Page 94 of A Kingdom of Destruction

His tone seemed to imply she was on equal footing with the ridiculous humans who chose to protest the wedding. Something to pity and despise.

“And as part of the royal family now, you’re locked in with us.” Roran’s smile was vicious and tight, slow to spread but potent when it did.

Part of the royal family.Exchanging one set of shackles for another.

“Ignore him. He would rather there be bloodshed than practice the better part of valor.” Cillian transferred his frown to his brother, who stood firm underneath its weight.

The king paid none of them any attention. He and the nobles who’d turned tail with them commandeered one corner of the safe room for their own and sat on a long, comfortable-looking couch. Their faces pinched, as though they were uncomfortable. Whether by her presence in the room or the situation in general, it was impossible to tell.

The room may be used for safety but was no less extravagantly decorated than other parts of the keep.

“I don’t understand why we ran,” Aven insisted. “There were only a handful of people who made it through. And why were they protesting the wedding?”

It didn’t fail to escape her that Cillian hadn’t answered when she asked the question the first time. Now, with the walls closing in on them and the door shut with magic, he had no room for escape. Neither did she.

Her chest constricted, and the fabric of her dress conspired to choke her.

“I didn’t stop to ask them, but if I had to assume, I’d say they object to having a mortal like them marrying into our line,” Cillian’s brows furrowed together. He held out an arm to gesture for them to sit. “Especially considering the way one of them spoke to you.”

Another small sitting area occupied the other half of the room from where the king perched. Happy for any amount of distance between them, Aven hustled over and dropped down closest to the arm of the couch.

She felt ridiculous hiding out here in her gown. All the finery in the world didn’t change the situation.

“It makes no sense. They don’t want peace? They have to understand that this marriage is the best way to broker it.”

“They’re small-minded, and it makes them dangerous.” Roran swaggered over to a lone chair and settled, crossing one leg over the other with the grandeur she expected from him.

“We already know your opinion, Roran. The fact that you keep offering it without prompting means you like to hear yourself talk and nothing else.”

“I wonder what it says about you, Aven, to keep asking the same inane questions even though you know the answer. Insanity, perhaps?”

Cillian sat beside her with their thighs touching and his warmth seeping into her. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “The two of you better back off each other’s throats, or this will be a long night.”

She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Not when it bothered her beyond reason to have turned tail before they settled the scuffle.

“Did either of you happen to notice that the protesters were starved? Weakened,” she informed them. “They weren’t going to hold out much longer against the guards.” She refrained from calling themourguards.

“I’m sure they looked weary because of the travel it took to get here. It isn’t an easy road, and they somehow managed to get past our security even with it heightened,” Cillian once again became the voice of reason in their trio. “Whatever hardships they experienced, they brought on themselves. They knew what to expect by coming.”

It seemed to happen more than the royal family wanted their subjects to believe. She’d been here only a few months, and yet they’d had humans cross over the territory three times and get into the palace twice. Not trained soldiers, just normal people.

They had multiple safe rooms and protocols in place for this type of attack. They thought humans were dangerous?

She hadn’t seen any kind of guns on them, and none of them had carried a wand. Then again, Cillian had gotten her out of there too quickly for her to get an in-depth look.

“We don’t want to give them the opportunity to gain the upper hand,” Cillian said gently. “If we’d stayed and tried to take the high road, they might have employed underhanded tactics. The soldiers and guards will handle them. The most important thing is that you are here and safe. Our wedding isn’t impacted.”

She thought about it repeatedly as her knee bobbed up and down with restless energy. The longer they stayed in the room, the more out of her mind she’d get. Aven knew herself well enough to understand it.

The same thing happened to her last time as well.

“Have you always wanted to get married?” she asked Cillian, needing the distraction of her voice to settle.

His eyes widened in surprise. “To you?”

“No, not to me. In general. When you were younger, did you dream about a wife and a family? Or were you a late bloomer to the idea?”

“I suppose the idea was always there. I saw the happiness my parents experienced in their marriage. Then again, I also saw the unhappiness of other couples in the palace,” Cillian answered slowly, ignoring Roran’s swallowed groan at the mention.

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