CHAPTER 39: THIRTY NINE

Valka

Too late do I realize my error. How much I have revealed with just one sentence. How silly it is to assume based off of what he did to me that he was a piece of shit and didn’t really want a truce. "I--I can’t say for sure," I add, cheeks burning with embarrassment at my outburst. "It’s just... hard to tell what Rafe’s thinking."

Almost imperceptibly, the air seems to grow colder when I say ’Rafe’. But his face remains stoic, making me wonder if I imagined it.

The scroll crinkles under my fingertips. "Why have you really brought me here? I know my opinion doesn’t really matter to you."

After a long moment, he points towards the map north of the room. "Voss. The vast majority of the humans occupy Voss. They prefer to stick behind their borders, remaining hidden, never taking sides in the war unless pushed to. And even then, they have always remained neutral. But that isn’t the only reason we do not fuck with them." His eyes flick to me. "The Goddess has always had an interesting sense of humor. Of all the lands on earth and across the seas, the only lands that produce the poisons truly capable of killing us are those lorded over by the very humans who despise us. Mountain ash and silver."

My eyes widen and I find my feet crossing the space. There is an... entire civilization of humans that exist beyond the western seas? How could we never have heard of them before? All my life, I thought there were only Silvermoor and Ebonheart. And the barbarians across the seas. "I thought... the ash and silver came from the mines..." My gaze lifts off the maps to meet his. "There are no mines, are there?"

A slow nod. "Few are aware of the true source. Only the royals are. Even so, Voss and Ebonheart have had a treaty for years. Not amicable, but born of necessity. However, in this recent war, the gunpowder in your cannons was laced with ash and silver. So were your blades. It’s the only reason we were torn apart, unable to heal as you cut us down. Did you never ponder on the why of it?"

I did. My throat tightens. Rafe taught us the Ebonheart demons didn’t wound or die easily. But all it took to cut through them was the stab of the blade. I’d chalked it all up to the Goddess’s luck, but now that I think about it... it makes so much sense. "You’re saying... Voss broke the treaty and sided with Silvermoor?"

His jaw clenches, the only sign of his rage. "I would assume so. But if that were the case, then Silvermoor would have no need to seek Truce. With the overwhelming numbers and weapons of the humans, they could simply march upon us and annihilate us. It wouldn’t be the first time."

He blinks, as if clearing the horrors from his mind. "Which is why I have brought you here. More than your insight, I must admit..." He makes a face and practically vomits the words like it hurts his pride to even utter them. "I am in need of your help."

"I... I don’t understand," I say, voice thin.

He turns to me then and I couldn’t have predicted the next words that leave his lips even if I wanted to.

"Marry me," the King of Ebonheart says to me.

Everything stops. The crackle of the torch, the rustle of parchment, the rapid beat of my own wild heart. I choke on my own breath. "W-what?"

Lucien looks me up and down, weighing and assessing. "It’ll be a temporary agreement. I cannot inform you of the details until you accept and swear an oath of secrecy--"

I start to tell him no, but he lifts a single finger, silencing me. "But at the end of this, I promise you your freedom. As well as your mother’s. I shall be in your favour. One wish, whatever you want. Name it and I shall grant it."

The offer is almost obscene. Freedom. My life back. Far away from these people, far from Silvermoor and this unending war. Far from all the deaths and violence. With mother, we could start over somewhere else.

My brows furrow as I consider his words, but I shake my head. "You could have any other woman play this role. Women more experienced than me--"

"Maybe. But you’re the only one I can trust with this."

I blink. "I could betray you whenever I feel like it--"

"Not with my mark on you, no." I grit my teeth, about to say something vicious when he adds, "It isn’t a brand of ownership so much as it is a tether. Run until your legs give out and that thread will find you. If I chose, I could bend you, make your limbs move, your will mine. But to force that would mean breaking you, and you have become far too valuable to discard on whim. Hence, my offer."

I stand there, wondering how we got here. How months ago, I was in the dining hall of a training yard, getting beat up within an inch of my life. What had I wanted then? To save my father.

He died.

What do I want now? What did I ever want for my future? I try to think of what my dreams might have been, but my memories are all muddied up after what happened earlier. Did I ever think of what might happen after the war? Did I never think of what I would do with my life after? Return to House Ironfang and live out the rest of my life with my father and mother?

Did I never have dreams of my own?

Still, I’m sure that even if I did, it never would have come to this. Being offered a seat at the side of the most powerful man in the world. Plus, benefits. It is unreal, nothing I would have ever considered. And if there is anything experience has drilled into me, it is that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

So, I tip my chin at Lucien. "What’s the catch?"

He smiles, as if I’ve already accepted. Or it could just be his approval that I had enough brains to ask. "All of this rests upon one condition that you endure the last stage of the Selection and return from it alive."

I startle at that. "Alive?"

He nods. "Being Queen comes with great risks. My brides aren’t chosen for their pretty faces or noble lines. Like the contest for the crown, the Selection is a crucible that thrives off of ruthlessness and in turn produces a natural predator fit to match the king stride for stride. One cruel enough to strike down her perceived competition first, cunning enough to stab the unsuspecting through the back, fearless enough to face down an army and accept death over surrender."

