Page 4 of Heir to His Court

ChapterTwo

“Oh?” She lifted a brow. “And that?”

“None of this is real.” I smiled, though I wanted to snatch the blade he’d used to stab me and return the favor. “You forget, Raniel, that I remember your training exercises now.”

His exercises, and how he never did anything without at least three different reasons—he’d made me tease them out, unravel his thinking.

Had he even realized his touch was a tell? Even as he played his game, his hands betrayed him with their caresses. Juhainah, if she had truly overtaken him, would not touch me like that. Like a lover who cared, not just desired.

Purple eyes stared down at me. She began to laugh, feminine voice morphing into a deep, masculine chuckle.

I froze. I thought I would have to deal with his chilly anger, with his skillful deflection, but instead he laughed. Amusement, approval, even a glint of pride in his eyes and I basked in it, wanting to purr at his feet for the warmth he offered me. So weak. I was so weak when it came to this male.

“So,” he said softly. “You see clearly. And so young. There's hope for you, that you may enter the true Courts and remain who you are.”

The soft condescension in his voice made my fangs itch. “And just who am I, Prince?”

“It is not for me to tell you who you are, Aerinne Kuthliele.” His smile darkened, though it retained warmth. Gentleness. “Though, once you have chosen your skin and occupy your power, if you desire to offer me your soul, I admit I will not deny you. I know myself. I am not selfless.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Does it matter? Do not let another’s ambition break you, not even mine. Why do you think we cannot lie?”

“Because there is no power in a lie,” I said, reeling at mental leaps I tried to make with him.

“No. And we are not creatures who bow to that which has no power. You, my heart, will not be one who dons a mask of another’s crafting.”

“Not even yours, Raniel?”

“I admit again, I am tempted. But in the end making of you a puppet would not serve my goals. I have to sleep, and I cannot trust a hollow creature to hold my throne. Especially not a hollow creature with a knife.”

“Wise.” I forced my voice to remain calm. “Considering you killed my mother.”

His smile faded and he drew shadows into the room, concealing himself. “Her death was not my intent. I never wanted your pain, Aerinne.”

“Really?” I curved my lips in a humorous smile. “Aren't you the one who says he will drink in my blood and tears? That sounds like a male who wants my pain.”

“I want the pain it gives you pleasure for me to take. I have no use for the pain of loss or betrayal.”

“Somehow, I still don't believe that, Prince. I believe you intend to break me.”

A slither of shadows broke off and reached toward me, wrapping around my ankles and slithering up my legs, binding around my waist.

“I will, my halfling. I will break the need you have to fight our bond for no other reason than your vengeance. I will break your insistence that our interests are not aligned, that my House is not your own. I will break you and remold you into a Princess who rules at my side without doubt. But I will not break your soul, your power, your heart. I will not break your trust.”

“And you think my need for revenge is so petty then? That it's rooted in nothing significant?”

“I have said, repeatedly, I did not intend her death.” His eyes flared bright in the shadows. “In fact, were it not for your existence, her death would have been an unmitigated disaster. In some ways, it still is. You are. . .young, to be made to carry her burden. And, Aerinne, I am unaccustomed to repeating myself.”

I shook my head.ThisRaniel was cold, distant, almost cruel. Not the warm companion I’d grown up with. Had all of that been another lie?

“You understand the value of intent. It doesn't matter if you didn’t intend her death. She died at your hand.”

He was silent for several moments. “Will you ever forgive me?”

“What do you think?”

“I should have trusted Muriel. But I did not want her to take you from me, which would have been her right. If it had been my daughter, I would have sought my destruction.”

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