Page 69 of Heir to His Court

But less satisfying,the Prince said, cold. I am a ruler. I understand justice. I will not. . .force her if, in the end, she refuses me. She is mine as much as she is yours.He paused.I do not think you know her as well as you think you do.

Threnvanne lifted his brows. This should be interesting. He turned toward the hall where his consort slept and as he walked, allowed his aspect to fade to sleep, Darkan following. Renaud and Raniel merged, as they often did.

Renaud, Prince of Everenne, also Raniel Lord of Avallonne, strolled into Aerinne’s bedroom and stopped at the edge of his halfling’s bed.

Beautiful.

And broken, once he was done with her. But Raniel’s love would save her from the worst of Renaud’s vengeance.

All soil must be tilled before it could be planted.

“Wake, my heart. Wake, uncuffed Lady of the Lake. Wake, my murderous little halfling.”

Her eyes snapped open, wide and dark and impenetrable until she thought she recognized their face. He watched with vicious delight as wary suspicion entered her gaze, her full bottom lip trembling before she flattened it. Her fear did nothing to mitigate his rage.

“Prince?” Aerinne began to sit up.

“They tell me,” he said. “That I may not kill you. They remind me that I did not desire your death.”

“General.”

“Try again.” He slid a knee onto the bed, lunging forward when she tried to evade with the speed of her Skill and the experience of combat. “Oh, you will have to be much, much faster, halfling.” Renaud felt Raniel pulling at him and shook the aspect off.Don’t hurt her!

He grabbed her arms, pressing her into the bed and draped his body over hers, lowering his head to inhale the scent of her sweat slick skin. She had been dreaming. Ill dreams, he hoped. Probably the same dreams that plagued him, and he was a prince of dreams.

“Prince?”

Oh, how sweet her carefully even, husky, voice. Perfectly modulated, the Court intonation musical. She could dust off her manners when she chose. But underneath the facade was fear. He inhaled it, even as the beat of her fluttering heart slammed against him. The increased pace revved every aggressive instinct in him. To rend, to claim. To fuck, to kill. To bleed, to bed.

That was always the dilemma, was it not? That he could never decide which he wanted more. Her fragility was as tempting as her budding power.

Though, now, knowing she had murdered his child then stared into his eyes andomittedit, he leaned more toward tearing out her throat.

But that would be fleeting pleasure, and the others had made him swear to leave her obviously alive.

Renaud inhaled again, Raniel wary but watchful.I will not kill her. I have another punishment in mind, one she will hate more.For now, if Nayya was any example.

Beneath him, Aerinne’s body trembled. He was glad, as always, that she was not a fool. In his distant youth he had accidentally killed more than one lover who had not had the intelligence to be wary of him. Or had that been Threnvanne Sanyelle?

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked.

Renaud tried to slide into her mind, but Darkan blocked him.No. You will not defile our bond.The Prince snarled at him for a moment, then refocused on the female helpless beneath.

“Do you plead for mercy, halfling?”

“Ask Threnvanne Sanyelle.”

Distant, watching, the General unexpectedly chuckled.

Renaud curled his upper lip. “Myson. How could you?”

She blew a curl out of her face, glaring up at him. “How could you kill my mother?”

“It was not intended.”

“Likewise, Prince.”

He shifted one hand from her arm to wrap around her neck. All he had to do was squeeze. Just. . .squeeze. “Not likewise. Not at all likewise.”

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