Page 54 of Courting Death & Desire
“He’sSolarian,” she finally growled, three decades of wishing she’d defended her sister louder falling out of her at once. “You left my sister with a godsdamnedSolarian?”
He reached for her arm again, and she pushed him away, shocking the king.
“Lunelle—”
“Have you lost your wits, Your Highness? Do you’ve any idea the danger you’ve put her in? He could, he could, he?—”
Mirquios closed the distance between them, towering over her as she struggled to put her fears into words.
“What? He could what? Tell me, Princess, what is it you fear my commander will do? My best friend? Mybrother?”
Lunelle’s voice caught in her chest, unsure how to navigate the weight of a man’s seething—she’d been exposed to it so infrequently.
“Speakup, Princess.”
The spite with which the words leaped from his tongue unraveled something within her that would not return to its spool.
“You know, perhaps my anger has been misplaced,” she hissed through her teeth. “Perhaps,youare the one I should be suspicious of. From the moment you arrived at my court, you’ve had nothing but my sister’s power in your sights, and I wonder what youwouldn’tdo to ensure she was on your side or unable to stand against you?—”
“Lunelle,” Mirquios said, his face falling. His hand reached for his chest as he stepped back from her. “Is that what you think of me? That I would con your sister into an attachment with the intention of harming her?”
“I don’t know what to think!” Lunelle cried, throwing her hands up. “You are the King of Mercury, but you are also in leagues with the rebels, you are my sister’s betrothed, but you cannot deny that you’ve been on several occasions a bit too comfortable with me?—”
“What did you say?” His sparkling eyes burned into her.
“I am not a child, Mirquios, I know when a man has more on his mind than?—”
“Not that,” Mirquios breathed. He gripped his chest as he moved closer to her. “But trust that we’ll get back tothat.”
Lunelle inhaled slowly, trying to gather the thoughts that had exploded from her mind across the room.
The king eased further into her space, consuming her.
“Who am I in leagues with, Princess?”
She swallowed. “I?—”
His head tilted. “Come now, Lunelle. You’re far too wise to accuse without evidence.”
She folded her arms, swallowing against the heat of his stare.
“I followed you,” she admitted. “To The Underground.”
Mirquios nodded. “Keep going.”
“I spoke with Kwan,” she continued, her nerves beginning to seep back into her speech. Mirquios circled his finger between them, begging her to keep pulling at the thread.
“And what did you discuss?”
Kwan’s words clicked into a linear thought in her mind—the king was oathbound to someone, and forbidden from revealing himself to her.
“You cannot tell me,” Lunelle breathed.
His eyes widened, a slow smile breaking across his jaw. Lunelle reached into her cloak and felt for the blade Kwan gifted her, shoving it into the king’s hands.
“Bind me,” she gasped. “You can bind me, can’t you?”
Mirquios examined her with those all-seeing eyes, a blush spreading across her neck as she feared he saw more than she intended to display.
