Page 14 of The Beast King's Bride

Terrified that he’ll somehow see me, repeat his riddle, and realize…

I take an involuntary step back and find my back against the wall. I need to get away now, before anyone notices me, anyone who knows me, escape before Blanche—

But it’s too late. The same thought has crossed her mind.

“This one!” Blanche shouts and grabs my wrist, lifting it. “She is the one! The one you want. Take Ash and go, go in peace.”

“You’re mistaken,” I say as Blanche drags me through the crowd. Digging in my heels helps for a while, until a guard comes to take over and my resistance is easily overcome. “This is a mistake. Please, let me go!”

“Your mother had you with a Fae!” Blanche shrieks at my back. “It drove her human husband away, it drove her to death, and it’s all your fault!”

“No,” I whisper, “no. Not true. I’m human. I’m a princess. This is a terrible mistake.”

The guard only grunts and hauls me through the throng of guests to the dais where he sketches a bow from the waist, his hand clamped on my arm. “Here she is, your Majesties.”

I’m dropped unceremoniously to my knees, the wig slipping off my head, the fan falling from my belt.

The Fae is standing right beside me, his tall, black boots sturdy but elegant with wooden heels and gold symbols etched into the soft leather. He looms over me, so much taller than I’d reckoned, casting a long shadow over me. A scent of crushed grass and exotic spice emanates from him, a strange combination, not exactly pleasant.

“Your majesties, please,” I plead, trying not to look at the Fae on my right, my voice thick with fearful tears I refuse to let fall. My stomach roils. “I’m not the one he wants. Let me go.”

“Aren’t you?” King Pryam spares me a quick, disdainful glance. “Who is she, anyway? Does anyone know?”

“I’m Elayne,” I say. “Elayne Isabel de Calesterna. Your youngest daughter’s daughter. Your—”

“The misbegotten brat,” the queen hisses, and I flinch.

I hadn’t expected her to be so cruel. She is, after all, my grandmother. But I just never learn, do I?

“Please,” I whisper. “Please, don’t give me away.”

“She would have been a princess,” Blanche says, having followed us to the dais, “had her mother not slept with a Fae, and that makes her hardly human. I mean, look at the color of her eyes. It’s not human.”

“Well, that sounds…” King Pryam flaps his fingers at me. “It sounds accurate.”

“She is the one,” the Fae growls and reaching down, grabs me by the collar of my dress, lifting me to my feet as if I’m weightless. “You are coming with me.”

His eyes are blue, I think as he glares down at me. A very dark blue, a rim of gold around each iris.

Beautiful.

I can’t think straight.

“You can’t. You can’t let him take me.” Tearing my gaze away from that handsome, arrogant face, ignoring the way I’m practically dangling in his hold, I look back to the king and queen. “You can’t send me to my death like this!”

“Better one than the many,” the queen says and manages to inject a regal edge as well as mild sympathy into her voice, even as she passes sentence and condemns me. “This is what ruling a kingdom is all about. Placing the good of the many over the good of one.”

“No! I’m not chattel to be sold! I’m not a slave!”

But the king only waves a hand and the Fae hauls me against his side, his strange scent mingling with that of leather and blood. It makes my eyes water and bile rise in my throat.

“My thanks,” the Fae says, his voice toneless and yet oddly formal.

“Does it mean we now have your protection?” the king demands and I don’t know how he can be having a political conversation over my head after passing me to this monster without a second thought.

“After trying to kill me?” I think I hear a hint of laughter in the Fae’s voice. “I don’t think so. And now it is time for me to take my leave. Majesties.”

He starts dragging me away, his fist still clenched in the back of my gown, and I struggle to free myself.

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