Page 105 of A Bond in Blood

I jumped at his touch, my body shaking with fear while my mind cursed me for allowing myself to be so vulnerable in his presence.

“You asked me what it meant to me,” I whispered, my voice shaking while his finger continued to trace the outline of the ink.

“Yes,” he muttered.

“Freedom, hope, peace, and love.” My tears fell while I voiced my own list. “A chance to be whoIwant to be.”

“Why hide it?”

His hand pulled away and my breath loosened in my chest.

I sat up, pulling my chemise back down.

“Because I’m destined to be a queen, Ulrich. I’m a princess of an island the majority of our world believes should not exist. My blood istainted, unclean, and unwanted. I cannot have a marking on my skin that anyone can see.”

“Do you wish to be a queen?”

His question was an attack on my soul, digging into my darkest secrets. I pulled my knees to my chin, refusing to meet his eyes.

“I want to be myself. Whether that ends in my queenhood, or me doing whatever it is the Gods have planned for me.”

“What about Fate?” he asked.

I laughed and shook my head. “There you are with that word again.Fate. What does that mean to you?”

The king let out a breath. “Everything, Brenna. It means everything.”

My words stuck in my throat as the lights in the room went out and a clatter sounded on the bedside table. The sound I’d come to recognize as him removing his mask in the dark.

“What are you doing?” I questioned.

“I’m going to sleep. Would you like to join me?” he replied.

The bed shifted with his weight and the comforter lifted beneath me. My body shook while I contemplated what had just happened between the two of us.

I turned back, hoping to see an outline of his features in the dark.

“You cannot look upon my face,” he whispered.

“Nearly six and a half months, your grace,” I replied.

“Until what?” he laughed.

I climbed up the bed, finding his bare torso while I ran my fingers where I believed hisDrekito be.

“Until I’m going to force you to remove that mask.”

His hand laid against mine, flattening my palm to his chest.

“Perhaps Fate will allow such a thing,” he whispered.

I pulled my hand back, laying against the pillows.

“Whatever or whomever Fate is, I wonder if perhaps you are right,” I replied.

Then the strangest thing in the months since I’d been in his bed occurred—I fell asleep, peacefully. With the giant hand of the Unseelie King wrapped around my own.

Chapter 23

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