Page 48 of The Shattered Kingdom
I don’t know what I want, but it surely isn’t that.
“You’re deranged if you think I’m going to push twelve children out of my body,” I say. I’m unsure how to respond to the other bits of his confession, so I’m choosing to ignore them. I’m good at that.
Mason smirks, accepting the topic change. “But your womb is so fertile…”
I groan. “Get out!” I kick my leg, fighting with the blankets before breaking free and kicking Mason in the ribcage. He howls in laughter, finding himself quite the comedian as he retreats to the door. “Don’t ever say that to me again!”
Mason’s laughter only grows. I hear it even after he shuts the door and returns to his bedroom. I hate him more than I’ve ever hated anybody, and I hope he knows it.
It takes me a long time to fall asleep, my thoughts bouncingrapidly between Lill, my family, Mason’s confession, and Kie’s stony silence. I never thought I’d miss my days working at the marketing firm or my infuriating meetings with Mark. I’d give anything to sit across his cluttered desk reviewing expense reports.
A lightweight, red linen dress hangs over my bedroom door the next morning. I stare at it for half a second before ripping it off the hanger. It’s a fucking milkmaid dress, and I just know Mason is the culprit.
It’s thankfully not as revealing as I feared, and I mentally curse the shifter as I slip it over my head and tug it over my torso. At least it fits. For once, the hem doesn’t drag against the floor or my ankles. The dress ends squarely at my calves, where it’s meant to.
Mason and Kie stare when I finally leave the bedroom, and Kie wordlessly slides me a plate of food before returning to the giant book he and Mason are leaning over.
“When is court?” I ask.
“This evening.”
Great.They spend the day studying, and I sit on the couch staring at the ceiling. Hours pass at a snail’s pace, and by the time the sun begins to drop, I just might die of boredom.
Kie shuts the book he’s spent the past two hours reading. “It’s time to go.”Finally.
I look over as he and Mason pull on their signature black gloves. They’re pretending they haven’t found their mate, which bothers me more than I’d care to admit. They wore their gloves yesterday, too.
Mason forces me to walk between him and Kie, and he drops his hand from my back as we reach the meeting hall. The building was empty yesterday for Mason’s ceremony, but not today. The throne room is packed, and I estimate there must be well over a hundred faeries present.
They look rich.
The room falls silent as we enter, all eyes on us. I can’t tell which of us is getting the most attention, and I don’t look hard enough to find out. The knowledge will only make me nervous.
Mason guides me up the steps leading to the throne. There are now two, one for Mason and a figurative one for Kie. I’m forced to stand behind Mason. I don’t think it would’ve killed them to have a chair brought in for me, even if it’s plastic and folded up. It’s not too much to ask for.
They’re hoping to avoid drawing too much attention to me, but making me join them on the small stage defeats the whole purpose. Mason wasn’t willing to entertain the idea of me standing down below with Anox, and he snapped at Kie the one time it was mentioned last night.
Anox and the other council members stand at the bottom of the stairs, and Anox makes a short announcement about prosperity and strength. Does he actually believe that?
Faeries begin loosely lining up at the bottom of the steps. They chat amongst themselves, and servers walk around the room with platters of refreshments. I always imagined court was a solemn and serious affair, but this is more of a cocktail hour.
Anox calls out the name and title of the first person in line. It’s a young man, maybe only fourteen or so, and he bows deeply before approaching Mason. I’d expect somebody of his age to be nervous, but he’s the picture of confidence.
“Your Majesties,” he says.
Kie isn’t technically a ‘majesty,’ I don’t think. He’s still a prince, which I’ve gathered is ‘highness’ here. Is calling Kie a majesty considered a slight against Mason? I can’t see the shifter’s face, so I look toward Anox instead.
He’s giving away nothing. Not helpful.
The boy faces Mason directly and bows again. “My King.”
I’d bet money Mason’s a little bit hard right now. These faeries have spent their entire life openly hating them, and now they’re lining up to earn his favor. I peek at his lap, wanting to confirm, but I don’t see anything unusual.
“As you may know, my family’s land borders Redstall Forest,” the boy starts. “We’re worried about shifters trying to claim them now that one of their own is in power.”
Damn.They aren’t starting with softball questions.
Kie and Mason prepared for about fifty variations of this exact question, and I rock back on my heels as Mason gives a perfectly rehearsed answer about honoring property lines and the strict penalties for unlawfully infringing upon them.
