Page 41 of Till Kingdom Come

“Left? What do you mean? Where the fuck is he?”

“The people that run the inn said he asked them to send word to King Hendris. He asked Hendris to send someone for him. I believe he’s at the royal palace now.”

I’d heard about people seeing red when they were angry. I thought it was just an expression, a figure of speech, a metaphor for when a person feelsintense rage and hostility. But a haze of red had dropped over my vision, and it looked pretty real to me. I clenched my hands at my sides and thought about what I’d do when I got my hands on that little neck of his. Not to mention that ass.

“Get my coat and my sword. I have a ceremony I need to get to.”

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Killian

I had been taken straight to Hendris when I arrived at the royal palace, and he looked at me oddly as he asked me where Prince Bracca was. I simply told him he was at the Red Lion, and he’d be joining me later. I could see he didn’t really understand completely, but I changed the subject by asking him if he had any clothing that I could borrow that might be appropriate for that afternoon’s introduction to the people of Daeneid. He looked surprised and immediately came out from behind his desk and came over to me.

“Your Majesty…my dear boy…are you all right?” he asked, taking my hand in two of his and leaning in closely.

“Oh, I’m fine,” I said, pulling my hand away and taking a step backward. “I simply…I didn’t know what to expect, you see. I don’t know if I have anything appropriate to wear.”

“Forgive me, but why didn’t you ask your husband? For that matter, where is your consort?”

“He’ll be here later. I’m sure he will. He and I just…we had a difference of opinion last evening, you see. Nothing serious at all. But he decided to leave the place we were staying and stay with some of his men…at another place. To think about things… Does that make sense?”

“No, I confess it doesn’t. Are you saying that the two of you argued? I’m sorry if I’m being too personal, but you seem upset.”

“No, no, I’m not upset. Not too much anyway. I’m fine. I just didn’t have anything appropriate to wear.”

“I see. That’s not a problem, Your Majesty. I’ll have the bedchamber where you stayed when you first arrived made ready for you, and a bath drawn. Then afterward, the servants can help you dress. Maybe you’d like to have a short rest before this afternoon as well.”

“Oh. That might be nice. I didn’t rest well last night. Yes, I would.”

“Excellent. Now come with me.”

He drew me down the hallway to the guest bedchambers that were not too far from his offices. “Go in and lie down, and I’ll have the servants prepare things for you.”

He opened the door for me, and I went inside. The room was a bit chilly, so after he left, I went closer to the fireplace and snapped my fingers at it in the Elven way. The fire blazed dutifully up.

I heard the door opening and Hendris was back and took my hand in his again. “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable? I’ll send in the servants, unless…would you like me to stay? Perhaps you need to talk?” He ran a gentle hand down my arm soothingly. “I’m a very good listener.”

“Thank you, but no,” I said, pushing my hair out of my eyes. I’d never had long hair before coming to the Liminal. It wasn’t at all the style in our mortal world where royalty were the only males allowed to have long hair. But it seemed there was nothing I could do about this curly, unruly hair, and it seemed to literally get longer every day. It did give me a moment to consider what all I should say to Hendris, however. I didn’t want to offend him, but I could only imagine what Bracca would have to say about this if he found out—which he never would if I had anything to say about it. If he thought Hendris knew something about me that he didn’t know, it wouldn’t end well.

“I think I need to rest a while. I don’t believe I slept well after all the excitement yesterday.”

“I’ll take my leave then and let you rest. Please let me know if I can do anything to make you more comfortable.”

“Thank you. You’ve been very kind.”

He bowed slightly to me then and gave me a long look before he left. He was a young, handsome man, and I wasn’t oblivious to his meaning. But I was a married man—even though I never believed such a thing could happen to me, and I didn’t know quite how to feel about it. One thing was for sure. I had a possessive husband who would no doubt kill both of us if he found us in a compromising position. And it wouldn’t take him long to do it.

At least I thought it would make him jealous. I was beginning to realize that I barely knew him and didn’t have any real idea how he would react to any given situation. I sighed and went over to lie on the bed. Maybe I should keep some of my secrets to myself for now. When I’d dropped my blood on the throne, maybe something had happened to me. Bracca kept saying that the longer I was here in the Liminal, the more I was changing. Perhaps some of the magic of the stone had surged into me when my blood had touched it. Maybe my blood had awakened something inside me, and the stone had conferred some of its power to me. Perhaps the less said about it, the better. Just for now anyway, until I could get the lay of the land, so to speak.

The room was warming up nicely, and I meant to simply rest my eyes, but I fell asleep instead. It was enough to make me think people were putting things in my food to make me sleep, but I doubted that was true. I hadn’t eaten anything here anyway. It must be the almost debilitating cold, I decided.

I didn’t get much chance to rest, however, before the maids came in to “help” me bathe. I tried to tell them that I had been doing it for myself for years, but it made little difference to them. Actually, bathing at home my whole life had been a hit or miss proposition. In the spring and summer, we went swimming almost every day, but in the winter, the air in the house I lived in could get a little pungent. Most people I knew only took a real bath once a week or so.

I hadn’t noticed that at all with these Fae. They were among the cleanest, sweetest-smelling people I’d ever met. All the more reason to want to be at my best when I was going to be introduced to these new ones.

Not to mention some of the shocking things that Bracca did to me.

I suffered them to strip my clothes off and then sit me down in the lovely, steaming water and wash me all over. They put soap everywhere, including my long hair and then rinsed it all clean. Afterward, they helped me out and sat me by the fire to rub at the long curls with soft towels.

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