Page 14 of Lord of the Hollow Court
“Is the fun beginning already?” she asked with a yawn.
“I should go.” Braam shrugged into his shirt, then paused to straighten his hair in the mirror before collecting his waistcoat and tails.
Madeleif still lay upon the floor, stretching languorously. “If you leave now,” she said, the sound of a pout in her voice, “I really will have to find someone to take your place.”
“The King, perhaps.” Braam cringed at his own words. They’d slipped out without permission, coated in judgment. He did not judge her for anything. In this world, the High Fae could do as they pleased, and the Lady of Lindendam was too spectacular to be confined to one man. He knew that. He’d always known.
But part of him had been fooled. Her talk of love was only ever to placate him, to leave the door open for herself to return whenever she pleased.
“You know he has affairs of his own,” Madeleif said, narrowing her eyes. “Forever is too long a time to be together otherwise.”
Braam frowned. “I always thought the right company makes the time go quickly.”
“Dear Braam.” Madeleif sighed. “You are still beautiful, you know. The handsomest of the low fae—more comely than some of the High. And that hint of gold in your skin—it gave me shivers to touch you when we first were together.”
“Now you’re trying to change my mind about leaving,” he said with another rumbled laugh. It ended on a sharp note as it struck him a touch too late: she kept speaking of their past.
“Youshouldn’tleave me. You don’t understand it, Braam. I am so very busy all the time, it’s nearly impossible to make room in my schedule for trysts. Besides, Bakker and I have our agreement that we must go outside our court.”
In the middle of straightening the druzy spider on his lapel, Braam faltered. The Hollow Court was a colony of Lindendam. Spending her nights with him was hardly going outside her court. The dread Braam had felt earlier sharpened. He needed Bakker’s support to remain free of the Court of Claws.
“The moment you go,” Madeleif said gently, “I’m going to march naked down the hall to my own room, and tell my maid to send me another likely prospect. I refuse to dress again tonight. Or to be alone.”
Slowly, Braam turned. “You’re teasing me again. Aren’t you?”
“I don’t have to be.” She stood, tossing aside her long hair. “Take off your costume. Join me in bed, where you belong. I promise to be gentler with you this time. Don’t make me seek out another.”
Braam baulked at the ultimatum. For all the times she’d struck him, he’d never once thought of her as cruel; it was a thing that gave her pleasure, that thrilled her, which she often pointed out was to his benefit. Though he had never enjoyed it himself, how could he deny her anything? The few times he’d had enough and tried to stop her, she talked in circles until he’d agreed, her High Fae prowess with words used against him. She’d be gentler with him then—for a time. Long enough for him to believe she would change.
Now that the thought came to him, he could not ignore it. She was just another cruel High Fae lady, and he the low fae lord of one of her many colonial courts, and not even one of the profitable ones. Who better to toy with than a man who could not turn down her support?
He had been right about one thing in the last hour. He’d grown far too old for this.
“I’m leaving,” Braam said gruffly.
True to her word, when he opened his door she swept past him. Striding down the hall with nothing but her long hair to conceal her, she left her gown of stars and a flurry of hair pins pooled upon his floor.
He hated that he watched her go.
Chapter Seven
Guests
As Braam descended the servants’ stair with a stream of curses and the heavy use of his cane, he froze. The young Lord of the Court of Swords had just rounded the corner, long hair flaring around his waist and eyes searching for what Braam knew was the servants’ stair. In the time it took Braam to descend the stairs, he’d been replaced by a younger, High Fae lover.
When Lord Aleksandr’s piercing blue eyes found his, they immediately narrowed in a sneer. “Seems this is your end at last,” the lordling said, brushing his platinum hair back proudly. Braam’s face reddened beneath his heavy layer of powder. The servants scurrying through the hall heard everything, registering his disrespectful words to their lord with wide eyes. “I’ve been waiting for the day.”
Braam took the last two steps while leaning visibly on his cane’s raven head, employing all the dignity he could muster. He watched Aleksandr coolly as he passed by, as if Braam did not know how beneath him in status he actually was.
The move unnerved Aleksandr just as he’d hoped. The young fae began to babble. “Madeleif of Lindendam never should’ve lowered herself to be with you. I’d never do it myself, taking a low fae as a lover. Though humans”—his nostrils flared—"can be oh so much fun to play with." His grin was upsetting. “I can tell you agree.”
Puzzlement flooded Braam’s features before he could hide it.
“Oh? You didn’t know?” Aleksandr threw his head back and laughed, the bulge of his throat an unnerving counterpart to Madeleif’s long, smooth neck. He had a full, cruel mouth—perfect for Madeleif’s sharp teeth. Braam winced.
“Somebody’s got a human pet,” Aleksandr sang as he stepped on the stairs.
What is the brat going on about?Braam thought, but an alarm sounded in him, quickening his pulse. He’d smelled something before—something unusual he could not name.
