Page 22 of The Crown of a Fallen Queen
It’s not the first time I’ve pretended to be engaged, so it shouldn’t be too hard to pull off. Only Seth is my nemesis, not my friend, and I still want him dead.
Details for future me to deal with, I guess.
“First rule: If we don’t want the other royals to brand you as a traitor, too, we have to convince them that we actually have feelings for each other. This can’t be viewed asjusta political scheme, or they’ll fight us at every turn.”
Seth’s jaw drops, but he quickly shakes off the shock of my statement. “And what if my mother asked us to wed immediately?”
I raise a brow. “I think Freya will hope to change your mind, no?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past her to agree to the marriage only to have you killed after the wedding night,” he says with an apologetic grimace.
“I wouldn’t put it past you, either. You’ll have to earn my trust, first.”
His gaze flies to the sky. “You can rest easy. If I betrayed you, Elio would have my head.”
“That’s a small relief, indeed.” I chuckle, but it’s a low, dangerous sound. “You’re not the first to come to me with such a proposition, you know. The current political landscape could prove a unique opportunity for us both, but we have to be ready for anything.”
A strangled huff whizzes out of his lungs.
Freya willburnwhen she hears this. The humiliation... to have her precious son, illegitimate or not, parading around Faerie with the one woman she loathes above all others. Him advocating for the criminal she banished, the fallen queen she tried so desperately to replace, but fell short at every turn. The young girl she betrayed making a comeback decades later, smarter and more beautiful. I’m salivating.
The thought fills me with a dark, sinful pleasure. Her lover dead, her political influence crumbling, and her only child chasingme, the very embodiment of everything she despises. This bogus engagement will be a deep thorn in her side.
But for it to work, Seth has to believe he actually has a chance to rule by my side, even though I’d rather die than marry Freya’s heir. Still, I’m not lying when I say this is a unique opportunity.
“Second rule: No side pieces. No lovers. You’ll have to keep it in your pants until this arrangement falls apart, or until the wedding night, whichever comes first.” I keep the wordingdeliberately vague, unsure whether I want to include myself in that rule.
“And does that no-sex until marriage rule include you?” he challenges me.
I craft an enigmatic smile. “There’s no marriage without consummation, no? We’ll have to get naked at some point.”
He tries very hard to hide it, but I see the way his pupils dilate, the way his abs tighten… He’s interested, as he should be. I’m Devi Eros.
“But not before?” he insists, forcing me to take a stand.
“Not before.”
While he waits on the wedding night, I can trust he won’t sink a blade between my ribs. I’ll keep him dangling, half-starved, for as long as it takes. I’m not naive enough to think this isn’t some tangled scheme to get my powers. Whether or not his mother’s in on it, Seth wants my magic. But if I hope to win at this game, I’ll drive him to want my body more.
And the off-chance possibility of breaking his heart for real? Delicious.
He keeps staring, and I can practically see the dirty scenarios playing in his mind.
“You’re not going to rock my world, you know? Very few men have,” I taunt him.
He licks his lips. “I take that as a challenge.”
“That no-sex-with-other-women rule is non-negotiable, so I’ll need you to swear to it,” I add, suppressing a grin.
“Are you a very possessive woman?” he teases.
“I’m the Queen of Hearts. It wouldn’t be believable for my fiancé to have a wandering eye.”
“Fine, but I won’t be bound by that promise if, as you say, the arrangement falls apart. If we aren’t wed in let’s say…a year, or if you break it off, this no-sex rule falls apart.”
He doesn’t want me to trick him, but I’m baffled he’d offer a year. He doesn’t strike me as a Spring Fae who’s ever been celibate for long, so he probably doesn’t understand the toll abstinence can take.
“Alright,” I concede.