The light catches along the grim set of his jaw. "You will face these women tempered by decades of court, raised and trained by the best in the kingdom, women who have long since learned to turn weaknesses into advantages since they could walk. You are way out of your element here, but if you cannot withstand them, then I fear there is no point in ever having had this conversation in the first place."

At the sight of my hesitation, he heads for the door with the ease of a man who acts unbothered and amused by everything, when in truth, it was all a farce. Because a troubled King is a troubled Court. "Think it over. When you have decided, you know where to find me."

Two days.

It took just two days for the truth to sink in. Two days of being dressed up and polished like a doll, of Margot drilling me on how to breathe, eat, and walk properly.

Two days of my brain turning to mush as I struggled to control my powers and read the old language. Two days of visiting my mother’s cell only for her to try to kill me the moment she heard my voice to realize this was no life I wanted.

I wanted to live on my terms. That was my only dream. And if it meant putting myself in front of the fire to own myself, then I would do it. But it was something deeper than that. It was that I couldn’t unravel what my dreams meant, and somehow, being in close proximity with Lucien triggered more of those memories. I wanted to know more. I wanted to understand what my purpose in all of this is. Why Thane gave me another chance to live.

So, on the eve before the second stage of the Selection, I find myself standing outside Lucien’s door. Forcing in a deep breath, I raise my fist to the door to knock, but it swings open before I do.

Two scantily dressed maids spill forward, reeking of wine and sex. They slam into me, giggling which rosy cheeks and eyes feverishly bright. And all over them, I catch the scent of him. And something else.

Sex.

They’re taller than me, beautiful in the ’I’ll steal your husband. And then lay with your father while I’m at it’ kind of way. I suddenly feel small, tiny as a child beside them. Inferior in a way that never quite occurred to me before now as I stare at their wider hips and fuller breasts, and then, stare down at mine as they shove me aside and stumble into the hallway in a feat of drunken giggles and wistful whispers of wanting to ’do it all night long’.

Well, I guess even the King has a type. And I’m not--

Wait. What? Heavens forbid it.

I shiver with disgust and march through the receiving chamber into the bedroom beyond. Only to turn into a full circle with a scared scream.

Because he lies tangled in his black sheets in all his naked glory. I’m talking seven feet tall of rock hard, lean muscle and a terrifying weight hanging between his legs. I’ve seen men naked, seen things that positively traumatized myself and Thane, and I’m telling you that King Lucien is not a man.

"Put on your damned clothes!" I bark, heart doing a marathon.

"Why?"

I scream again, because the voice comes from behind me. And I feel his naked skin press into my back and that monstrous thing that might as well be a cannon poking into my back. Not my ass. My back, because beside Lucien, I’m a fucking midget.

"Remember that brilliant little speech you gave at the Selection before hurling my jacket at my face? Tell me, am I so different from all the men you’re used to that the sight of me makes your skin burn my favorite shade of red?"

Yes. Very. Very. "No. I just didn’t expect you to be naked. And so damned ugly." Liar. Fucking liar.

Lucien’s breathy laugh ruffles the top of my hair. "Well then, maybe you shouldn’t have walked into my bedroom without knocking, little liar. Which begs the question of what you’re doing here in the first place." His heat seizes from my back and I hear the rustling of clothes. "You may turn around now."

I do, hands over my eyes, and I breathe deeply in relief when I note him clad in a deep blue robe, pouring himself a goblet of wine. My eyes travel over the room. His bed frame is broken. A pair of lace panties hand from the night stand. His doublet is in shreds on the carpet. The armoire is thrashed and his room in such ruin, you’d think an animal ravaged the space. There’s a whip lying casually in the corner.

Oh my fucking goddess...Is that a rope tied to the edge of the bed? Against my will, my gaze drifts to his wrists and I see the lines of ropes. And suddenly, his comment earlier of carving up women who want him to doesn’t seem at all far-fetched.

"Pick your jaw off the floor and speak, Valka," he snaps, bringing me back to reality. My mouth goes dry as my eyes betray me, flicking down to the sculpted plane of his torso.

He exhales sharply through his nose, something between an annoyed growl and a tortured hiss. "Keep staring at me like that and you’ll discover just how easy it is to thrash a room."

I don’t even want to know what that means. I force my eyes back to his, even if they want to stray and notice how good his torso looks and... gods, why can’t I focus?My tongue drags over my dry lips. "You said it would be a temporary arrangement. Define temporary."

He stretches onto the couch like a lazy cat. "Two years. During which you will be Queen in name and duty, only. You will uphold the laws of Ebonheart, stand at my side before the court, and carry yourself as though the crown were carved from your own bones. In return, at the end of that term, I will grant you diplomatic immunity, a dowry befitting a sovereign, freedom, and as I mentioned earlier, a boon."

My mind scrambles as I nod. "A-and heirs? Consummation?"

His lips twist into a sneer. "I’d sooner jam my cock through a grinder than fuck you, Valka."

Anger, unreasonable anger flares to life under my skin. "Likewise."

His gaze drops below my hips. "You don’t have a--"

"Shut up, Lucien."

He seems to be in too good a mood to take offense to my tone. Must be the after sex high. I suck in a deep breath and against my better judgement, I say, "I accept. I’m in."