Page 80 of The Nightmare Queen

“Loose ends? That’s all I get?”I scream into hermind.

“They took something they shouldn’t have.”The words sink into my stomach.

“And after you take it back? What then?”

“What, you’re not going to try and stop me?”She asks, a tone of surprise in her voice. But I ignore her question.

“Afterwards, Eveera. What then?”

“Afterwards, I go home.”My heart twists at her words.Fuck.All of the mixed feelings over the past few days, over the past fewhours.The brief moment after we’d killed our abductors where I thought we’d come to some sort of amicable companionship were all nothing to her.

She’s going to put me on the throne…she’s going to involve us all in regicide.Oh bleeding gods…“Don’t feel too badly princeling.”She purrs in my head.“I was your leverage. Now, you’re mine. Besides we’re just playing a role. Remember?”I’ve made a deal with the devil and signed it in my blood. I’ve killed for her now too, and what hurts the most isn’t the subtle betrayal or manipulation, it’s that when this is over she will go home and rid herself of me.

Here I’ll be left, a king, forever infected with her.

Eveera

Rorin’s question plays over in my head again and again, “and after that?”,while I stand here with four heavy heads in a satchel and a finger tucked into one of my small pockets. The prince gives a nod to the soldiers standing guard at the door who are pretending to not notice the growing pool of oxidized blood by my feet.

The loud sound of the wooden hinges is deafening as the grand dining hall opens up. Our soldiers move in a formation in front of us so that they walk in first. Rorin, stands at my side, his brows drawn tightly together.

“Why are you making that face?”

He keeps his focus forward. “Something is wrong.”Rorin pushes through our guards, signaling them to circle back around me quickly. Much to my shock, they listen, blocking me completely from view and unfortunately also from seeing. “Father.” His voice is hard, laced with as much hatred as he can muster.

“They set us up.”The words rush out of him quickly, I can feel the violence in his Wield grow as his control slips. I shove at the guard’s backsa few times, forcing them to part their barricade of bodies. Very slowly I move the few steps necessary to stand to the side of the prince.

On the left of King Eiser is a greasy, sickly pale man. There is an air of arrogance around the two of them that is stifling. The grimy male stands up, as if he were the host of the dinner, and widely opens his arms to greet us. “Well, you must be the Queen of the hour. No offense to Queen Mareese, of course. It’s just that its not often our world truly gets to see theNightmare Queen.”He laughs. The sound is grating, and there is a sneer in his voice as he calls me by the nickname.

“Baelor.”Rorin says into my mind.So,I think,this is the tyrant of Hadar.

“We could kill them all now. It’s a little lack luster in my opinion, but between the two of us…”I tell him,my fingers curling around his and squeezing. I don’t know why I do it, maybe to comfort him. Lately my hatred for the prince has been so…temperamental. But if nothing else, I can chalk it up to the game we’re playing. The ruse in place that we are lovers. That explanation will have to be enough for now.

He subtly shakes his head, “no. Not yet.”

“It takes care of both of our problems.”I try my Wield coaxing his.Only a few eyes wander to the weight in my hand. When he doesn’t answer I concede,“have it your way.”

I saunter up to my intended seat. By no coincidence I’ve been placed directly in front of Baelor and a young girl - she can’t be older than Millie - as sickly and gaunt as the king next to her.

Thwump!I drop the sack of heads that lands centered between the two kings. The burlap opens slightly revealing their gaping mouths, glassy eyes, and the hack marks. Gasps ripple around the table and one lord retches. “I believe these belong to you.” I say.

Baelor’s laugh assaults my ears again. “And what made you come to that conclusion, Your Highness?”

“Hmph. If they’re not yours, then they must behis.”My finger lazily points to King Eiser.

“That is a remarkable accusation!” The man, Birk, shrills.

Rorin’s familiar scent and presence engulf me as he reaches under my chin to tilt my cheek up at him. His soft, warm lips press against it. “Excuse my beloved, she has a tendency for theatrics.” He tilts his head at the table surveying the men we killed, “their heads were a bit difficult to remove with only dinner knives handy.”

I’ve zoned out on everything else that came after the word ‘beloved’.

The chairs scrape out from beneath the table as we take our seats. Rorin reaches underneath mine pulling me closer to him to then casually drape an arm across the chair back.

Mareese is stares at us in horror. “Have you nothing to say of her accusing your father for being responsible for the-these men?!”

“To that? No.” He says and my gaze settles on his mouth, the blaze of that kiss burning still. “But, to the company you’ve invited to our table, I have a lot to say.”

Eiser flags over a servant to clear the heads from the table. The poor thing gags and heaves the whole way as he does so. “Now now, son, inviting them here is all in the name of peace.”

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