Page 189 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
I planned on being a great queen, not a cold one.
We walked out of the courtyard and the safety of my home–whatever safety it still had after the scrolls had been taken while we fought for our lives–in the middle of the awaiting rows of guards and warriors. Enemies and Zandyr’s allies, who might become mine, too.
Toward the end of the rows, I spotted Owyn. I only spared a glance his way, but I noticed the deep circles under his eyes were gone and the cloud of worry no longer clung to his broad shoulders. Quick, quick enough that nobody else detected thegesture, he inclined his head. A thank you for the package his daughter had received.
I hadn’t needed or expected it, but it warmed my heart all the same. Perhaps the hold the advisors had on the Blood Brotherhood Clan could be broken in more ways than one. Grandpa Constantine had raised me to be a kind leader.
I would become one. Perhaps not soon, judging from Zavoya and Eldryan youthful glow, but that future would come. As crown princess, there were so many more things I could do. People I could help. Mysteries I could crack.
Soon.
Flanked on both sides, I waited. The sacred seven bells announcing my arrival hadn’t come yet. A chorus of cheers erupted from the heart of Phoenix Peak, near the temple.
Zandyr must have arrived.
I sent a slow wave of longing his way. The barrest echo reflected back, drowned by a sea of hatred. Not toward me. I knew that disdain well, and had an ember of it inside myself. He’d probably laid eyes on the advisors.
I could already picture Banu and Valuta, standing next to the king and queen, those sickly sweet grins on their faces, their magic probably poisoning Zavoya and Eldryan’s minds.
I still couldn’t understand it, not truly. How Zavoya and Eldryan, who radiated power, had succumbed to the lies of Banu and Valuta, mind-bending powers or not. Valuta had tried skewing my thoughts, too.
Perhaps it was Allie’s spell protecting me once more.
Perhaps it was something more.
Some grain of stubbornness, planted there by grandpa Constantine, that hadn’t been suffocated by the mountains or my parents. Or maybe it was because of what I’d had to endure. Hunger had a strange way of honing instincts, turning them into a blade sharper than the ones worn by the warriors or Adara.
Or Zandyr had been right–Zavoya and Eldryan’s love was too selfish. Too all-consuming to look past their little bubble of happiness and youth.
Perhaps being fated mates truly made one ignorant to the world.
I hoped not. Because if I and Zandyr truly had been crafted for each other by the gods and had a love unlike any other waiting for us, I never wanted it to blind me from reality.
I’d find out soon enough, wouldn’t I? Once we exchanged our blood in the chalice.
I rolled my shoulders back, feeling the strain of the train that dominated the long path. A small smile twisted my lips. Tradition dictated that only Zandyr could undress me tonight, just as I was the only one who could rid him of the armor he undoubtedly wore.
After that…well, I planned on enjoying my wedding night to the hilt. Desire burned through me as the image of Zandyr’s magnificent body engulfed my thoughts. The muscles he’d trained, the dragon and the responsibility it bore. And his eyes. Those fantastic orbs that always looked at me as if seeing too much, all at once, and always wanting more.
It was intoxicating, the thrum of his attention on me. I wanted those eyes to caress me every morning and every night of passion. Through warm embraces and tired sighs.
I wanted it all. With him. Only him.
With this magnificent prince who’d done everything in his power to protect his Clan, even as danger festered inside it. Who’d saved his people and had come to save me in the forest.
I wanted to share the responsibility with him, to create a better future for those who needed it.
Perhaps that’s why the gods had whispered to my parents to hide me in the mountains. To face hardships.
So I could protect others from it.
I’d told Leesa the truth. I wanted to be a great queen. Perhaps not as revered in the afterlife as Dria, but at least loved and respected during my lifetime.
I would protect my people, like the Protectorate blood in me craved to do.
My shoulders squared, my chin tilted, I felt taller. Prouder. Ready.
The bells rang not even a second later, rattling through me.
