and kick and scream and no matter what, he was completely in control. And I was completely safe with him.
Ryan twisted his fingers. Sensation shot out to my thighs in warm ribbons. And then in shocking bolts. I started to buck against him, to ride his hand.
“Yes, Ryan!” I whispered his name.
He kept up the movement against my clit with his thumb as he slid a finger into me. That send me over the edge and I screamed, bucking hard against his hand, drawing out the moment, the mindless haze of sensation. Until it faded and I collapsed, my head falling to Ryan’s shoulder.
“That was quite a show,” Declan’s dry voice made my eyes pop open.
My oth
er husbands stood, watching, as Ryan slowly let me slide to the floor. Ryan grinned at them. Then he stuck his wet fingers in his mouth.
Connor moaned.
Ryan smacked his lips as he pulled his fingers out. “I was just rewarding our wife. She came up with a plan for Willard and Lady Agatha.”
“Good.” Declan nodded curtly. “Because we have one for Abbas.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Shite. Shite this is heavy, I thought.
I made my way to the Great Balcony at the front of the palace, where my coronation would be held, so that the crowds gathered below could see.
The stupid golden collar of my dress was as high as my head and served as a blinder, so I couldn’t see behind me unless I turned my entire body. The dress I wore was a daringly low-cut gold brocade, sewn with so many pearls that I felt I might as well be wearing armor. Armor that was so heavy it was about to fall forward and expose my nipples to the entire kingdom. I cursed my mother and the dressmaker, who had conspired together to create this awful ‘statement piece.’ And even as I cursed them, tears filled my eyes. This was the last thing my mother had done that I could curse. I fingered the sleeve of my dress, as if touching it would somehow connect me to her.
The sun was setting in the distance, painting the sky a blushing pink. Burnt orange clouds hovered above the horizon. The sky was too beautiful for the day. But the wind, the wind was just right. The wind bit at my eyes. It turned my nose red and chapped my lips. I stepped to the rail of the balcony and waved as I was supposed to. I gazed down at my people. They smiled and laughed and joked with one another. Nobles and commoners from the capital Marscha mingled together. They carried lanterns, wore fur-lined hats, and held steaming mugs of hot cider passed out by vendors. The sweet scent of warm apples drifted up to me where I stood. I inhaled, wishing I could share in their joy.
Instead, I waved, with a painted-on smile as I watched those who had gathered to swear allegiance to the new queen. Sometime in the past, someone had decided that continuity was more important than heartbreak. Stability was more important than mourning. Evaness couldn't go a single full day without a new queen.
I would be crowned before the sun dipped below the horizon.
I saw Ryan’s contingent below. I spotted Lady Agatha, who looked rather tipsy. My lips curved at that, assuming Quinn’s people had helped her along, so she could start spouting nonsense. Willard was nowhere to be seen. She kept trying to speak with Lord Aiden and his wife, and the pair kept edging away from her.
The other nobles from the other provinces all had at least one member representing them.
The ambassadors from the seven kingdoms all stood together. I gave a polite nod to Meeker, determined not to show the anger I felt. I quickly moved on to smile to Mateo and his father and the delegation from Macedon.
Then I made a game of smiling at Ryan’s contingent of palace guards and random commoners. Until I spotted Kylee in the crowd and couldn’t resist a happy wave. Not that the tavern owner remembered me as myself. But he seemed delighted to have gotten a smile from the queen. And so at least there was that.
I also gave a discreet wave to one woman in the crowd who wore a hood. The woman I’d asked Ryan to fly out and fetch this afternoon. The woman I’d decided would be my new castle mage.
Cerena nodded back at me, signaling that everything was ready.
I bit down on my grin and focused once more on my people.
Seeing the crowd below me only increased my sense of responsibility. Only increased the weight of the crown. It made me more certain that I needed to quash the threats I faced in order to keep them safe. The innocents below knew nothing of the perils that plagued Evaness. Nothing about how we teetered on the precipice of war. They knew nothing of my fear or the twisting misery that crawled through my stomach, pinching and showing no mercy. My sweet people only saw their Beast Tamer Queen, about to take her crown. That’s what Connor told me the locals had started calling me. My stomach roiled.
This plan better work, I worried internally, though I smiled brightly.
I didn’t look at my knights or Avia, knowing they were standing off to my side, tense and hopeful. They all stood in full armor, except Quinn, who wore his traditional black, along with a clean and gleaming elven chain around his neck.
Knowing it was there made my fingers twitch, eager to rip the evil thing right off him. But I couldn’t. Not yet.
Abbas appeared at my side. I hadn't even seen him approach.
"Your Majesty, your personal butler, Jorad, has asked me to have the honor of escorting you up to the platform as you are crowned,” he leaned closer than was necessary to speak softly into my ear.
