Page 68 of Bound to the Shadow Queen
That was why it felt like she was still dragging her talons along my skin, piercing through to the bone.
I stood to my full height, turning my back on her and calling back the walls of ice that had formed between our rooms—the mana that had trapped her here with me.
“Then by all means, far be it from me to force you into anything else.”
Fate had taken both of our choices away when it came to our shards-forsaken marriage vows, but I wouldn’t let her accuse me of taking this choice from her, too.
Draven
After Everly sawherself back to her rooms, I stood beneath the stream in my bathing chambers, letting the icy spray beat down on me until it drove away the lingering scent of moonshade berries and frostlilies from my ill-fated encounter with my wife.
As soon as I was dry, I wrote to the Archmage again. He had sent word that he would come when he finished whatever the hells he was doing, but he could shards-damned-well come sooner than that.
The monsters were threat enough, but something was also testing at my wards for the first time since I had learned to put them in place.
From the day I had torn apart the Frost Grave Pass, my kingdom had lived and died on my ability to focus, to stay in control. Now my wife, instead of being the fate-promised salvation, was threatening to unravel all of that.
I swept into the hall where my wolves waited, not sure where I was going, just that I needed to get away. Away from my rooms and away fromheroppressive presence.
Astra let out a low whine, sensing my distress. Though they were all bonded to me in their way, Astra and Lumen had beenwith me the longest, guarding my rooms from the day I was born.
If only they had been able to guard inside my rooms, perhaps I would have had one less reason to hate the king who came before me.
Only my mother had ever successfully intervened with his temper, had even known that he possessed one. And Nevara.
My Visionary. Someone else who had been chained at my side.
It was then I admitted where my feet were taking me, down a path I hadn’t walked in years. I only ever sent for her these days, or more often, she showed up when I needed her.
But I couldn’t fight a war on every front.
The monsters, the Unseelie, my liar of a wife, and my own shards-blasted Court.
Not her, too.
I could have icewalked to Nevara’s tower, but frustration still pounded through my veins. Each frosted step echoed on the walls around me in time with the clicking of Astra’s claws, and servants beginning their day and soldiers guarding the halls practically leapt from my path as I blew past them.
I ignored them, veering to climb the endless sets of stairs until I finally wound up outside of her door.
It occurred to me that I didn’t know if she would even be here, or awake at this hour. Wan rays of sunlight were just now starting to break over the horizon. I stood with a rare feeling of uncertainty, staring at the familiar stretch of pale wood, the gleaming entrance to the prison she had been born to.
It was something we had in common, the way we were both already shackled to the kingdom while we had still been in the womb.
I raised my hand to knock, but the door swung open before my knuckles could make contact. Nevara stood in the doorway,features guarded, eyebrows raised. Her shimmering hair was pulled back in a simple braid, but she was dressed for the day in a pale green gown, evidence enough that she had Seen me coming.
Astra pushed into her rooms, nudging Nevara’s hand with her head. She obliged the wolf, then stepped back to allow me entry. I followed her into her space, all high windows and plush throws.
In the years since my parents died, she had made her tower a home, but that didn’t mean it was any less of a prison.
“Why do you stay here when you hate it so much?” It was far from what I came here to say.
Then again, I wasn’t exactly sure why I had come.
Nevara arched a delicate brow, carefully trekking back to her chair. She sat down and lifted a still-steaming teacup to her lips, taking a sip before answering.
“It is the Visionary’s tower,” she said plainly.
“I would have given you any room you wished,” I pressed back.
