Page 47 of Lord of the Hollow Court
What a bitter awakening after their sweet moments atop the grassy loam, the joining of two souls that found one another in the most unlikely fashion and recognized something in the other. He had felt that with her. The way she looked at him, the steadiness in her dark, gleaming eyes, told him she felt it, too.
In those moments, he’d been sure this was no mistake. Fate had brought him this accidental bride for a reason.
He’d lost that surety now, and felt his steps weighed down by knowledge of his mistake. As if in agreement, his cane groaned beneath him.
For now, there was naught Braam could do but wait for the poisoning magic to work its way from her system—the magic on which he himself thrived. Mere hours since his vows, he knew this was a doomed match.
How bitter it was to know that, against all odds, hope for his new life with Katty still grew within him, now damaged and made small. He shoved open the doors to his private rooms roughly, the usual guards given the night off for the feast. Making his way straight to his bedroom in the back, Braam tossed down his cane and flopped onto the bed. He didn’t know how to protect Katty from any of this, other than to send her home.
A throat cleared.
Braam shot up, clutching his chest. “Sons of the ancient fae, Misman, you scared the life out of me.”
“I knew you’d arrive eventually, m’lord,” Misman said, tilting his head in the sparsest apology, “and that you’d be in high dudgeon when you did.”
“Misman.” Braam said the word like a snort and threw himself back onto the downy bedding. “I find dudgeon a perfectly acceptable reaction to the circumstances.”
“That’s just it, m’lord,” Misman said, voice breaking a touch. Braam’s head rolled toward him instantly, a furrow settling into his brow. It wasn’t like Misman to sound so hesitant. “I believe we may have both problem and solution at hand.”
Propped on an elbow now, Braam’s eyes burned with fae curiosity. “Tell me.”
“The geas the Lady of the Hollow Court incurred—”
By way of interruption, Braam clucked his tongue. “We don’t know that sheisthe Lady of the Hollow Court, Misman. I fear the land and its magic have chosen not to accept her. How else could such intrinsic fae magic harm her?”
Misman shuffled one foot, glancing downward. This wasn’t like him at all.
“You may be right, m’lord,” he said at length.
With a disgusted sound, Braam rolled back onto the bed. “What am I to do, Misman?”
“I’m sure wallowing will help, m’lord.”
“Misman.”
“Lord Braam.”
When Braam turned toward his butler again, the man had a thin brow arched high. “I only meant that your lordship must look at the facts,” Misman said.
Braam narrowed his eyes. “I’m trying to, Misman, and I find them quite hopeless at the moment.” He raised a hand, ready to dismiss Misman.
Misman cleared his throat. “If I may—how was it Lady Braam incurred the geas?”
“You know how, Misman.”
“I knowwhyit began,but the particulars of the how...”
Braam sat up. “The magic of the court itself created the geas. I only gave it my seal of approval, as it were. It’s no different from any transgression against the court.” His brows lowered. “Does this mean something to you, Misman?”
Misman shifted. “Your lordship knows I have a past.”
“We all do. Get on with it, won’t you? I’ve a full night of considering my misdeeds planned.” For once. Braam wished he’d planned such a night long ago.
“When I was a young apprentice, in my”—Misman cleared his throat—"former line of work, I learned something of what happens when fae magic meets humans—particularly when it is used to make humans do something."
Braam swallowed. To speak of Misman’s failed calling was a delicate thing, even for a Court’s Lord. The Order of the Valkyrie—an organization more secret than even the fae sorcerers—were rarely mentioned by name. It was they who lurked in the shadows, watching the fae who claimed “human playthings,” as the detestable Lord Aleksandr had put it, for signs of human mistreatment. It was they who kept the fae world from destroying the human one.
A chill ran through Braam. Would what happened tonight earn the notice of one of them? Would Braam have any warning if a Valkyrie darkened his court’s still-damaged doorstep?
