Page 81 of All the Chaos of Constellations
“Because House Celestine has something I want,” he replied too easily, his lulling voice laced with venom. “Something your queen cannot give me.”
“And what’s that?”
“A wife.”
Novalise made a derisive sort of noise. There had to be a more profound interest for the shadow prince than a mere marriage pact.
“I don’t believe you. You could have your pick of ladies, willing or not, given your stature.” She gestured vaguely toward all the eligible females currently within their vicinity. “Why my house, why my family?”
The shadow prince considered her. She watched him as he silently debated, forming a strategic response and choosing his words with extreme discretion.
“Great change is coming, my lady. A war of the ages, unlike anything this world has ever seen.” He leaned in, crowding her. She attempted to swallow, but her throat was rough and gritty like sand. “I have witnessed firsthand the atrocities, the destruction we will face.”
So claimed the man who was searching for a gemstone of diabolical power, a jewel that could cause the ruination he just described. She shifted and leaned back, giving herself some leverage against the frightening aura of his demeanor. “Why should I think you wouldn’t be the cause of it?”
His answering laughter was low and evocative. “You really don’t know me at all, do you?”
“You’re avoiding my question,” she fired back, hating the telling tremble in her voice.
“Am I?” Beguiled, Prince Drake grinned. The sight of his smile, a real one, nearly wrenched her heart from her chest.
It was unfair that someone so vile could be so devastatingly gorgeous. Shaking off the unwelcome thought, she wrapped her arms around herself in a vain effort to stand her ground. Shewouldhave a proper response. “Why my family?”
Prince Drake’s smile vanished, transforming him into the cutthroat villain. The one who hunted and stalked in the shadows of night. “Because Celestine is the most powerful house in Aeramere. The stars rule over every element. When the time comes, I want to ensure I’m aligned with the strongest faction.”
His words caused the deepest part of her soul to shudder. “And you think aligning with one house is more beneficial than the fortitude of all five houses combined?”
This time, only the corner of his mouth lifted upward. Slow and purposeful. “How adorable of you to assume the five houses will stand together under the threat of war.”
One by one, he planted seeds of doubt within her. Sowing and nurturing them with his words of warning.
“Of course we would. Aeramere is our home.” Even as Novalise said it, threads of uncertainty twisted together, wrapping around her conviction like a vise. “The houses would band together to stave off an attack from anyone who tried to take it from us.”
“Are you certain?”
No.
“Yes.”
Smugness dripped from the shadow prince’s handsome features. He crossed his arms, the black shirt he wore stretching across his muscled chest. “And what if the attack comes from within?”
Novalise reared back, stunned. Her gaze swung across the courtyard, confirming no one lingered too closely to overhear their discussion. “That’s treasonous.”
“That’s warfare,” he countered. “Rumors are already spreading, whispers of quelled uprisings and silenced rebellions. All of it taking place right beneath your pretty little nose, and by the time you realize it and accept what is happening, it will be too late to do anything. But you’ll have a front-row seat to the ruin of your realm.”
“You’re wrong.”
She staggered away from him, but he was right in front of her again in a single stride.
“Am I?” Prince Drake reached out and snared her jaw, his movements faster than lightning. His thumb and forefinger dug into her cheeks, squeezing until she nearly yelped from the pain. “Your most recent star reading, the one you summoned of your own accord, predicted such a fate, did it not?”
Shock slammed into her.
She’d almost forgotten about her star reading. She’d hastened across Aeramere on the back of Prince Drake’s dragon to warn the queen about the vision, to explain the ramifications of the constellations. Yet Queen Elowyn and Prince Aspen had disregarded her claims. They’d left her feeling foolish and trite, claiming she should concern herself with her marriage and the weather rather than worry about the possibility of improbable threats.
It was humiliating.
Prince Aspen had stated in front of everyone that he would be the first to know if such declarations were true.
