Page 123 of The Beast King's Bride

I lift a hand to my cheek and the ring Talen gave me flashes blue—blue fire and cool wind. Talen’s magic. The surface of the water ripples—but no, I realize as I bend over it, fascinated. The surface hasn’t moved, still like glass. What is rippling is the image reflected in it. My face fogs over, then vanishes, replaced by a blurry image that shifts and shifts.

It settles into the image of a room. As I gaze down at it, it becomes clear. It’s the study behind the throne room, the study from which I observed the Empress’s emissary those first days when I arrived in Faerie.

And there he is. Talen. He’s sitting in one of the ornate chairs of the study, legs stretched in front of him. He has a hand resting on his chest, over his black shirt, his horns curl over the sides of his head, his profile is serious, brooding.

My breath catches as I gaze at him. My eyes burn. Gods, I missed him. I can’t believe that I can’t touch him, speak to him.

“Sire,” someone says—Jassin, I think—“shall I call for a healer? Shall I—”

“No.”

“But Sire—”

“Nothing a healer can do.”

He’s injured? My heart twists around this new blade of fear. Did he fight more monsters? Did the Decay reach the city, the palace?

Jassin comes around to stand beside him. “You shouldn’t have let her go. She was the answer.”

“She had to go.”

“Why?”

“The curse. The riddle says that she has to spill her blood for me. Die for me, Jassin. I won’t let her die for me, or anyone.”

Oh, my heart…

Jassin wrings his hands together. “But Talen—”

“Love is a two-edged sword,” he says. “If she loves me enough to sacrifice herself for me, I won’t let her.”

“But you promised the lords and ladies that the curse will be lifted.”

“It will be.”

Jassin groans. “Because you’ll give yourself up to the Empress?”

“No. Listen, Jas… I lied. I lied about that. It is a Fae king’s gift to be able to lie and I used it.”

“The Empress won’t make you her slave,” Jassin whispers, looking stricken. “Will she?”

“No. She’s only waiting for me to become so weak that I cannot resist her magic anymore. She will kill me and take the gem from my back. That was always her plan.”

No…

Something drops on the surface of the water, shattering the image for a moment. A raindrop?

No, a tear. From my eyes. I wipe at them jerkily.

No. No, this can’t be true. He’s not going to die. I can’t… can’t fathom it, can’t believe it. This has to be a trick, another lie—

The image changes. Jassin is sitting in a leather chair in another room that I don’t recognize. He has his face in his hands.

He lowers them and sighs. “This is no good. He is growing weaker.”

“We cannot keep the palace much longer,” another voice says and it’s a royal guard who moves to stand in front of the desk. “The Decay has spread everywhere.”

“It was inevitable,” Jassin says, sighing and leaning back, letting his hands fall to his sides. “The land is dying because the king is dying.”

---