Page 74 of Wrath of the Fae

Her gaze lands on me, and slowly, she shakes her head.

‘No. My father was not unkind. Nor cruel. He was a good man and a just king for the short time he had the throne. He cared about others. Wanted to help everyone.’ She looks down and tucks her knees to her chest.

‘Then why did you do it?’

‘I have asked myself that question for years,’ she says in a hush. ‘I think… becauseIwanted it.’

‘Wanted what?’

‘My father was a reluctant king. He had no expectations of ruling and no want of it. Not the power. Riches. Authority nor expectation. He would have been better off as a farmer. Or a baker. He loved to cook.’ She lets out a sad little laugh as she remembers him. ‘No man was kinder than Papa.’

‘You’re still not answering me.’

Her head lifts.

‘Your mother was gone. The Kingdoms were in an uproar. Ivan had left behind a sea of carnage. He had slaughtered our kind. I’m not talking simply killing, Raven. He tore men, women and children apart as they lived. Experimented on their bodies. Their power. It was unlike anything we had seen, and we were all told your mother knew of it.’

‘She didn’t,’ I snarl.

‘I know that now,’ she snaps back, folding her arms across her chest and looking out to the woodland again. ‘But the realm didn’t know. The First Kingdom was under threat. And all the other Kingdoms wanted control. There was rioting and chaos across the realm, and my father was not strong enough to bring it all to an end. We needed a warrior. A stern hand. A quick and sharp mind.’

‘And the Thirteenth Kingdom was that, was it? The new King was the answer?’ I scoff.

‘No. My husband was the answer,’ she states firmly. ‘Elias showed me what was happening to the realms. He showed me the dead and the dying. And my father would do nothing but try and ask for forgiveness and patience from an angry mob. My marriage to Elias was supposed to unite us. The poorest Realm forever linked to the wealthiest. Elias’s father was the loudest voice demanding the throne be relinquished by your family. And when Elias agreed to my marriage, everyone thought the two Kingdoms would rule together. But my father would never agree to do what was needed to bring everything under control.’

‘So you got Reid and the others inside the palace and let them murder a good, just and kind man?’ Venom drips from every word. ‘Did you want the throne for yourself, Tessa? Don’t try and lie. You know I’ll feel it.’

‘My father wanted me to marry a humble man. A man like him. He wanted me to be a good, doting wife away from the palace. He had me meet men of business. Men of education. Men who painted.’ She laughs angrily. ‘I was a princess. Heir to a throne, and he wanted me to be content with being nothing more than a wife and mother. A cook. Cleaner. Farm hand.’ She shakes her head. ‘I was owed a royal life.’

‘I think he wanted you to marry for love, Tessa. To marry a man who loved you for you. Not what your title would give him.’

She lowers her head again, knowing I’m right.

‘Why did he agree to the marriage between you and Reid?’ I ask.

‘Desperation,’ she mutters. ‘And after I met Elias, I agreed wholeheartedly to the marriage. He was to be Lord of Midnight’s End. I was to be queen. I accepted. Besides, he was handsome. Strong. He was vicious and merciless. No one would dare stand against him, and as his wife, that fear and respect would spread to me. And I heard rumours from countless women that he was a god in bed.’ She adds that last part with malice. ‘Many… many… many women.’

‘I get it, Tessa. He liked to fuck around.’

‘He was a whore. He and Cyrus both. I guess that’s why you three work so well. Lots of practice between you.’

‘Reid and Cyrus are the first and only men who ever touched me with my consent.’ I raise my brow. ‘They are the only men I have fucked. And not been fucked by. I would expect you to understand the difference after what happened with Ezra.’

She shrinks a little, and that smirk quickly disappears.

‘They are my Mates, Tessa. Fate. Destiny. All that shit. You even said it yourself. Something brought me here today. Something keeps pulling the three of us back to one another. So quit with the whole whore thing, okay? I’m not a whore.’

I shiver a little in the cold and wrap my arms around my body. A distant howl makes us both jump, but it's far away, so we should be okay.

‘I thought you had a boyfriend at that school of yours?’ she asks.

‘Nope.’

‘So, who was Darius?’

I haven’t heard that name in a while. It hits me like a punch to the gut, winding me and making the taste of bile rise in my throat. I’m amazed she even remembers it being mentioned. Somehow, Darius had drifted into the back of my mind like an old nightmare I had buried from childhood.

‘Darius was not my boyfriend. He was an arsehole who spread lies about me. He told everyone I slept with him for a fucking pizza.’

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