Page 108 of Bride of the Fae Prince

But Ash apparently lies to me—and he’s good at hiding those lies, despite their foul taste and strong stench.

I don’t claim to know what the High King could do with me, but I knowenoughto be terrified at the prospect. I want to believe that Ash would never give me up to torment. I want to believe that he meant every good and tender thing he has said to me. But what can I be sure of at this point?

Nothing.

With a word, Ash could have what he’s been fighting for all these years: his life.

A horrible thought occurs to me. What if the true reason Ash has been fighting his father isn’t because of injustice, but because he merely wants his own life?

“Hand my wife over to you?” drawls Ash. “I think we both know I’m notthatcruel. Or that desperate. If you won’t take her life in exchange for mine, then I suppose it’s settled. Though perhaps I ought to tell you about another bargaining chip I have.”

“Enough. I have no more patience for your trite plots. You are dismissed until this evening’s banqu—”

“The Neverseen King owes me a favor.”

Ash’s voice slices straight through the crowd of people and the High King’s statement like a knife through skin and bone. Silence falls as the High King half-turns back, his brow pinched.

“The Neverseen King owes you a favor?” he asks.

“Indeed.” Ash’s thumb on the side of my wrist, restraining me, gives a little caress. Reassurance? Or another lie? “And I have a mutually beneficial agreement for us.”

Chapter 38

The Prince

Stella is stiff againstme, her tiny wrists so thin, so . . .breakable. I try not to think of her at all while I level a grin at the High King, whose interest I’vefinallycaptured. The challenging thing with this bargain is not giving up exactly what I want, and exactly how much I want it.

In most cases, the High King would rather lose something he wants than give me what I want. Which means that the moment I suggest delaying the conquest of the human lands, he’ll know that is what all of this is about. And he won’t accept anything—just to punish me.

But a favor from the Neverseen King?

He is the only emissary of the High King who could successfully revolt. With his position as gatekeeper of the Bridge, he is in some ways a member of this court, but in more ways, an entirely separate entity who holds in his hands the power to destroy worlds.

More than anyone, the High King dares not lose the loyalty of the Neverseen King.

He knows what a favor is worth.

“You would offer me your favor?” the High King scoffs. “And I suppose you want my kingdom in exchange?”

Stella’s pulse rams against the tips of my fingers. Her hands clench into fists, but she doesn’t struggle. She keeps her upper body rigid against mine, not daring to move with my knife still in place.

“I won’t give you my favor. But I can redeem it—and make him set his monster Crenfyre loose upon the entire human continent to destroy it.”

The High King pauses, and I try not to care. Try not tohope, as the moments slip by, as his consideration lengthens. He cannot deny how compelling my offer is.

But I made a fool of him only a few days ago with my last bargain.

Stella will never forgive me if her people aren’t spared.

She may not forgive me anyway for this knife, and my last-minute changing of the bargain.

“I see,” says the High King at last. “And in exchange for such a favor, you wish for me to delay the conquest of the human lands.”

“Until the day after Lulythinar,” I reply, not allowing my sinking gut to be visible on my face.

He’s not going to accept the bargain.

The High King’s gaze falls to Stella, to the way fear is written over every inch of her body—so unlike when she entered this throne room without flinching, without cowering.

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