Page 40 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
Suddenly a form charges through the middle of the guards to the top of the dais, stopping right in front of me with his signature scathing, degrading look. Florian. Those blood-red eyes simmer with bottomless rage as they narrow on me. As the guards attempt to surround us, he holds up a hand, and they halt immediately. Then his gaze flicks up to Titania.
“My High Chancellor. Let’s not have this…seductress ruin the proceedings.” His voice is hoarse from the barely restrained resentment within it. “We don’t have time for child’s games. Perhaps a night in the dungeons will remind her she is a queen to a dead, exiled king and has no power here.” He laughs.“Who would even support a human in an election for your throne?”
I glance over his shoulder to the crowd beyond. Many lean in to watch our power struggle with rapt attention. Some whisper between themselves and glance at me with light in their eyes. Sasha’s mouth hangs open. She has a hand to her chest and the usual rosy glow of her cheeks is completely gone.
Rainier is pushing his way through the crowd, his dark eyebrows slashing downward over his face. A high fae woman with long locks of dark green hair tries to pull him back, talking urgently in his ear. Gods, I hope he doesn’t reveal himself as one of my sympathizers.
“Yes. I like that, Florian,” Titania’s voice rings out behind me, suddenly cool once more. She has calmed enough to realize she is only damaging her own reputation here. “We cannot allow this insolence to go unpunished.”
“I will take her there myself and personally oversee her discipline.” He glances down at me like I am the biggest inconvenience, then gives me a smile that turns my blood cold.
Florian grips my arm tightly and drags me down the steps, shaking me aggressively for emphasis. The long train of my skirt gets tangled between my legs, but he holds me upright. I’m surprised he doesn’t let me fall on my face to prove a point.
The crowd stares at us in horror as we make our way down the long carpet leading out of the throne room. I cannot allow the courtiers to see my fear, but cold sweat breaks out across my skin when I think of what must be waiting for me in the dungeon. Is it kept in pitch blackness? Are there vermin scurrying through the filth in the cells? Will I be chained to a wall? Imprisoned along with rotting bodies forgotten there?
The dungeons are clean, well lit and humane—well, they were when I ruled. I never wanted you to see the inside of a cell in our palace.Aldrin’s heartbreak is potent.
Florian’s brutal grip on me loosens the moment we leave our audience behind. It becomes almost civil. I give him a curious look, but he stares directly ahead, his jaw pulsing as he grinds his teeth. Jasper falls into step beside us, offering an apologetic nod.
Instead of the dungeons, the general takes me to my chambers. He opens the door, stalks right past me and checks that every room is empty, then pulls me in. “You will not leave your chambers. Do not make a sound in here. Let them think you are in the dungeon. Titania won’t check. Do you understand?”
The blood drains from my head, making me dizzy, and for a moment I don’t comprehend the orders spewing from his mouth. “Why—why would you help me?”
Florian looks over his shoulder, at the open door, then runs a hand across his face before looking back at me. “There are eyes and ears everywhere here.”
He stalks off with no more explanation than that. I stare after him, all words frozen within my throat, until the doors close behind him.
Jasper lingers in the entrance, guilt flushing his features.“Bolt your door when I go. I will make sure you are brought food and I will let you know when it is safe for you to leave your rooms again.” He stops and frowns. “When it is safer.”
I let out a long breath as all the fight leaves me. I just want to curl up and cry.
Jasper hovers awkwardly. His mouth opens, then closes again. Pain ripples across his face as he finally speaks in a soft voice. “Did he ever talk about me?”
My mind is completely blank. “Who?”
A deep sadness rolls through Aldrin at the same time that it crumples Jasper’s face. “Silvan,” the guard says. “Your ignorance of who I am—was—to him is enough of an answer.” He turns on his heel and walks out the door.
Realization dawns on me.Is Jasper…
Silvan’s life partner,Aldrin replies.The one he believes abandoned him, and me, when I was exiled and he chose to remain in the palace instead of going into the wilds with us.
Oh.It is all I can manage. Silvan has been in exile for over a decade and that heartbreak is still eating him alive. Both men, clearly. No wonder Silvan has a constant simmering rage and Jasper is so desperate to look out for me.
Go stand in front of the mirror.Aldrin’s rumble breaks me out of my thoughts.Do you have any idea how much that dress drives me wild?
Delightful shivers ripple across my skin at the lust that heats his blood and coils deep in his belly, traveling lower to his rapidly thickening member. The sensation takes my breath away.
I do exactly as I am told.
Good girl.
Istand in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror framed in gold, taking in my reflection. I release a few fire orbs until the lighting is perfect. The illumination is soft enough to make my gown shimmer and my skin glow. To make the red, orange and blond strands of my hair dance and glitter with my movements. To hide any imperfections.
Impossible,Aldrin rumbles.There are no imperfections when it comes to you.
My stomach drops in anticipation.Do you like what you see?
Very slowly, I turn in a circle, allowing him a full look at my legs and hips on display. At the peak of my ass revealed by the briefs beneath the gown. I let my gaze linger on the bare expanse of my stomach, then, as I slowly glide it up to my breasts, I lean forward, allowing their roundness to escape from the crossing strips of fabric. The edges of my pink nipples peek out.
