Page 78 of Fae Exile

The queen sighed yet again and pursed her lips in displeasure as she seemed to take us all in. “Well, we may as well start by you bowing to me. You owe me your allegiance—despite your many betrayals.” She narrowed her eyes and pointed a vicious glare at Rush as if her stare were on its own a formidable weapon.

Rush didn’t so much as flinch beside me, meeting her stare head-on.

That’s right, I thought.Don’t you dare cower to her. You’re a thousand times the fae she is.

She was the worst kind of bully: the one who didn’t bluff. She’d already proven she delighted in preying on weakness.

“They oweustheir allegiance,” the king corrected, finally shuffling to stand beside her throne, on the other side of the remains of his. “It’sus, Talisa. Despite your recent theatrics,werule this kingdom together.”

Attheatrics, the queen’s outwardly relaxed posture stiffened. More slowly than seemed warranted, she dragged her condemnation over to him.

I couldn’t decide if he was just that clueless or if he’d grown a pair while I was gone pretending I was dead. Or perhaps she’d beaten him down so much over the years that he could no longer bring himself to give enough of a fuck. I couldn’t imagine he enjoyed much of a life continually in the oppression of her long-reaching shadow.

Appearing put-out, or maybe bored, he asked, “Why am I here? You told me if I stayed out of your way, you’d stay out of mine.”

“Why, hello there, Father dearest,” I blurted before I could debate its wisdom. From beside me, Rush tensed, and in response Saffron burrowed closer, wrapping his arms aroundmy neck. “I’m really glad to see you alive and well too, thanks so much.”

The man who supposedly contributed an entire half to my existence studied me with dull eyes the shade of dry, infertile dirt.

Then, something in them appeared to soften. His shoulders, slimmer than I remembered them, rose and fell as if he heaved a weighty exhale.

“I am relieved you’re alive,” he finally said.

I snorted but didn’t follow up. My father was ... lackluster. At least in that, he was consistent.

“You’re here,” the queen told the king, “since you clearly aren’t following along, because the magic of the Fae Heir Trials bonds the current monarchs, which is ... us”—the king didn’t so much as blink at her implication that he was a barely functioning moron—“and the champion of the Gladius Probatio.”

“Champions,” Rush corrected.

She leaned forward on her throne to hiss at him, just as the dragon had her. He stood tall and unmoving in the face of it.

“Yes, champions,” she admitted. “I have yet to punish you for that one. I thank you for the reminder.”

“Though it wasn’t in the least my fault,” Rush said, “feel free to add it to my tab.”

Her nostrils flared. My buttocks clenched.

“I most certainly will,Rush.” She emphasized his name in a purr I liked even less than her outright threats.

She peered across the room. “Azariah is here as the officiator of the magic. Rush’s ... friends ... are here just to be nuisances, something they excel at.”

Several snarls erupted at once, from all the guys, I presumed. Rush’s fingers clamped and unclamped along his belt, though surely we’d all learned one awful lesson by now: the queen couldn’t be killed by ordinary means.

She slid back onto her throne, all disgust from its previous occupant apparently forgotten. “It means that despite all our wishes to be finished with the trials, and my desire to start them over, the magic of the land, linked through the pegicorn, holds us captive.”

“Which means?” I asked.

“Which means,girl, that you’ll have to compete in the Nuptialis Probatio. Certainly, you’ll be eliminated during this stage. Possibly—hopefully—you’ll die. But still, we must go through the motions.”

“You expect me to ... participate in what amounts to a courting competition against a bunch of other females?”

“Yes. The magic demands it of you.”

“But he’s my—” I sputtered.

“He’s your mate, yes.”

My heart stuttered as Rush quietly sucked in a ragged breath. I didn’t think she was supposed to know that. Pru’s warning rang through my memories: the queen should never learn of the bond between us. She’d use it against us.

---