Page 14 of The Maleficent Faerie
I did not expect to be staring at the Void King’s penis today.
My captor, the man I have dreaded and dreamed about for years, is standing before me, utterly nude and dizzily feverish.
“That’s better.” A sigh of relief gusts from him, and he flutters his wings, creating a soft current of air. “I thought I might combust on the spot.”
“Too bad you didn’t,” I mutter.
His brows pull together as if he’s concentrating, extracting a memory from his addled mind. “You tried to kill me.”
“No,” I snap. “If I’d tried, you’d be dead.”
“But you almost killed me, didn’t you? I remember…” He touches his throat, his eyes going distant. “I thought it would be such a relief—not to have the fate of a whole realm hanging on my shoulders. To be done with the worrying and the striving and the scheming. To finallyrest, and have it all out of my hands at last.” He exhales, his lips parting the way they did in the forest, when he lay helpless under my knife.
“You don’t mean that.”
His dark eyes meet mine, an aching sadness shimmering in their depths. “Ah, but I do. I’ve plotted it before, you know. I’ve planned my own end. But too many people depend on me. I can’t bring myself to do it.”
Another thing I did not anticipate today—the Maleficent One confiding that he wants to die.
“Should you be telling me this?” I vent a breathless laugh. “We’re enemies, remember?”
“You know how it is, being a royal,” he says, with an airy wave of his hand. “You’re always trying to portray your best self for your subjects, your warriors, your friends. If you can’t talk to your enemies, whocanyou talk to?”
“You’re not yourself. If you’re so eager to rest, why don’t you lie down and do it? And—coverthatup.” I nod at his privates.
He casts the bed an annoyed look. “Notthatkind of rest. With that kind of rest, my mind whirls, round and round—” He twirls a finger in the air. “I can’t stop it, except by drinking or taking a sleep tonic, and that’s irresponsible. I can’t soak my brain in spirits or herbs, because a king must always be ready.”
That, I can understand. I barely allow myself to drink, since a bodyguard’s duties never end.
The Void King takes a few unsteady steps toward me. “I’ve been trying to get to you for so long. Tried everything, short of all-out war. Didn’t want that bloodshed, but now I’m fucking desperate, Princess.” He braces one hand on the post above my head and leans in, biting out the words, manic intensity in his fever-stricken eyes. “The Edge crawls inward every day, eating houses and fields, sucking them into the Void. Have they told you about that? Or do they keep you ignorant, locked away in your castles, watched by a hundred guards, shielded by stone and magic, guarded by your blue-haired butterfly?”
Blue-haired butterfly—he’s talking about me, therealme. The bodyguard to the Princess.
“She has done her job well, your butterfly,” he mutters, his breath hot against my face. “She has foiled so many of my attempts to capture you. That’s why we pulled back, you see. To prepare for a final battle, and also because I suspected that after so many years of guarding you, she must be as weary as I am. She must be longing for peace, for amusement, for a breath of freedom. I am not a patient man, Princess. But I knew if I could manage to be patient, that your bodyguard would make a mistake. After two years of patience, she finally did. And here you are. Do you know, I was actually disappointed she wasn’t with you in that carriage? I’d hoped to meet her. I rather admire the woman, and I wanted to see her face, just once.”
He sways and almost falls over. His wings spring out, helping him keep his balance, but he leans more heavily on the post, which brings his naked body nearly flush with mine. He stares at me, his warm breath on my cheek. Heated tension thrums through my body.
He admires me? He wanted to meet me?
Frantically I claw up my hatred for him, my ingrained animosity for his people, my revulsion toward the kind of magic he wields—and I build it up, a wall between us, a guard against the wicked thrill that rolls through my stomach when his gaze flicks down to my mouth.
“You’re out of your mind,” I whisper. “Go rest.”
He blinks at me slowly. Wets his lips.
“I liked fighting you without magic,” he murmurs. “I haven’t sparred like that in a long time.”
“I’ll happily break your nose again. Just let me out of these chains, and we’ll have a sparring match right here.”
He grins, sudden and bright, a flash of white teeth. “You want me to set you free?”
A thread of hope twines with another thrill in my chest. Maybe he’s feverish enough to release me. “If you’ll let me out of these chains, I can help you feel better.”
“And how would you do that?”
“Well…” I draw a deep breath. “Have you ever had a princess on her knees for you?”
His eyes burn into mine. “Go on.”
