Page 27 of Faeling
Ravenna snorted. “You don’t know me very well. And your people will never accept it.”
“They will. I am their king and you are my mate. They will accept this. I’ll make it so.”
His arrogance was breathtaking—and arousing.
Grasping at any other argument she could, she said, “Your rule is too fragile to assume that.”
“Youdon’t knowmevery well,” he said, repeating her words back. “Nothing about me is fragile. And it will be my pleasure to prove it to you.”
“They will think I’m an enemy,” she yelped, growing desperate, “aspy.”
His lips thinned between his tusks at the word, and he levered himself up, offering her a little space to breathe.
“Spy or not, it doesn’t matter anymore. What you are is my mate.”
Ravenna bit back a growl of frustration. “Your own lord commander has accused me. Others will, too.” The mention of Ulrich cooled the air between them, and faster now, Ravenna’s mind caught up with all that had happened. All that Ulrich had said.
“You let him raid my things,” she accused, realization dawning. Her arousal shriveled up, and her wings fell silent.
Of course, she’d suggested he had, even if Lady Eydis disagreed. Ulrich answered only to Vallek.
It made sense for him to investigate her, but that bit of reasondidn’t quell her growing ire. Shoving his hand away, she rolled to the side and leapt off the bed. With the terror and excitement wearing away, she was left with an aching neck. Memories of how Ulrich had gripped her round the throat assaulted her, and she touched her neck gingerly, feeling how the hot skin had already begun to bruise.
A look at Vallek found him following her movements, and a thunderous frown crashed upon his brow when he truly looked at her throat.
“We had to be sure,” was what he said, nothing close to an apology.
“Well now you know,” she spat.
That frown didn’t leave him as he followed her back out into the central hall.
He reached for her again, but before he could say anything, a key scraped in the lock. The door to Vallek’s quarters burst open, Eydis, Ulrich, and Brynhíl rushing inside. They brought with them a cacophony of noise, their questions piling atop one another.
Lady Eydis, ever the diplomat, raised her hands, asking for calm, but it was Ulrich who Ravenna watched closely. The lord commander’s furious gaze found her, and his upper lip curled, as if to accuse that the king making off with her was her own fault.
Ravenna couldn’t help peeling back her own upper lip to reveal her fangs. Although not nearly as impressive as orc tusks, she let the lord commander know she could bite back.
Understanding her threat, Ulrich’s nostrils flared and he began to barrel toward her.
He’d gone perhaps three steps before Vallek intercepted him, catching his lord commander by the throat. Ulrich stumbled backwards, and Vallek used his momentum to slam the other orcinto the stone wall, making the sconces quiver. Ulrich sputtered, eyes wide with horror, as Vallek snarled in his face.
“Youeverlook at her like that again, I’ll carve out your eyes with my tusks.”
Ulrich’s eyes bulged—whether from the shock or Vallek squeezing his throat so tightly, Ravenna didn’t know. Or care, really.
“Vallek, let him go,” Eydis said calmly, as if he wasn’t about the choke the life out of his second. Still, the orcess’s eyes creased with worry as she looked between Ravenna and the scuffling orcs.
“He threatened my mate. This cannot be allowed.”
“Your mate?” Eydis gasped, and Ulrich made a similar sound of astonishment.
“My beast recognized her the moment I saw her true face,” Vallek confirmed.
Eydis took a long look at Ravenna, which she met head on. Although she’d no clue where she stood at the moment, Ravenna knew it was wise to have the king’s older sister as her ally. Eydis’s sharp mind whirled behind her eyes, blue like her brother’s but a lighter hue.
“Ulrich didn’t know,” Eydis said, not looking away from Ravenna. “Not even you did.”
Vallek bared his teeth at the sound logic, and after another moment, he released his second. Ulrich slumped back against the wall, gasping for air and rubbing at his throat. Ravenna had to keep a tight hold of her magic, the power itching beneath her skin to reach out and finish what Vallek had begun. Her own bruised throat demanded vengeance.