I didn’t flinch, though I wanted to.
Jorad had asked Abbas to assist on my orders. The game had begun. My heart hitched.
“I would be honored if you’d escort me, Prince Abbas,” I replied, making eye contact.
He looked handsome. He was in a deep blue jacket that offset his tan skin. The sunset gleamed against his black hair, which curled slightly at his shoulders. He held out a hand with a glowing blue ring on it.
I smiled and took his hand.
I fought my nerves. I had to play this just right, like a musician. This was a performance. Or like a gambler. This was poker. For a minute I wished I’d taken Kylee up on his offer to work in the gambling hall. I’d only seen bits and pieces of the bluffs that players pulled. I’d seen courtiers and grown up with them. But this was the biggest wager I’d ever made.
Quinn’s life—and the future of the kingdom—depended on it.
"Your Majesty," Abbas purred. "How are you feeling this evening?"
“Rather disappointed. My mage died this afternoon.”
“What a somber day,” Abbas’ mask of polite indifference didn’t crack.
“Yes. It was particularly disappointing to discover he’d betrayed me.”
“Betrayed you?”
“He was spelled to explode upon betrayal.”
Abbas’ raised a thick black brow. “Well, that’s one way to ensure loyalty.”
I waved at the crowd. “An unfortunate way, don’t you agree?”
“Very.”
“What I found even more interesting than his betrayal was the elven chain that he’d been wearing.”
Abbas’ eyes glittered. “I’ve heard such chains are powerful.”
“They’d have to be, to overcome the geas my mother placed on anyone who knew about my power.”
Abbas hid his smirk almost immediately, but I saw the minuscule quirk of his lips. He was growing smug. Good.
“I found it interesting that you left the chain behind. It was rather a mess, true. But I wondered all afternoon why you’d leave such a valuable weapon. I concluded that you wanted me to know it was you.”
“Sedara has plenty of those elven chains,” Abbas said.
“I have a Sedarian husband who could just as easily have told that country what they wanted to know.”
“Your husband would betray you?” Abbas put a hand to his chest in mock horror. “May I suggest an upgrade?”
“I believe you have, several times.”
“Well, perhaps, you’ve now come to your senses and will take me up on my offer.”
“You are now aware,” I paused and gave a special wave to two jumping children in the crowd, “that the alliance you seek with me, may not be entirely beneficial for you.”
“I disagree.”
I turned to face him and study his expression for a moment in the torchlight. He seemed earnest. But that was the problem with nobles. They always seemed earnest.
“This evening …” I began slowly, dragging the words out through my teeth as if they were painful for me, “there was a mistake. A servant mistook your chain for ornamental coronation chain. They placed this chain on one of my husbands.”
Abbas held still. I knew he was already aware of this ‘mistake.’ Quinn had been dull and lifeless since the chain had been placed o
ver his head, against my vehement protests.
“Darling princess, I find it as hard to believe that was a mistake as you found my leaving the chain behind to be.”
I wasn’t certain if Abbas realized his admission. I did. He’d admitted to killing my mage. And it made my stomach twist as we moved into the next steps of the game. He’d already taken a life. And Quinn had bet his life the moment my hair-brained husbands had agreed on this scheme. I swallowed my emotions and kept my face passive as I asked, "What do you really want, Abbas?"
Abbas grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. "I've already told you."
"You want Evaness? Is that it? You want our fertile crops? Our land? Our ports? Access to the treaty with Sedara? What?"
"My family may be interested in all those things. But ... as I've said. I'd like you."
"What do you need peace power for?"
"Ah ... now darling, why do you think it's only your power I want?"
"You might be slightly interested in my body. But you're half-djinni. Power means more to you than anything." I met his eyes head on.
He raised his eyebrows. "You're such a smart little thing. So, I have to ask myself, why would such a smart girl allow her knight to do something as stupid as put my chain around his neck?"
I ground my teeth together. This was the part of the negotiation I didn’t want to go through. The part where I put everything on the line. My nerves turned my insides into a bubbling tar pit. I smiled wider to hide what I felt. “I asked you here tonight to offer you a choice. Clearly, my power needs to remain secret. You may have my mind-talker, as a gift, given your written guarantee you’ll never breathe a word about what Wyle told you. Or … you can have the engagement you seem to desire so much.”
“Beautiful girl, why would I want your husband when I could have you?”
“I highly doubt your sincere interest. And I like to hedge my bets,” I gave Abbas a cold look.
“And is this how you treat your husbands?”
“Their duty is to Evaness first,” I spit out the words Declan had coached me through, trying to sound as cold and calculating as I could, instead of like the quivering little girl I felt like inside.
