Page 98 of The Beast King's Bride

“And second, we need to find that cure, break the curse, heal the land. It has to be somewhere in all these books and scrolls in the palace and the kingdom, in the minds of wise, learned Fae,” I mutter. “We have to request their presence here.”

“We have invited them before,” Talen says. He’s sitting on one of the thrones, sprawled back, fingers tapping on the armrest. A sign of unease, I’m starting to realize. “They said they had no idea. And it will take them weeks to arrive, in the snow and storms.”

“That’s fine. Meanwhile, we can go through the information we have here. What about your council? You do have a council, right?”

“I used to have one. They fled long ago to the neighboring kingdom.”

Rats.

“The riddle is not something you can solve, Ash.” he says softly. “It just… is. It’s the entire game.”

“And so what, we just give up?”

“Listen… this world is dying.”

“Don’t say that.” I turn to him. “Don’t say that, please.”

“We were here before you,” he says, “so long ago that our world began to sink into the ground, old foundations and walls as your kind started building on top of what we wrought. So when we sank, it was only expected.”

“I won’t let you sink!”

He watches me, saying nothing, emotions flitting in his dark eyes—gratitude, affection, sadness.

But not hope. I don’t see hope.

He calls for the scribe so that he can dictate the letters, and I pace some more, trying not to think that he is, of course, right. He did all he could to find a solution, didn’t wait for me to come along a hundred years later to summon the wise elders. I’m treating him like a child who doesn’t know any better just because he didn’t find the cure.

I’m a horrible person.

But I can’t sit on my hands and do nothing. If we repeat the process, maybe someone will come forward with a new idea. Who knows? Maybe there is something they missed. Why not try again if there is any chance at all?

Riding with Talen is both wonderful and terrible. He has an arm around me, just like the day he abducted me, and we’re too far off the ground. My backside is sore after the initial ride, not used to the saddle, and his presence right behind me is both wonderful and maddening.

I want him, my body can’t stop wanting him just because of fear and discomfort. His scent, his strength, his voice, they all speak straight to the place in me that desires him, bypassing rational thought or other priorities.

Even with the royal guard riding behind us and flanking us, spears and helmets shining in the faint sunlight, banners with the horned tyger flying, blue and golden, blue capes snapping behind them.

But then as we ride out of the city and the snowed-over countryside unfolds around us, I’m finally somewhat distracted from my body’s wants. Meadows and fields stretch, all covered in pristine snow, isolated temples and bridges arching over streams, all powdered white, sparkling crystals blinding us when the light strikes them right. The snow-capped mountains in the distance are purple, the pink sky mostly covered in gray clouds. It’s like a picture from a dream.

“It’s beautiful,” I whisper.

“Welcome to the Sapphire Court,” he says in my ear, a grin in his voice.

“I think… I’m even getting used to the pink sky,” I say, laughing. “And the weird-shaped mountains. And… are there more cities on top of animals?”

“Serpentine, on the back of a—”

“—giant snake?”

“How did you guess?” He chuckles warmly on my neck.

“Lucky guess.”

“Sorry I didn’t show you any of this before.”

“You were afraid of the monsters attacking me.”

“And of you running away,” he admits.

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