Page 34 of Settle Down, Princess

“Did you get cut?” Creed looked me up and down quickly, twisting his head to inspect me more closely. “I’ll tear strips off him if he hurt you.”

“Not her, him.”

Roan pointed to the slash in Silas’ pants, while the other man stood there, chewing slowly, not responding at all.

“Oh, well, that’s…” Creed’s face fell, his eyes somewhat haunted when they returned to stare at me. “That’s… good then.”

“If I’m not to help train the princess to defend herself,” Silas asked, his voice as cold as ice as he looked at Arik, “what would you have me do then, Commander?”

I’d never heard any of them use rank when referring to each other. Although I’d assumed that Arik led the band, it had never been explicitly mentioned.

“You’ll scout ahead,” Arik told him. “Make sure we won’t run into any trouble on our way to Summervale.”

“Fine.”

Silas tossed the last of his food into the bushes, then strode over to his horse, hauling himself into the saddle. His horse’s hooves danced as he gained control, as if his mount was infected by his mood, and his eyes blazed as he took in the rest of us. A sharp nod was all I got in recognition before he wheeled the horse around and took off down the road.

“I’ll ride with the princess,” Arik announced, his smile making clear it would be anything other than a pleasure. “She and I have a lot to discuss.”

Chapter 20

“So talk,” I said, flopping back against the upholstery when we readied ourselves to leave. Arik sat down on the opposite side, looking too big, too golden, too damn bright for such a space. His thick thighs splayed wide, taking up even more space, but he stared out the window, waiting for us to get on the move before speaking.

“You can fuck Silas if you like.”

“What?”

“Drive the knife he gifted you into his thigh when you do it and he’ll love you forever. Be sure to avoid the major veins, so he doesn’t bleed out; but if you manage to do that without blanching, he’ll be your eternal slave.”

“You can’t be—”

“Serious?” He moved like lightning, grabbing my hand and holding up my fingers for inspection. The rust red marks there betrayed me. “Deadly serious. I’m not here to warn you off sticking your hands down the pants of my men. Wank them all off, one by one, when we’re finished for the day. It’ll do wonders for morale.”

“Wank…” The crude meaning of the word came to me, then I pulled my hands from his grip.

“What I need to make clear to you, Your Majesty…” If you’d told me the title was a terrible curse word in Kheanian, now was when I’d believe you. “…is that it doesn’t matter what you do. Fuck Silas. Give Creed a pat on his cheek and he’ll follow you around like a lost puppy. Keep making Roan feel like a big man, then petting him like a kitten. They’ll love every minute of it.” His eyes flicked up and down as he regarded me. “Gods, they might even come to love you. But what none of you seem to realise is that it won’t make a difference.”

“Won’t make a difference to what?” I snapped. I was being backed into a corner, right as I was trying to fight my way free.

“Your fate. If you rutted with every peasant from here to the capital of Khean, the king would still drag you into the grand nave and throw you down before the altar. He wouldn’t care that other men’s seed slid down the inside of your thighs, and it certainly wouldn’t stop him marrying you.” Arik leaned forward suddenly, and I flinched. “I know you were prepared for a gentle marriage, one where a well-bred man would take a virgin wife and treat her with the respect her station demands, but that future changed the moment the king set his cap for you.”

Arik was desperately trying to convey a message but, to be frank, I didn’t want to hear it. I knew the situation was dire. My mother and grandmother had gifted me not with a trousseau, but with the tools of an assassin and instructed me to kill a man. Not just any man, but a king the gods themselves had ordained should take the throne. I didn’t need convincing of how terrible the situation was, but what he couldn’t seem to understand was that I refused to go quietly. Arik nodded then, his expression grim.

“You think you know what awaits you in Khean, but you don’t. Outlanders never do. You’ve heard the stories and you think you’re well informed, but you’re not.”

“Is that what you intend to do now?” I asked, arching an eyebrow as I crossed my legs, my ankle swaying back and forth with the carriage. “Teach me about the realities of your homeland?”

I saw something flash in his eyes, storm clouds in all that blue, but he shook his head sharply.

“Just that whatever you’re planning in that little head of yours won’t work.” The storm clouds cleared away, leaving the flat grey you saw in the aftermath of a storm. “It never does. I’ve been tasked to bring six other women to be the Kheanian queen and each one responded to that reality differently. Everything they tried came to nothing. It never does. So do as you like. I’ve got enough roseblood in my saddlebags to leave you delirious with need if that’s how you want to spend your time, and my men will rise to serve you over and over.”

To my shame, I knew exactly how that would go, and my cheeks flushed bright red as I remembered doing just that.

“Just don’t damn them when you meet the king, that’s all I ask. If he even bothers to ask, you can…” His smile was savage, but I had no idea where that anger came from. “You can tell him I was the one who despoiled his newest dolly, if it comes to that.”

I was about to tell him where to shove his very kind offer when he rapped his knuckles on the roof of the carriage. As soon as it slowed sufficiently, he was out the door, leaping to the ground and slamming the door shut. With shaking hands, I slid the bolt closed, barring any other visitors from entering because I needed to think.

I could not allow myself to be infected by Arik’s fatalism. It was all right for him to accept a fate he’d never be subjected to, but I… I could not. He’d given me some crucial information in the conversation, though. Silas wanted to be hurt to experience sexual satisfaction, in particular with a knife, and Roan wanted to be petted like a cat and have his ego stroked. So did most men. And Creed… A few kind words and he’d follow me like a puppy? From what I knew of the Kheanian beast men, there was only one woman who could command that kind of loyalty.

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