Page 9 of Brutal Fae King
“What?”
But she doesn’t answer me—instead, she waves a hand forward, and a thin beam of light forms a doorway in front of us both. With oneflash,the doorway opens, and I see the corridor in the castle again. This time, the king stands there, staring in atus. His eyes are as dark as the black, thorny crown that sits on his head, his cloak blood red.
“She’s still alive?” he asks grimly.
“Yes,” the witch purrs behind me. “Not only is she alive… she isher.”
I look between the witch and the king. The king lowers his chin, glaring at me.
“I see…” He answers.
There is awooshbehind me, and suddenly, a flurry of warm wind eases me out of the door, and the doorslamsbehind me. I look around, and the door is gone. Then, I turn back, and the king is in front of me—just inches from my face. Those dark eyes seem endless, like a pair of black holes burning into me.
For a moment, he just stares at me—really into me—as if he can see right into my soul. It’s like I can feel this destructive energy rolling off him in waves, like he’d burn me if I touched him.
Every inch of him is sharp. Even his facial features have an edge to them—his harsh eyes, his strong jaw, his pointed nose, and pointed fae ears…
“Come,” he says suddenly. “We need to talk.”
His hand grabs me by my upper arm. He’s so strong. The king begins striding, pulling me behind him. He keeps dragging me behind him until we end up in a large room. My impression of the room is that it’s veryred.Red carpets, red curtains, and red accents on most of the tapestries. There are golden elements in the room as well, but I mostly see a golden wood chair that the king drags me toward, thrusting me toward the chair.
“Sit down,” he orders.
I fall into the chair. The king leans down over me, right in my face. Again, I’m staring directly into his dark eyes again. He stares me down for a long moment. I’m not talking first—I just stare back.
“What are your plans with Faevea?” he demands after a second.
“W-what?” I reply.
He slams his hands down on the armrests of the chair. I yelp a little in shock. When he speaks again, he’s so close to my face that I can feel his warm breath fan across my mouth. I hang my head and stare at my lap.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” he whispers in a husky tone. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean?!” I squeak back defiantly. “Your insane guards kidnapped me!”
His thumb and forefinger grip my chin as he forces me to look at him.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he says. “If you do not want to tell me willingly, you are going to force me to use… other means to make you talk. You have one more chance to speak now—in a civilized manner.”
I sneer at him. He smirks.
“Spit at me all you want,” he says. “It won’t change anything.”
“I won’t spit at you again,” I growl. “You look like that’s what you want.”
The king breaks out into low chuckles.
“You’re entertaining,” he purrs, then leans close to my ear. “I’m going to miss that defiance whenI break you.”
A chill moves down my spine. He whips away from me, releasing my chin and stepping back. The king knocks on the door twice, and a cluster of guards walks in.
“That was your chance to speak civilly with me,” the king announces. “Remember that.”
He nods, and the guards move over to me.
This time, when I’m dragged to the dungeons, I walk with my head high, shooting a glare at the smirking king as I go.
***
