Page 135 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
My ears rang.Don’t tell me. Please don’t tell me…
Lady Yesenia smiled. “Marry me, my king. Let us unify this kingdom and bring our two worlds together.”
“How can I say no to an offer like that? Lady Yesenia, you will be my queen.” They kissed, and the audience went wild.
But I couldn’t focus on that. I could barely hear the crowd. The marks the couple shared. The words they used.Fated for each other.Or like Nimue had said,fated mates.Like what Umara and Thaleia had. The mark on my chest burned.
Matching tattoos. One that appears after meeting each other.
Fated mates.
Distantly, I heard Kieran talking to me, but the words fell in one ear and out the other.He knew.He must have. If all the locals knew about fated mates, then Kieran, bastard son of their lord, must have known.
That night when I commented on his tattoo.
When he avoided me afterward.
When I asked him about my mark.
When he lied to my face.
My breath quickened. It felt like I hovered outside of my own body.I shouldn’t have trusted him. I know better.Wes tried to warn me, told me how two-faced Kieran could be.And I let myself fall anyways.
I blinked and the crowd was in the process of leaving. When did that happen? Trying to control my breathing, I grabbed Kieran’s hand and gripped it tight. “Take me somewhere private. Now.”
“We can’t blow our cover.” He didn’t let me tug him along. When I swirled on him, he smiled. Light and airy, even though it didn’t reach his eyes. A mask for the public.Asshole.“Selena, we can’t blow our cover.”
I wanted to scream, wanted to shove him, wanted to call Umara to torch him. Instead, I forced my numb cheeks into a returning smile and let go of his hand. “I’m not an idiot. That’s why we’re going somewhere private.”
We were all smiles as we left the amphitheater. My heart felt as if it’d been torn out of my chest. How could I have been so stupid? This was why I didn’t trust people. This was why I only ever let myself care for Clara.Because everyone else always lets me down.Gods, all the signs were there. Wes had warned me so many times.And I fell for it anyways. Like a dumbass.
The moment we were in our room back at the inn did I let my mask fall. “You’re a liar.”
Kieran stiffened. “I wasn't sure of anything myself.”
“Bullshit.” I jabbed a finger in his chest. “You suspected. There’s no way you didn’t.” The back of my eyes burned. Fated mates. The whole thing sounded so fantastical, so impossible. And yet I had the tattoo, and so did Kieran. And now that I thought about it, our tattoos matched. They weren’t the same exact design, but they complimented each other.
Because we’re fated.
I wanted to throw up.
Kieran shook his head. “When I got the tattoo, I didn’t—I suspected, but there’s no factual record of a rider gaining a tattoo. That play—it’s just a wish. At first, I thought the mark was because of my bond with Hesperos.”
My hands shook. I wanted to believe him, wanted to curl into his arms. But that’d be ignoring what I’d known all along. Kieran was a liar, and he’d do anything to further his agenda. “You told Gareth.” The realization sent ice through my veins. “That’s why he kept pushing for me to trust you.”
Kieran grimaced. “I didn’t tell him to do that. Selena—” He stepped forward.
I flinched and raised my hands. “Don’t take another step closer.” I looked at my hands, at the way they trembled. Kieran did this to me. “Why the hell would you tell him and not me?”
Kieran gestured wildly toward me. “Because of how you’re reacting right now.”
I laughed, but there was no humor to it. “Because of how I’m reacting?” My voice rose. Red floodedmy vision. “You’ve been manipulating me this whole fucking time, of course I’m pissed. You know that you’re my fated mate, whatever the fuck that even means, and you kept it from me.”
“Because—” Kieran took a step and then paused, taking a step backward. “I didn’t know if it was real. And when I thought it was—I thought it was one sided. Because after all that time we spent together, you never got the mark.”
It was a slap to the face. “So you’re saying my feelings are nothing? That it was okay for you to lie to me even when it involved me? You don’t get to tell me how I feel!”
“I’ve never lied about my feelings for you! And of course I thought you didn’t feel the same.If the marks were as simple as falling in love, every past rider would’ve gained a mark, but they don’t. Because this is deeper than love, Selena. What I feel for you consumes my very being. It’s in the air I breathe, every step I take, every thought, every emotion I feel. It’s all about you.Thatis why I was sure it was one-sided.”
