Page 20 of The Princess and Her Grand King

"The Emeriel I know is not a coward," Aekeira said. "The Emeriel I know faces her challenges, no matter how impossible they seem, instead of running from them. What happened to that Em?"

"She was defeated." In an even smaller, shuddering voice.

Oh, Em…"No, she wasn't. She's still there, that much I know," Aekeira stated firmly, tears pooling in her eyes. "Come to Urai with us, Em. He saved your life too. He not only forgave your deceit, but he also saved you, both in Urai and here in Navia. Now, he needs you."

Rising to her feet, Aekeira released Emeriel’s hand. "Deep down, you know where you wish to be. You know what your heart bleeds for. If you had truly given up, truly moved on as you think, you would have stopped taking those godforsaken heat suppressants two you said you would."

Emeriel's breath hitched.

"But you didn't.” Aekeira lingered by the door. Her voice dropped. "Because no matter what you tell yourself, a part of you… the part that loves her grand king above all else, still longs for her male. Think about it, Em."

Aekeira closed the door softly behind her, leaving Emeriel alone in the darkness.

***

Mistress Sinai stormed into her quarters, seething. A night spent in the dungeon, all because of that malnourished whore.She needed to kill something.

"Run me a bath this minute!" she barked, and her maidservants flinched.

"Y-your bath is ready, mistress," one of them stammered, barely able to meet Sinai's eyes.

Shoving the maidservants aside, Sinai stripped out of her garments and slipped into the warm bath. But even the soothing heat did nothing to calm her nerves.

That bitch had been lucky.If they’d been placed in the same cell, only one of them would have walked out alive.

"You are the only mistress of your master, yet unwanted by him. Two millennia together, and he never chose you…. And now? Now, he belongs solely to Emeriel."

Sinai clenched her fists. Stupid bitch, what did she know?

Her Daemon wanted her.

Her Daemon washers.

Even Emeriel had admitted as much when she fled Urai, tail tucked between her legs, never to return.

Sinai had always wanted two things in life. To be rich and to be Grand Queen. The first would come, sooner or later, but the second… the second was always just out of her reach. Some obstacle always in her way.

Itinfuriatedher beyond reason.

Daemonikai was as stubborn as a mule, but as long as he was alive, he belonged to her.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to spread her wings a little. To secure her future elsewhere.

Zaiper. He was ambitious and dangerous.

No one outlived the repercussions of a dead soul, and if Daemonikai died, Sinai would ensure her place at the side of the next grand king.

She let the thought simmer, a slow smile curling her lips as she imagined Gaille’s reaction.Oh, how delicious it would be.

But no. She couldn’t act on it yet.

Daemonikai had beaten feral once before. What if he fought through being soulless, too?

He was unpredictable, and Sinai wasn’t foolish enough to gamble her future before she knew which way the wind would blow.

She would wait. Whether Daemonikai lived or died, Sinai would be ready.

One way or another, she would claim what was rightfully hers.

---