Page 64 of A Kingdom of Pleasure and Torment

I expected... I don’t know what I expected. A whoop of joy? A congratulations on a job well-done? But Luthian’s face turns to stone.

“I-I thought you’d be happy.” I don’t understand. “He trusts me. I’ll be close enough to him to—”

“To lose your head, like the last queen,” Luthian snaps. He stands so quickly I must lean back to avoid being knocked over. “You didn’t agree, did you?”

“I did. I thought it was the best thing for us,” I say, still utterly blindsided by his anger.

He scoffs and paces to the fireplace, leaning with both hands on the mantle. “Whenever did you get the impression that you were to decide what was best?”

“I—”

He whirls to face me, cold eyes filled with silver rage. “You forget our bargain, Cenere! You were never to defy me—”

“I was never to say no!” I protest, climbing to my feet, for I will not grovel. “There was nothing in our bargain about me saying yes!”

“What will happen, do you think, once you are queen?” he demands. “Do you think I’ll be allowed to stay?”

“No, he plans to banish you,” I spit back. “He never intended to let you stay at court.”

“That’s the point of the plan!” Luthian shouts. “To remove him. To remove Kathras. To install Cassan so that I will be allowed to stay.”

“Shouldn’t it be easier now that I’ve gained Arcus’s trust?” I counter. “We were alone together today, Luthian. No guards. In the forest, at a faery bath. He went somewhere alone with me because he trusts me. We can use that to our advantage. And when I am queen—” I can make you my king.

I have no idea the thought was simmering in my mind until I nearly, disastrously, speak it.

“When you are queen, and you are discovered to have killed Arcus, you will be executed,” Luthian points out. “When you are the only person alone with him, his blood will be on your hands.”

He’s right. But I won’t admit it. “I was in a precarious position. How was I to say no to a king?”

Luthian’s shoulders slump. He presses a hand to his forehead. “Forgive me, Cenere. I did not think.”

“You didn’t think beyond using me as bait,” I finish for him.

His shame is visible in his defeated posture, in his silence. My own heart is heavy with it; I considered breaking our agreement, letting Luthian fail for my own ends.

I am a wicked woman. Faithless. As faithless as Arcus believes Luthian to be.

Finally, Luthian speaks. “This complicates things, but it doesn’t sink us. I need to think about next steps.”

“You don’t have much time,” I admit. “The king plans to announce our engagement. After that, he’ll banish you from court.”

Luthian shakes his head. “He won’t. You’re going to ask him to keep me here until the wedding. So that I will be properly humiliated.”

His mind works so quickly. Perhaps that’s why I’ve fallen in love with him. I admire him, and I’ve confused that admiration with romantic inclination.

“You’re more than capable of convincing him, I’m sure,” Luthian says, and steps toward me. He touches my cheek. “I shouldn’t have shouted at you. You’ve only done exactly what I wished you to. You simply did it too well.”

“I had a skillful teacher,” I say.

He smiles. “I’m sorry we fought. I sometimes forget that you have a stake in this, too. I become too focused on my own revenge.”

“Because you’ve been planning it for so long?” Long enough that he could grant a faery’s wish and wait for that wish to bloom into a sufficient tool. But I don’t ask. As much as I want to, I still can’t convince myself that particular truth won’t hurt me.

“Once your engagement is announced, we will have to work fast,” he says, dropping his hand and turning away to pace. “The date has already been set for his death. Now, it will have to change.”

Was that why he was with Firo, then? Did Luthian seduce the ambassador to the Court of Time and Destiny for that favor?

“When it does,” he goes on, “I might need you to carry out the deed, yourself.”

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