Page 100 of The Nymph Prince
Although the king had his servants bring each of us several outfits to choose from for the feast, Troy had instead worn his favorite netted top that showed his toned stomach and areas of his chest. The small colorful stones weaved into it matched the ones he’d stuck to the corner of his eyes and in his hair.
He certainly had the attention of the women sitting in the long table across from us. They couldn’t take their eyes off him. Troy was well aware of the effect he had on them as he held up a cluster of grapes and slowly sucked one into his mouth.
Eva sat on the other side of him and met my eyes over the top of his head. Her wide-eyed gaze made me grin. I had a feeling she’d be dragging him away soon. Not that he had any real interest in the women; he only loved the attention.
Malik didn’t seem too happy about Troy’s obvious flirtation, either.
“There is no doubt in my mind that I will be victorious,” King James said from two seats away. “My army cannot be defeated.”
Lorcan gave a tight smile before taking an impressive gulp of wine. He loathed human spirits, so he must’ve been in quite the bad mood to warrant him drinking so much of it.
King James had one of those self-assured voices that had me grinding my teeth and balling my hand into a fist. His laugh was even worse. After boasting about his invincible army, he sang praises of the new truce with the merfolk—that he saidhe’dproposed—and then he toasted to both his and King Triton’s health.
I stared at my wine, fighting the urge to guzzle it. Becoming intoxicated was the only way to tolerate the king without killing him.
However, I stopped myself. Since we were traveling back to Avalontis on the morrow, I didn’t wish to have my head splitting open like it’d had that morning. Troy was sure to be miserable enough as it was with the amount of wine he’d consumed; there was no reason to join him in that misery.
“May this be the start of a long alliance,” King James said, holding up his goblet. Again. There must’ve been five toasts already. The rest of the dining hall was engrossed in their own conversations at that point, so the king only spoke for those at his table. He looked at Lorcan, who sat beside him. “And the blossoming of a great friendship.”
The knife beside my plate tempted me like a well-oiled whore in a brothel. I imagined grabbing the blade and plunging it into the king’s neck for even looking at my nymph. The hunger in his eyes left a bitter taste on my tongue. He coveted what wasn’t his to covet.
Eva pulled a half-asleep Troy to his feet and excused them from the table.
Troy stumbled and then giggled because of it. Traveling with him the next day was sure to be entertaining.
King James focused on me. “You share a bedchamber with Lorcan? The sweet prince has spoken very little of you, so you must be his whore.”
Gods grant me strength for I’m about to kill him.
And damn him for calling Lorcan “sweet prince.” That wasmyname for him. Just another reason to want the human king dead.
Lorcan snapped his head toward King James, a growl rumbling in his chest. But in an instant, he calmed. I didn’t understand it.
“Good whores are hard to come by,” Lorcan responded as a sly grin stretched his lips. “Mine is loyal and pleases me well. But why would I fill our conversation with talk of him? We royals have better things to discuss than whores, do we not?”
My heart cracked and dropped into my stomach.His whore?
“Indeed,” the king said before taking a drink. A smirk lingered in the corner of his mouth, and his topaz eyes scrutinized me as if I was a play-thing on a string. “Your whore doesn’t speak? He’s awfully quiet.”
After years of disguising my voice, I’d finally released that fear and spoke naturally. But I couldn’t around the king. It was like walking into the sunlight after being confined to a dark cave, only to turn back around and retreat back to the shadows.
“I know not what to say,” I answered, careful of my voice inflection. “Apologies if my silence offends you, Your Majesty.”
The words tasted like poison. But I knew better than to provoke a viper.
“Offend me? Oh, no,” he answered. “I tend to enjoy the quiet ones. More of a challenge. All the sweeter for when they scream.”
He appalled me. If I hadn’t already eaten, my appetite would’ve been lost.
“Such a shy one, you are. A man with your beauty should carry himself with more confidence. Drink more wine,” King James suggested, not taking his eyes off me. “It helps loosen the tongue.”
“Actually.” Lorcan dabbed at his mouth before scooting out his chair. “If you will excuse us, we should be retiring for the evening. We have a three day journey back to Avalontis and we leave at first light.”
“Of course,” King James responded, and his smile turned cold.
With Malik and Reif at our backs, Lorcan and I left the dining hall. It was a somber affair, walking. King James had said that Lorcan spoke very little of me. And then hearing Lorcan say those things about me…it made me feel dirty. Made me feel as if I meant nothing to him.
Why hadn’t Lorcan stopped the king’s advances by admitting he belonged to someone else? Why had he reduced me to such a lowly position in his life?
