Page 20 of Bound to the Shadow Queen
I looked around, finding every eye fixed on us.Shards damn it all.
His unexpected intervention reminded me of Soren, but my unlikely ally in the Winter Court was yet another thing I couldn’t afford to think about right now, so I focused on the male before me.
“My uncle keeps his best spirits inside.”
“Then by all means.” He gestured gallantly, like he was the one extending the invitation.
My uncle nodded, though his jaw clenched hard enough to crack a tooth. He and my mother led the way.
Kaelen turned back briefly toward one of his soldiers, a female with twin crimson braids that stood out against her vibrant pink wings. She nodded at his unspoken order, and he continued into the hall, his asshole of a brother on our heels.
As soon as the door shut behind us, I wrenched away, wings flaring in fury.
“Shall I assume you weren’t aware of any arrangements?” Kaelen asked with a raised eyebrow.
“There are no arrangements to be aware of,” I bit back. “Even if I had consented to shop around for an alliance, my marriage bond will not allow me to marry anyone else, or…breed with them.”
Kaelen’s expression flickered with something that looked like pity, before he slipped back into the same easy grin from the courtyard.
“While I’m flattered you’ve gone straight to breeding, forced bedsharing isn’t my thing, Little Frostling. I like my partnerswilling.” He stressed the word with a glance at Vaerin.
“And ifshechooses you, she will be,” my uncle cut in smoothly, shooting me a look that promised consequences, one that made it clear the choice was never going to be mine. “She’s always stubborn to start out.”
My ring flared. Frantically. Could a bond panic? Could a piece of jewelry be afraid?
I displayed my hand for them to see the snowflake diamonds burning cold against my skin. “My stubbornness is hardly the issue, Uncle. Not when my bond is very real, and very unbreakable.”
I tugged on the band for good measure, letting them see how solidly it was affixed to my finger.
Kyros made a sound of disgust, like the sight of the ring physically nauseated him, but Kaelen’s eyes only narrowed toward my uncle.
Vaerin made a tutting sound that set my teeth on edge. “There are no bonds that can’t be broken, not even for the Frostgrave King. After all, a bond requires both parties.”
The blood drained from my face as his meaning took hold. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, my fists clenching as I tried in vain to even out my breathing.
Surely, if his aim was to kill Draven, he would have done it by now. I saw the arrow piercing my husband’s chest, saw him sink to his knees.
That was an isolated incident though. He was exhausted because of the monsters. Because of me. Keeping up multiple wards and caught off guard.
Under ordinary circumstances… He had taken out entire legions at the Frostgrave battle. The Skaldwings were no match for him.
I must have spoken the words aloud because the air went deadly still.
Shards.
Vaerin’s lips were parted in offense, his wings taut. Kyros was shaking with the weight of his fury, and even my mother was looking at me like she had never seen me before.
Only Kaelen looked thoughtful. He held up a hand like he was calling for a semblance of peace, and his mana washed over the room. Whatever power he had, some of the tension left my body.
“There could be another option, assuming…you want out of the bond?”
Did I? My marriage had only ever been forced on me, and surely there was no point in staying shackled to the king who hated my people. If I couldn’t get my mana back, I couldn’t help Winter.
So why did it feel like my chest was caving in?
“Of course she wants out of the bond,” my uncle spat.
“Does she? Or does she enjoy being his whor—” Kyros’ words cut off with the weight of my mother’s mana.
