Page 168 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

“Well, I guess we’re going to need another bath.”

I laughed. Rubbing my sticky thighs together. “You think?”

He rolled on his side, propping himself on one arm so his face was framed by the golden rays of morning light behind him.

“Or maybe you skip the bath. I like the idea of you walking around all day with my cum dried on your thighs.” He leaned forward, nipping at my ear. “Then everyone would know you’re mine.”

I shivered. If we didn’t have so much to attend to, I might give into his idea. But walking around all day painted with his cum while I talked to the neighboring royals sounded like a bad idea.

Terrible idea.

It would take all my self-control in the first place to keep my hands off of him. I didn’t need that reminder too.

I ran a finger down his chest. “Another time.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Until then we’ll have to find another way to mark you as mine.”

“You don’t need to, Sweetheart. Everyone already knows.”

A while later, both of us cleaned up and dressed, Luka and I made our way from our room in search of everyone else. I was surprised no one had come looking for us during our morning wake-up—hopefully, that meant everyone was catching up on their sleep.

Luka pulled me towards the kitchen, but I stopped him. “Can we stop in the dining room first?” He hesitated, the concern evident in his eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“I need to see it.”

“Okay.” We made our way silently to the dining room, my stomach twisting in knots with every step closer we took. The doors were shut when we arrived. I took a deep breath before pushing open the double golden doors.

The room looked the same as when we left it last night. That felt like days ago. Someone had used magic, it looked like a combination of earth and ice magic—to roughly seal the broken windows. Vines and trees wound through the broken panes with ice frozen in between the cracks, creating a makeshift wall. Light filtered in fractures through the panels of ice. I would have thought it was beautiful if I didn’t know the circumstances behind the structure.

If Dhampirs hadn’t created the hole in the first place, leaving a trail of ruined bodies in its wake.

Beads of shattered glass still littered the floor, dried blood flaking on the floor in dried splatters and rivets. One of the tables lay in shards as if someone was slammed down in the middle.

There were several large pools of driedblood on the floor. At least someone had removed the bodies that had once laid in them.

“I need to find someone to clean this up.”

“There are more important things than getting this room cleaned up right now.”

Luka was right, but my eyes fixed on the dried pools of blood where a body once lay, the thinner spot of blood burning itself into my mind. I needed it gone. I wouldn’t be able to focus knowing the blood of my people who had died in my palace walls stained this floor. I needed this room cleaned up and sealed off. I didn’t want to step foot in here for a long time. Or ever again.

And the people—where had they been put? Did we know who they were? Had their families been contacted? I’d go tell them myself if they hadn’t been told already. Where were their families? Had they been here too? Or were they waiting at home, wondering where their loved one had gone?

Luka tugged at my hand. “Let’s go find someone, maybe there will be someone in the kitchen. We can eat and get everything sorted out, but you need food.”

My body was numb as I let him lead me from the room. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon before the ceremony and my stomach gnawed with hunger.

He put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “You did everything right last night, remember that. There’s nothing you could have done to prevent what happened.”

I let out a deep sigh, some of the tension leaving my shoulders. “I know,” I forced myself to say. Every instinct in my body screamed to blame myself—to let myself bear the burden of the lives taken last night. But Luka was right. There was nothing I could have done to prevent the events from last night.

Still, the losses weighed heavy on my soul.

I sat on a stool in the kitchen, having finished eating the breakfast Luka had insisted upon. He dismissed the staff we found in the kitchen, asking them where to find a few things before asking them to leave and find someone to clean up the dining room.

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