Page 4 of A War of Three Kings

“I traveled to this realm to speak with her, that is all,” I bite out. “We were having a lovely conversation before you arrived and shot up my people. Don’t fucking forget, Edmund, that you were the one who attacked first. That we came here peacefully.” I grip the armrests of my chair so tightly that the wood splinters beneath my grasp.

“You came here for a conversation? Now, that doesn’t sound likely, does it, Mother?” Edmund takes a long draw of his wine, then pours more, topping up both their cups. I know he does it to taunt me. “I will ask you again. Why did you come to these lands with a band of warriors?”

“Did I stutter, Edmund? Ask me a thousand times. The truth isn’t going to change,” I bark out. “I brought my personal guard because this realm isn’t welcoming of my kind.”

Edmund stands and leans over the table, eyes narrowing. “You traveled here to take Keira as your consort, by whatever means possible. To drag her back to your lands. Were you planning to kidnap other women? Are there more of you coming?”

“I would not force Keira to do a damned thing.” I lean as far forward as the bindings of air magic around my torso allow, my voice low and deadly. “She wanted me to?—”

Edmund slams his fist on the table and the plates rattle. “Damn it, Aldrin! This ismy daughteryou are speaking of. These aremy womenI need to protect. Tell me when the rest of you will arrive.”

“There arenoother fae crossing over!”

We glare at each other for a long time. Pent-up energy courses through me with nowhere to go, and I wonder how much Keira would hate me if I killed her father. I could do it with a whisper of magic if I had it, or if an ounce of my physical strength returned and I got him off guard. I can be a very resourceful man.

Edmund sits down and scowls at me. Maybe he is having the exact same thoughts. He takes that steaming plate of food and pushes it just into my reach, but as I try to grab it, he pulls it back an inch. “You can have all of this food”—his other hand indicates the feast—“if you just answer my questions truthfully.”

“By the Soul Ripper, Edmund,” I curse.

“He is clearly not hungry enough,” Naomi quips. “Maybe starve him some more.”

“What has Keira said?” I snap. I need to know what she is thinking.

“Keira doesn’t want to speak of you.” Naomi flicks her fingers in a dismissive gesture. “She has cast you from her mind, Aldrin, because she knows you are nothing more than a predator, like all high fae.”

I flinch at those words. They cut deep, twisting a knife in my heart. “No,” I whisper. “No, she couldn’t possibly. Not after everything.”

Both sets of eyes narrow on me, then they share a dark look.

Naomi’s long nails tap the desk with agitation. Pure panic flashes within her eyes and disappears so quickly, I wonder if I imagined it. “What spell do you have over Keira?” she demands. “How are you clouding her judgment and controlling her?”

I smirk. So Keira does not hate me completely. I gaze from mother to son. “Do you really not know? Can you not see it?” They stare at me, frowns deepening. “I hold the oldest, most powerful and most common enchantment over her. She is in love with me, and I with her. There is no magic or spells betweenus, other than the blood oath I pledged to her, but that holdsmeathermercy.”

Did Keira allow me to be captured, or did she fight? If she cares for me, why hasn’t she hasn’t come for me?

“You think a lot of yourself, fae.” Edmund’s air bands constrict painfully around my chest and legs as his eyes bore into mine.

“I think our girllikesthe idea of you, especially with the pretty package you come in, but love? I don’t think so.” The High Priestess laughs mockingly. It sounds forced.

“You are the ones who think I have enchanted her.” I put my arms behind my head as casually as I can, without hinting at the pain the movement brings. Behind my false bravado, I am desperate for them to see the truth.

I am a lovesick fae who will follow Keira to the end of the universe, even if it means my destruction, and I am absolutely harmless to them.

Edmund’s lips press into a thin line. “Tell me about this oath you made to her.”

I exhale slowly. “She didn’t trust me when we first met, even though I tended to her wounds, gave her food and shelter, and offered to help her find her sister, because your people filled her head with mistruths and old prejudices. I made a blood oath that I would never hold her against her will. I cannot kidnap her, bind her or imprison her.”

A heavy silence falls over the room.

“Ask Keira yourself,” I say. “If you still believe a word she says.”

“So, you need to use emotional manipulation and lies to lure her back,” Naomi spits at me, and my scowl deepens. This woman twists everything I say. She turns to the Lord Protector. “We can work with that. It won’t be too hard to lift the veil from her eyes.”

“Why is Keira not here, having this pleasant discussion with us? She has a right to know what you are doing. How you are keeping me.” My tone betrays my desperation.

Naomi cocks her head to the side with false pity. “She doesn’t want to see you, Aldrin. If there is any small part of her that still wants you, we will rip it out. She deserves so much better than a high fae.”

“Like being sold off to the worthless prince who tried to strangle her, all to better the fortunes of your family?” I growl, pulling viciously at my bindings.

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