Page 102 of The Beast King's Bride

“Help us!” I shout at the townspeople, and I don’t know what I expect but certainly, it’s not for them to line up on either side of me, pelting the monsters with rocks.

“For the king!” one of the guards yells, and they all take it up, including the townsfolk. “For the king!”

Talen glances at us from where he’s standing, the black water lapping at his boots, an eddy of wind and color between his hands as he redirects his magic to clean up the bridge from the Decay, and his eyes are wide.

I grin at him. “You’d better finish up!” I shout. “We’re running out of decent-sized stones…”

“Really?” His laughter rumbles against my back later as we ride back to the castle. “Stones? You were throwing stones at the monsters?”

“It worked, didn’t it? And the townspeople loved it.”

He only laughs some more. Then he says, “It must be the element of surprise. The monsters have probably never had that happen to them before, and with good reason. They won’t let it happen twice.”

“Be that as it may… I’m glad that it stopped them from eating you.” I shudder. “And the townspeople, my Gods. So ready to lynch you, and then to defend you.”

“You did that,” he says quietly.

“I think that they watched you work and it sank in that you brought me here to help, that you were pushing the Decay away from them even as they threw rocks at you. People are malleable, easy to influence, drifting along until someone takes the lead. Don’t let your enemies take the lead.”

“You’re right,” he mutters.

“Did you really never let them watch you work before?”

He’s quiet as we ride over a rise. Then he says, “I thought I could control it at first, you know. For a long time, I believed that. That even if I could not lift the curse, I could stop the Decay from spreading. The land is me. I could manipulate it, spell it to fight the rot. But then the rot spread and spread—the night as I transformed, locked up in the palace, fighting the monsters there. But I kept going out there, trying to stop it.”

“You didn’t want them to see you.”

“A king’s link to the land is known, but no king has ever had to fight this sort of evil, day after day for so long. I failed. I keep failing.”

“No, you keep fighting, never giving up. It’s different.”

“You like turning my words on their head.”

“Is that so bad?”

“No,” he says, a little choked. “No, it’s not. Nobody has dared talk back to me in a hundred years. Nobody has dared disagree with me.”

“Then it was about time,” I mutter.

His chuckle vibrates through me. “You’re giving me hope. You’ll be the death of me, human.

Not if you don’t give up, king. If you keep fighting, then so will I.

“Sire.” Jassin is blinking slowly as he trails after us in the throne room. “Did you say stones?”

“Rocks, stones, yeah. Pelted the monsters with them, and got the townspeople to join her.”

“Well, Maab’s tits,” Jassin says.

“Exactly my thoughts.” He drops into the throne, dragging me with him as he stretches those long, muscular legs and plops me in his lap.

“Talen—”

“You have no idea,” he whispers in my ear, “how terrifying and how hot it was to watch you take control over the people and stand so close to the monsters. Please… always be careful.” His hands grip me tightly, almost painfully, pressing me back against his muscular chest, and I shiver.

“You were afraid for me,” I whisper.

“Always,” he says without hesitation and tears prick at my eyes. Nobody ever cared that much if I existed, if I made it.

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