Page 58 of Prince of Never

‘I don’t know why you’d bother.She doesn’t need your attention,’ I said.This part was tricky.I couldn’t try too hard to direct her focus, or it would only increase it.‘And aren’t you here to reprimand me?’

The smile of a predator stretched her mouth.She wasn’t fooled.Memories flashed through my mind: of a fledging falcon with both wings broken so badly he would never fly; of my nurse with her back torn open, blood dripping to the floor as she wept; of the emptiness of a silent room and a dismembered paw on my pillow.She had always enjoyed ripping apart things I’d loved.Melaie had only escaped that fate because I’d learned by then to hide her until she was grown and dangerous enough to take care of herself.

‘Briyala, get out,’ the queen ordered.‘I want to speak to my son alone.’

Briyala rose to her feet immediately, shooting me the briefest look of concern before she withdrew, closing the door behind her..

The silence intensified after she left, while the queen stared at me and I tried to embody the properties of the stone wall behind me.

‘I have clearly been too indulgent with you,’ she began.Indulgent.‘You take your privileges for granted.’

‘A fling with a serving girl is hardly a privilege restricted to royalty.’

‘But she isn’t just a serving girl, is she?’Her dark eyes glittered with something.It might have been fury.It might have been delight.It was hard to tell.Both generally had the same result.She rose from her seat, moved to stand at my shoulder, leaned down to speak into my ear.‘She’s your mate.’She laughed as she straightened, a cold, humourless sound that drove a chill down into my bones.‘What, did you think I didn’t know?I’ve known since she was led into the selection arena.You’re so transparent, darling.And you hammered the point home by catching her in the hunt, then again at the ball.You must think me an imbecile if you thought I didn’t notice.’

She drifted away from me, giving me the space to take a breath as she poured herself a glass of water and sipped at it, her gaze fixed on me as she waited for me to react.I couldn’t think of anything to say.I couldn’t deny it.Couldn’t tell her Imogen meant nothing to me.Couldn’t find a truth that would serve me in any way.

‘Mate bonds can be broken,’ I said finally.

‘I know that, Tarian.Why do you think I’m here?’She returned to her seat, and as she smoothed at her dress, I imagined what it would be like to pick up my knife and drive it into her neck.‘Imagine my horror when I did a little digging into this human of yours and discovered that you’ve been talking to oracles and went all the way to the human realm yourself to retrieve her.It didn’t take much to realise she’s also the girl the star reader predicted.The prophesy makes far more sense now, doesn’t it?A girl fated to be the downfall of the Unseelie Courtbecause of you.‘

She knew everything.Of course, she knew everything.‘How could a human girl be the downfall of a fae court?’My desperation must have been beginning to show, but it hardly mattered anymore.She already had me.

She placed her hands on the tabletop and leaned forwards.‘Because she makes youweak.’There was a viciousness in her expression for a moment, a gleam in her eyes, the glint of her pointed canine teeth, but it was gone by the time she sat back in the chair again.‘This situation can still be salvaged.You will never ascend the throne until you have thwarted your fate, but fortunately you have a mother who has broken a mate bond before.’

Silence.I stared at her.‘Whose?’I asked.

‘My own,’ she said simply.‘Don’t look so shocked, it wasn’t your wretched father.But I did need to break it in order to marry him and become queen.So you see, darling, I know all about making sacrifices to take the throne.We have more in common than you ever realised.’

I wasnothinglike her.‘Then how is it done?’

She wasn’t looking at me anymore.She was tracing patterns in the condensation on the side of her glass, like she had better things to do.‘Go and see the star reader.She can tell you.And she can remind you of what exactly is at stake while you’re there.’

I rose to my feet.‘Then your purpose here is finished.’

‘You’re always so eager to see the back of me.’She didn’t move to stand, but she did look up at me, dropping her fingers to the tabletop, where she slowly tapped her pointed nails against the oak.‘Kneel,Teimhean.’

I immediately gritted my teeth, seizing up in a fight that I’d never won.The coercion magic buckled first one knee, then the other, even as I resisted fiercely, my body answering the invocation of my fiorainm—my true name—and the terrible power of the Unseelie Queen.I hit the floor hard, panting at the effort of struggling to remain standing and glaring up at her with so much hatred that the icy-burn of my own magic roared to life in response, chilling my hands with impotent rage.Impotent because I could do nothing.I couldn’t unleash destruction on her, couldn’t even drop my eyes to the floor in shame.Not until she released me.

She sighed, reached out and laid a hand against my cheek.‘Where did I go wrong with you, Tarian?You are supposed to be my legacy.I thought I’d raised you to be strong.Formidable.And yet, you act like a resentful child who cannot control himself.What a disappointment you are.’She dropped the hand and my skin crawled where it had been.

‘You should have been able to deal with this problem yourself.But you clearly need to be supervised.’She surveyed me a moment longer, still tapping her nails against the table, pursing her lips in a tight frown.Finally, she rose to her feet.‘You will break your mate bond and dispose of that girl before I return, or I will do it for you.’

She left me kneeling on the floor, still struggling fruitlessly against the coercion magic that kept me immobilised, my head throbbing with fury.My vision swam, sweat trickled down my back, and I strained to hear, dreaded to hear, the sounds of screaming.She had ordered me to deal with Imogen myself.But she liked to be unpredictable.

But there was no screaming.The coercion loosened as she moved out of range.

And I exploded.The cold rush of magic burst out of me in every direction as my vision cut out.All I could see was red, deep and dark.I fell forward onto my hands as debris began to rain down from above, my ears ringing, blinking rapidly to clear my vision.

It returned slowly, taking in only shadows, the vague shapes of my hands.Spots of blood slowly dripping to the floor.My head spun and my arms were trembling with exhaustion, but I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position.Took in the damage.

Great, gaping holes were eating out parts of the ceiling, exposing the room above, dribbling a steady stream of dirt and rubble onto the floor below.A wall had all but collapsed into a pile of rubble that was slowly degrading into sand, and the air seemed to hum with the aftershock, choked with plaster dust and the vapor of whatever had turned to steam.The huge, oak dining table was lolling to one side, toppling onto the charred ash that was all that remained of half of it.To my left, the remains of a painting fell with a crash, the canvas curling with rot, the frame disintegrating around it.

At least no one else had been in the room.

As I staggered to my feet, Briyala peered around the remains of the door, her face pale.Her eyes roamed the damage, her brows rising higher up her forehead the more she looked.

‘If you ever do this tomydining room, I will be very unhappy with you,’ she said weakly.

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