Page 10 of Insurrection
My chest stirred with emotions I hadn't felt since I’d thought I had something with Drayven. These were dangerous feelings for me, considering I had almost allowed Fin to kiss me, knowing damn well I could have sucked his soul from his body.
I knew what I needed to do was let go of his hand and banish all of these butterflies from my stomach. But instead, I squeezed his hand in my own and whispered softly, "Thank you. No one has ever defended me like that."
"No one deserves to be treated that way, Ama," he practically growled, and the sound churned a new burning sensation to life within me. One much lower in my body, making me rub my thighs together awkwardly as we walked through the entrance of the castle.
I felt like I was in a daze of emotions and shock as we silently crossed down the hallway towards the meeting room. Fin's hand halted me as he reached for the door. "Are you okay, Ama? I'm sorry if I startled you earlier. Just...the thought of him taking such a beautiful first moment for you and twisting it into one of shame and embarrassment made my blood boil."
Looking up at him from below my long lashes, I swallowed down the emotions that lodged in my throat at his admission. My exhale was shaky as I covered for the real reason I was so nervous, "I'm okay. I just hate meeting with all the royals of this house. They always find a way to make me feel like shit."
He dropped my hand and pulled his finger up to rest below my chin, softly pushing it up so I looked at him fully. "I swear that whenever I am around you, I won't allow anyone to speak poorly of you or cause you to doubt how incredible I already know you are."
A lethal coolness and bloodthirsty spark of excitement pooled in his eyes as he added, "Even if I have to cut their tongues out to do so."
A laugh spilled from me before I sucked my lower lip into my mouth and bit it. Nodding to him, I pulled my shoulders back and reached up to smooth down my hair, which had gotten frizzy from the rain. "Let's do this."
Pulling the large, black door open, he gestured for me to go first. Lifting my head up, I entered the throne room with the most confidence I'd ever had in here. They could only get me down if I allowed them to. It was time for me to stop caring about what they thought of me and start going on with my life in the way I wanted to.
I wanted to make my father proud.
I wanted to earn the respect of my people, and I would do so by showing them that I took my position seriously.
I wanted to prove that hybrids were not any less.
The long table before me seated all the royals of our house, with my father at the head of the table at the far end of the room. His chair screeched against the floor as he pushed it back and stood with a smile on his face. "Ah, there you are! Where is Drayven? Did he not accompany you?"
I honestly wasn’t positive what my father’s opinion of Drayven was. He knew that the royals preferred Drayven to his own daughter, but they always seemed to get along. I had also never told my father what had transpired between Drayven and me because…well, what sixteen-year-old wants to tell her dad about her first kiss? Also, I think a part of me wanted to protect Drayven from my dad’s anger. By the time I had decided I despised the guy, I rationalized it wasn’t worth telling my father about it.
Before I had a chance to respond, Fin piped up from behind me with all the polite civility in the world, "I don't know whom exactly you speak of, but I saw a tall and broad young Reaper taking a nap in the courtyard out back. Could that be him?"
I had to bite down hard on my tongue to prevent myself from laughing. He was definitely taking a nap. A forced one.
"Absurd! Drayven would never slack off like that when he knew how important this meeting was," an old Reaper, who probably flicked her bean at night to the image of Drayven, scoffed. And now that image was playing through my head, and I could literally feel myself getting sick to my stomach.Nasty.
My dad merely cocked his head and asked, "Who are you, young man?"
With a grace I hadn’t thought possible, Fin strode to my side and crossed one arm in front of his waist and the other behind his back as he bowed slightly, lowering his head in respect. "I am Finias, Prince of the House of Runes. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Dad's eyes searched my face, and he squinted at me as if he knew there was more to the story than what was being said, but thankfully, he didn't push it. "Thank you for coming all this way, young prince, although I regret to inform you that this is now a closed meeting to discuss my daughter representing our house at the Summit in just a couple days. I know this is quite rude of me, but there has been a last-minute change that we must discuss."
A screech flew from me that sounded like the cry of a banshee, "What did you just say?"
Ok, I’d said I wanted to make my father proud and take my position seriously, but this was too much, too fast. I didn't know the first thing about how to represent our house alone or navigate the politics of court, and I most definitely would not have the respect of the other house kings and queens.
To sum it up: this was going to be a dumpster fire.
Chapter Five
Ama
“Ama.” My father attempted to soothe the situation as Finias appeared at my side again, his hand twitching as if he wanted to offer me a comforting touch. I wouldn’t have been opposed to that, but it wouldn’t fix the situation at hand. A situation where I was apparently now having to represent the entire House of Death at a Summit where I would have to deal with a new breed of hate compared to what I was used to around here.
It was one thing to hear the same sneering comments and grumbles every day, but to have the five other house kings and queens not only fully ignore your existence, but most likely also decide to band together to further the already abundant disdain for hybrids? All while trying to create a productive and influential political atmosphere?
Yeah, not my cup of tea.
I wasn’t positive how much the other houses knew about me. I knew my dad had never hidden my existence, but he was also protective, and with that came a certain level of discreteness regarding information about me. So, I was positive there would be people who would be absolutely shocked at my appearance at the Summit as a princess of a house.
Which didn’t bode well for me because people tended to be even meaner when they were caught off guard. They’d lash out at what they didn’t know and what scared them. Because make no mistake—they feared change, and allowing a hybrid princess into their ranks? That challenged their entire system of purity and their claims to their thrones.
