Page 68 of Rapunzel Unchained

I couldn’t let this happen. It was my fault the demon went after Gage. It was my fault I was stuck in this stupid cage to begin with. While I didn’t agree with Gage all the time, I couldn’t let the demon kill him. Nor could I let Gage hurt Zane. He could mess up and do something unrepairable.

No, this was my fault. I had to fix it.

The second I made a decision, I threw myself forward. Someone called my name off in the distance. But it was too late.

The knife sank into my chest, just missing my heart.

Unending pain scorching through my body from where the knife stuck out of me like a pin cushion. My feet stumbled under me, and I fell against a hard familiar chest.

“Oh, shit, Eva.” Zane’s voice was no longer hard with the demon’s voice. “What have I done? what have I done?”

Zane kept chanting the same refrain as Gage peered down at me, his face stricken with horror and fear. “Eva, why did you...? What did you...?”

I reached a hand out to him, my vision darkening. “I couldn’t let him... kill you.” My lungs seized and I coughed. Pain sliced with each breath, blood dripping down my lips with each ragged exhale.

“Eva!”

The ground rumbled underneath my body, making me groan. If I died here, I wouldn’t have accomplished my goal. Once again, I would have failed to avenge my mother.

Except I couldn’t find it in me to care. Zane and Gage were alive. The others were somewhere, coming, blurry figures standing over me.

“Are you happy now?” a voice, I think Luke, yelled. “Instead of fighting each other, we should be fighting the council.”

My hand weakly waved out, trying to find Luke. “It’s not their fault.”

“Eva,” Luke’s broken voice made my heart ache or it was the knife in my chest. “I’m going to heal you okay, just stay still.” His voice lifted, commanding in a way I hadn’t heard outside of the bedroom. “Gage, hold her. Zane, I need you to pull the knife out when I tell you.”

The voices grew quiet around me, my vision darkening further. All I could think was that to die surrounded by the men I loved wasn’t such a bad way to go.

Chapter 32

“Did you ever love me?” I asked the man before me, his hair graying and balding on the top. “Or did you only want me for my powers?”

The man who called himself king chuffed a laugh. “Let’s not pretend this was anything other than what it was. I wanted a powerful mage to be my queen, the fact that you were beautiful was only an added benefit.” His beady gaze leered over my body, making the layers of my dress almost nonexistent.

“And you wanted to be in a place of power. You got what you wanted. So why are you complaining?” He lifted his golden chalice to his lips, gulping down the wine like a disgusting pig. Dribbles of the dark red liquid dripped out and stained his ostentatious golden shirt.

Gold. Gold. Gold.

That was all my husband thought about. Gold clothes, gold curtains, even our fucking bed sheets were golden. If I didn’t see the ugly yellow brown color again, it still wouldn’t be long enough.

The Kingdom of Phrygia hadn’t been poor when I appeared, per se, but they weren’t rich. Not like the neighboring kingdoms that were readying their armies to take the little place over. It was probably why Midas didn’t think too far into my background before he agreed to marry me.

Lady Eva of Barrowhallow. A made-up name if anyone had ever heard it. And yet, all I had to do was charm my way into the right party, rub arms and flirt with the right aristocrat, and then I was being invited to the palace, twirling around the ballroom in a gown I’d sewn myself and jewels I’d glamoured to look real.

The king was smitten at the first look of me. Or at least in lust. When he learned of what I could do with my magic, he proposed that very evening. Years later, and here we were. The richest kingdom in the continent, no heir, and no closer to my revenge on the mages.

“We can’t go on like this,” My fingers trailed the satin tablecloth. “The mages are gaining more power every day. Soon, they will overrun the kingdom. Then the humans — you and your daughter included — will be nothing more than cattle to them.”

Midas waved me off as he had every time we’d had this conversation. “The mages serve the crown. You are making something out of nothing, Eva. Go back to planning your parties and flower arranging. Don’t you have a lover you’ve been keeping? Is he not keeping you satisfied?”

The nasty gleam in his gaze kept me from gasping at his question. It was no secret the king bedded whoever he wanted and often. Most nights, I didn’t even bother waiting for him to call for me, knowing he’d have whoever was the newest prettiest noble in the court in his bed.

But the fact that he knew of Ferdinand made my gut clench with anxiety.

“I won’t be brushed aside anymore, husband,” I snarled, placing my hand fully on the table before him. “You are a weak and greedy man, who cares more for getting your cock sucked than your people. I won’t let you be blinded by your pride.”

He threw his head back and laughed, pouring himself another drink. “And what are you going to do about it, dear wife?” He spat the word like a curse and not an endearment. “You were nothing more than a gutter rat slut before I picked you out of the crowd. You should be begging to suck your husband’s cock every day for deigning to allow you to call yourself queen.”

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