Page 56 of The Crown of a Fallen Queen
No Body, No Crime
SETH
Devi briefly returns to the ballroom after her interlude with Damian, only to slip away toward the guest wing in a hurry.
If I hadn’t just seen Sombra leave the party with Ethan Lightbringer through the sceawere, I’d think she was on her way to meet him now. And the image that comes to mind fucking haunts me. I forgot to make sure that the deal we made about not having sex with other people before our wedding went both ways. Major oversight on my part.
I follow her through the empty corridors, her golden, glittering frame casting specks of light along the white halls.
“So…you and Sombra. It was serious,” I call after her, my voice coming out far too edgy and judgmental for my liking.
“Why do you say that?” she taunts, not slowing down.
I force my shoulders to relax, aiming for anI’m-fine-with-you-having-a-royal-ex attitude, but my next words come out darker than intended. “I saw how you looked at him.”
She keeps walking.
“If you liked him so much, why didn’t you two marry?” I ask, my mind ablaze with the kind of morbid curiosity that walks hand in hand with jealousy.
“I was queen. He was king. You know the rule.”
Kings and queens aren’t allowed to marry each other. It would give too much power to one family. Before the Eternal Chalice was destroyed, the other monarchs would never have allowed Devi and Damian to marry. They would have been stripped of their titles if they’d tried, but who knows if that rule still stands now that the chalice is gone.
I expected her to say that Damian was too broody, too self-important, maybe boring—or, better yet, tragically bad in bed. But no. She’s basically saying they would have married, given the chance, and the boulder in my chest pulses.
“What aboutafteryou lost your crown?”
She spins to face me. “You’re cute when you’re jealous. But don’t fret—Damian’s already married.” She pokes the center of my chest in a playful manner before resuming her escape.
“I know. I was there.”
That earns me a sullen pout. “What?”
“Funnily enough, I attended his wedding. And Elio’s. Aidan’s too. But you’re changing the subject. I’ve heard the rumors. Why didn’t you two marry after you lost your crown?”
She shrugs, as though the answer is obvious. “I fell from grace. He got splintered. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
We reach her room, and she slips inside, twisting around to block me from following, one arm braced against the doorframe.
“Let me in.”
“Why?”
There’s no reason why she should. This itch under my breastbone won’t let me walk away, but I’ve never been the type to hold a woman back. If she wants someone else, she can have him. I don’t play second.
But this is different. Devi’s different.
“I need to tell you about the meeting. The crowns offered us permission to marry, but there’s a quid pro quo.”
She purses her lips, somewhere between annoyance and disgust. “We don’t need their permission, not now that the chalice is gone.”
“That’s what I said, but hear me out, alright?”
She slams the door in my face. I drag a hand through my hair, swallowing a curse, and stare down the piece of wood separating us. The raw instinct sizzling along my spine screams at me to tear it off the hinges.
Fuck.
How am I supposed to explain what happened if she won’t listen? My fists curl, and I knock on the door once.
