Page 62 of Prince of Ruin

“I come in peace,” I dare to say, looking around the table. “I don’t want a war. I don’t want to harm anyone. All I want to do is return home.”

“Like hell we’ll give you the throne,” Hemlock snaps, those gold-flecked eyes staring me down.

“That’snot my home.” I force confidence into my voice, because holy hell these creatures are huge and muscular, dominant and terrifying. Not only the way they appear, but their entire countenance demands submission. Power.

So. Much. Power.

“I want to go back to the human realms. That’s my home.”

As I speak the words, I realize just how much I miss home. Nothing sounds better than a mundane job—hell, I’ll even take my shitty job at the diner—and late night movies with Dad on the couch, a bucket of buttered popcorn in one hand and a fireball in the other. Give me the un-extraordinary life over this any day.I always thought stepping into a fantasy novelwould be the best thing that could happen to me, but, well, it’s been four days here and I’m done. Tired.

So. Fucking. Tired.

Wolfsbane’s lips part in a gasp. “Youwant to live with…humans?”

“What’s this?” Aaliyah, the bear-woman drawls with a booming laugh that makes me flinch. “Did you already break him in, Aden?”

Tarsus takes a deep drink from the chalice before them, then slams it on the table, glaring at me. “He’s pretending he’s forgotten about being a Spine Sovereign, or that he had a life as a fae at all. He’s pretending like the only life he’s ever known is his human life.”

“And you don’t believe him?” Kunak asks in a low voice, the ring in his nose catching the light.

“Hold up both hands, Clavicle,” Tarsus orders, “Fingers spread.”

A stone forms in the pit of my stomach at the realization of what they’re doing. If I had any hope of making these feral beasts back me up, it’ll be gone now. Releasing a shuddering breath, I splay both hands before me, uncurling all…eightfingers.

An audible gasp ripples across the table.

“I made him swear that he didn’t remember a thing of his past life as a fae,” Tarsus says, their silver eyes like ice chips. “The next day, he lost that pinky.”

Shiloh, the scaled woman, releases a hiss of disapproval. “I’m changing my mind about your pink hair,” she seethes, baring all those sharp, pointed teeth. “It’shideous.”

“How’d he lose the other pinky?” the Minotaur asks. His voice is the deepest one here, like the lowing of a bull.

“I visited him in the human realms and made him swear never to come back here.” Tarsus gestures with long, jeweled fingers. “As you can see, that swear was broken that very day.”

My mouth is bone-dry. I pick up my chalice and take a deep drink, but—fire. Fire pours down my throat, wracking my lungs, and I set the chalice down, coughing.

Hemlock smirks. “As if you didn’t inhale Bane’s Brew like it was oxygen back in the day.”

“Is there any water?” I ask between coughs, my lungs burning. Thank God a fae servant brings me a mug of water, and I chug it down.

“Whether or not he remembers anything,” Aden snaps, coming to my defense. “Bane’s Brew is too strong for any human, even me.” Aden looks at one of the servers. “Please bring plainhumanred wine.”

I look around the table, feeling out the crowd. Tarsus is smirking. They clearly wanted to see me sip that poison, see my reaction.It was a trick. Did they think I would chug the whole thing down withoutnoticing it was faerie wine? Will everyone here be as hard-assed as Tarsus? Or would some of them believe me, like Aden? Shiloh—the scaled woman—and Aaliyah— the bear-woman—both look skeptical. I cannot tell what the Minotaur is thinking with his black eyes and bovine features. Wolfsbane actually looks like they might believe me, as does Evergreen, but Hemlock and Ash both bear a look that says if I even try to convince them that I’m not the king I once was, I might as well sentence myself to death.

Thank god, platters of food are brought out. Hog meat, spiced potatoes, buttered rolls. Everything on the plate is practically the same color. “I take it you all don’t eat vegetables here?” I look at Tarsus. “Leafy greens?”

Their fork freezes midway to their mouth. “In case you’ve forgotten, there’s a massive volcano erupting, covering our land beneath a giant cloud of smoke and sprinkling the land in ash. Even if there wasn’t, Mother Terra cursed our land from the ground up. Our vegetables have rotted with all the other greenery.” They stuff that bite into their mouth and chew furiously while glaring at me, then they pick up a glass and take a deep drink.

“Oh. I see.” I pick up my own wine after the servant sets it down, desperate for something to ease the awkwardness filling the room.

“All of this is your fucking fault,” Tarsus snaps, setting their glass down and fiddling with their napkin. “If you hadn’t given Mother Terra the taste of one-hundred humans on her fiery tongue at once, she might not be this demanding.”

“Tarsus—” Aden begins, but I cut him off, wanting to hold my own.

“I’m innocent,” I seethe, my fist tightening around my fork. “I’m not the same person—”

“Innocent?” Hemlock chokes out an arrogant laugh, his teeth bared in a feral smile. “You led an army into battle to kill your own step-sibling justfourdays ago.” He gestures with his hand, the gold brace on his wrists flashing in the light. “That was a choice you made inthislife, so even if you’re telling the truth about not remembering jack shit from your past, you are still an enemy.”

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