Page 12 of Till Kingdom Come

His big eyes were staring up at me. He’d been in the Liminal for about a week now, and the glamour that someone had put on him to make him look plain had been gradually wearing off since he came into our realm. It must be almost gone by now, because he was incredibly beautiful. His eyes, which had been an insipid shade of brown only the night before now glinted green-gold, and his hair was streaked with blond. I could swear it was much longer than it had been last night too.

“Your Highness, may I ask you something?” Killian said softly and ever so politely. Vastly different than he’d been the night before in the Solarian city. No longer so brash and cocky, he seemed exhausted, though almost all he’d done since we left the place was sleep, so I had no idea why. He was much less defiant this morning, though, and I found I missed his cockiness and his swagger a little. Not enough to welcome it back, but still…

“Yes, what is it now?”

He squared his shoulders and pushed his blond streaked curls off his face, inhaled deeply and then blew his morning breath right in my face. Damn it, even his breath was sweet. Oddly, I didn’t mind his closeness. Why did he affect me so?

“I have a-a request.”

“Shocking. Well, what is it now?”

“I-I wonder if you might do me a favor. I’d prefer it if you would…that is, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like for you to go ahead and-and kill me now, please, and not make me wait. Don’t make me ride all day on that awful beast and then kill me somewhere far away from home.” He lifted his chin after that remarkable little speech and narrowed his striking eyes at me. “You just have to. Don’t you see?”

“No, I confess I do not. And you’re already far away from home, boy. Didn’t you notice?”

He flushed and bit his bottom lip. I knew he wanted to say something rude, and it was probably killing him to be so nice only because he wanted to ask a favor of me.

“Well, yes…but the farther away we go, you see, the harder it will be for my soul to find its way home again. You know, once you, uh…do the deed. Once you k-kill me. Your quarrel is really with Lord Ellien, after all, and not with me. I know you don’t like me much, but it really was cruel to make me suffer during the whole of that long, cold night.” He gave me a reproachful glance. Ah, here was that winning personality of his peeping through again.

I was almost glad to see it return. I said—almost.

“Anyway, now that morning has come…” He sighed and squared his shoulders. “I would consider it a huge favor if you killed me now and got it over with. It’s cruel to make me wait. It’s the waiting that’s hardest, don’t you see?”

I made an impatient sound and glared at him. Cruel, huh? I’d made him suffer all night, had I? He’d slept wrapped in my arms, not to mention in warm furs, and there had been little “suffering’ that I could discern, judging from his noisy snores in my ear. Not to mention the cuddling and the hard bulge between his legs. This alleged fear for his life hadn’t exactly kept him awake worrying about it.

“Oh really?” I said. “And what if I don’t grant this favor of yours? Are you planning on haunting me too? Walking up and down the halls of my father’s castle, rattling chains, shrieking and moaning. And wailing, I believe you mentioned.”

“If I have to…but I-I won’t, if you promise to kill me quickly. And I’d appreciate it if you please don’t make me suffer overly much. If you could do it as painlessly as possible, I’d be grateful.”

“Is there a painless way to kill someone?”

“I-I’m not sure. I hoped you might know of one. Maybe you could cut my throat with a really sharp knife?” he asked hopefully.

“I think it would still hurt.”

He shrugged and sighed. “Oh. Maybe it wouldn’t last too long though.”

“In that case, I should cut out your heart. Much quicker.”

“Uh, if you think that’s best.”

I shook my head at him. He was fun to tease, but I was in a hurry. “I have no intention of killing you, Killian.”

He glanced up at me in shock. “Y-you don’t? But I thought… You said you wanted an eye for an eye. A life for a life.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean I wanted to end that life. You had nothing to do with the death of my captain, and considering your young age, your death would be a waste. No, that’s not your purpose. Your life is still mine, but I’ll decide what to do with you. In fact, I already have a plan in mind for you. I intend to make you useful to me as soon as I get you back to my home.”

“Useful, how? W-what do you mean?” he asked, his eyes wide.

He smiled at me. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

“But…I don’t understand, and I’d really like to know.”

“It’s not a requirement that you know. Now get up and come eat. We have a long day ahead of us. Surely, you’re hungry by now.”

Killian, who had so far shown more bravery than all of the Solarian tribe put together, looked up at me out of those incredible eyes that matched so well now with his hair—which was getting more golden even as we spoke and was beginning to curl up on the ends. His hair was definitely longer now too, almost past his shoulders. How had he not noticed? Perhaps because he was too busy pouting and moaning about the turn his life had taken, puffing out that full bottom lip.

His lips were a perfect little bow, and his eyes were becoming more exotically tilted in his face and framed by much thicker, blacker eyelashes than before. He looked up and his eyes flashed sparks at me. He stuck his little nose in the air and folded his arms over his chest. Was there anything about him that wasn’t infuriating? Anything that wasn’t delicious? Or that made me want to throw him onto the nearest flat surface and make love to him for hours? I didn’t think so, though my hands itched to take him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Or kiss him—one or the other.

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