Page 30 of Kiss the Filthiest King

Their plan sounds wonderful. If only I felt confident I could execute it.

“You truly think I can do that?” I whisper, uncertainty clogging my throat.

The entire plan for the night rests on their belief I am able to wield Queen Morrigan’s power. Intellectually, I know it’s in my abilities, but I’ve never tried. I’ve refused to attempt it against any of my friends. It seems intrusive enough to do it to an enemy.

“I told you,” Ryther assures me, “it comes naturally to the folk. It’ll be easy as talking.”

“You can’t hold her hand through it,” Loch warns. “In fact, you ought to arrive separately, and stand far away.”

I don’t like the sound of that.

“What about you?” I ask Loch.

He hesitates. “I’m not part of any court, officially. As an untamed fae, no one would be completely against my seeming on your side, but you can’t seem to rely on me. You can’t seem to rely on anyone.”

It makes sense, of course. The problem is, I do. I rely on them both.

“Where are the others?”

“Valdred’s still in Bones. We exchanged notes. He said she’d be here by twilight. He’ll be of help where he can, but like Ryther, he’s too politically charged for you to lean on. You’ll have to show favoritism toward him, though.”

I sigh. “I know.”

“As for Caenan, he’s currently watching your sister as she pouts in one of the guest rooms.”

“Good.” I nod, reassured. I was going to ask him to do that in any case. “He can keep watching her.”

I don’t think I could assign the guard post to Ryther or Valdred, and Loch just said he’d happily eat her. Relva isn’t the first person who comes to mind when I think “bodyguard” either. Caenan truly is the best option.

“And Relva?”

“Preparing the revel, what else? The first altercation will be the most important one—everything else should work itself out. Call for a council at midnight. I will sit at your right, Valdred at your left; it’s important that you should keep your distance, you two.” Loch looks between Ryther and I. “There’s no hiding the marks. They’re problematic enough.”

My eyes fall on the beautiful vines, currently twirled around my hand. I clear my throat. “What are they exactly? These marks.”

“On that note, I have a pressing need to not be sitting right here any longer.” Loch waves, and makes himself scarce at record speed, calling from the door, “Enjoy yourtalk.”

I cringe. I made a point of asking Loch, to have a simple, impersonal explanation, rather than whatever this is going to be, but I’m left with Ryther.

We can fuck, and we can shout at each other, but talking? That’s another story.

Rather than looking at me, he studies his own marks as he speaks.

“No one knows how it works. It’s rare, this bond, and considered a blessing. The marks appear to indicate souls bonded to each other.” He sounds like he’s reciting from a textbook. “It will not be liked by the lords, because the high queen is supposed to be impartial, and how impartial can a woman bound to the unseelie king truly be? You’ll have to favor the seelie to make up for it. By sheer chance, the seelie way seems to be your natural disposition.”

“So, we’re…bonded,” I conclude, cutting through all the words to get straight to the bone.

He takes a while before inclining his head, not voicing his concurrence.

“And you’re not happy about it,” I glean.

He hesitate before replying, the way the fae seems to do whenever they wish they could outright lie, but have to find words to twist instead. “It came about in a strange way. You’re meant to accept the bond. You weren’t even conscious. I believed it developed because your soul latched on to this world once it saw a way to hold on. It’s still rather unfortunate. We’re bound for life, and likely after, and you never had a say.”

“Nor did you,” I reply after a beat.

He could save me, or let me die; and he’s already made it clear he believes my being alive is in his interest.

Ryther makes no answer, though those eyes remain on me, unflinching. Uncomfortable. I look away first.

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