Page 105 of The Cursed Kingdom

The woman’s lips twitch, only furthering my budding suspicions that she can read my thoughts or something equally invasive, before she shifts her gaze to Kie.

The faerie prince is standing on my left, and he remains perfectly still as Zaha takes her time looking him over. I’d pay good money to know what she’s thinking. She doesn’tnecessarily seem upset or annoyed by our arrival, but she also doesn’t seem excited to see Kie.

Her lips purse slightly as she slides her gaze toward Mason. The shifter is on my right, and unlike Kie, he doesn’t stand still as Zaha silently evaluates him. He shifts his weight from leg to leg, his arm brushing against my shoulder as he waits for her to finish.

I half-expect him to say something snarky, but for once, he’s able to have some self-control and remain quiet. After what feels like an eternity, Zaha gestures for us to approach.

Kie’s the first to move, and he places his infuriating hand on my back so I can’t linger behind, as I typically prefer. I wish to remain where I am, but then I take one more look at the line of women standing behind Zaha and move forward without complaint.

I’m assuming these are her slaves.

They seem docile, so maybe Kie wasn’t lying when he said I should be on my best behavior. I’m not getting the impression that any of these women speak up or argue, and I don’t like the idea of beingtrained.

Mason walks alongside us, his arm brushing my shoulder with every movement.

I don’t know why he feels the need to be so close to me, and I’m barely resisting the urge to shove him aside. If he keeps this close, I’ll be left with no choice but to follow through on my plan to shove my bare fingers into his mouth.

I’d do it if we weren’t being hawk-eyed by Zaha. I might also be tempted to tell Mason to back off and that he stinks.

We’ve been walking through the forest for days, and I bet it wouldn’t be hard to convince him that he smells. He may have washed himself earlier, but it wasn’t a true bath. I want to make Mason insecure, and I’m annoyed I didn’t think to do thisearlier. I should’ve done it while we were waiting in that crisp, sterile white room.

A little humbling would be good for him. Kie, too.

I follow Kie’s lead, walking forward until the large fountain is behind us and we’re fewer than five steps from Zaha. There’s an empty chair opposite her, but nobody moves to sit and she doesn’t offer.

She probably likes making her guests stand. I bet it’s a power thing.

“Interesting,” Zaha says, looking the three of us over. “When I saw you’d taken the human captive, I wasn’t anticipating this outcome.”

I recoil, my mind running blank. She knew Kie and Mason had taken me hostage? Has she been watching us? The thought sends a shiver down my spine. What else does she know? What else has she seen?

Kie and Mason do not react to her admittance, almost as if they already knew. Kie has made offhand comments about how the gods view the faerie realm as entertainment, and maybe this is what he meant. Are the gods always watching?

Fuck, that’s a terrifying thought.

Zaha glances at her nails, inspecting them with a quiettutbefore waving over one of her slaves. It’s the first time they’ve been addressed, and I carefully observe as one with long, black hair smoothly walks forward and comes to stand directly alongside Zaha.

Nobody speaks, and after a long moment, the woman nods and makes her way inside the house. I try not to look too freaked out. Zaha is definitely able to read minds. I just know it.

Kie’s fingers twitch where they press against my spine. It’s a nervous action. I’m one-hundred-percent confident in that, but I have a feeling that if I looked at his face, I’d see it perfectly calm.He’s the crowned prince, and I bet he’s been trained to hide his emotions.

Mason’s probably not as good at it.

He’s the more volatile of the two, and he has some severe impulse issues he desperately needs to work through. For the faeries’ sake, I hope he’s seeing a highly qualified therapist. I can’t imagine trusting somebody like him to rule alongside Kie.

He’d have one bad day and start a war.

Zaha picks at another piece of food on her platter. Now that we’re closer, I see she’s eating oiled bread. There’s an entire Mediterranean spread in front of her, and it looks fucking delicious. I’d kill for something with flavor, and I lick my lips as I eye her food.

She’s only going for the bread, but I'd devour the olives if I were in her place. I’m tired of meat and nuts.

Kie’s fingers tap against my spine again. I expected him to launch into some long, drawn-out speech, and I’m honestly confused about why he’s standing here silently watching Zaha eat. It’s probably some weird respect thing, and it’s painfully awkward.

Zaha extends one thin, marbled finger toward Mason. “Why did you bring the shifter with you?”

Kie sucks his cheeks into his mouth. “I—”

“Bringing the great-grandson of the man who kidnapped, tortured, and raped my little sister is an interesting decision,” she continues, interrupting Kie. “Some would even consider it a mistake.”

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