Page 84 of Queen of the Night
He watches with a raised brow and lowers himself back to his seat. I don’t want to be alone with this gloamy murderer.
“I guess we can begin a formal introduction here, while you… eat.”
Gorge myself is what he means. I’ll keep eating as long as it takes to avoid being alone with him. I grab a handful of wild berries from a tray near the man to my left, triggering him to look my way with wide eyes and a respectful nod as he shoves the plate closer. I don’t have enough feeling left in me to be embarrassed.
“My name is Renton,KingRenton.”
“King Renton of what kingdom?” I ask with my mouth full—don’t want him getting any ideas that I might be finished.
“Of Moneyre, of course.”
I nearly choke. The audacity. I reject the urge to narrow my eyes and widen them with curiosity instead.
“I’m true heir to the throne of Moneyre. King of a people locked away by Lucentia who are ready to free ourselves and reclaim what is ours. Being banished has lost its… shine,” he says with a wry, sarcastic smile. “I’ve heard us calledgloammasters, by some.”
I frown. “Gloam can’t bemastered, only destroyed with enchanted weapons and lucent. It’s simply a waste product of using lucent, and it eats away like rot at our kingdom,” I say bluntly, still certain this guy is a whole other level of crazy. Thatiswhy enchanted weapons are so expensive.
“Really?” He chuckles, his eyes shining as if he finds me amusing. “Suddenly you’re the expert when my people and I have been controlling it for over three hundred years?”
I stare at him, pressing my lips together.He lies.
He takes my reaction as permission to continue. “Were you ever told that Lucentia has a brother?”
I stare at him, forgetting to chew. The guy is out of his mind.
“Hm. I didn’t think so. Not surprising, but still, disappointing. No one likes to talk about the dark family secrets…” He drifts off a little as he says it. “His name is Gloam, and he is the one who gifted me with the magic. We call it gloam to honor him, of course. Ikar Moneyre, the current… or shall I saypast…king, is the grandson of my twin brother, Ricard, who was unfairly given the throne.” His eyes darken. “I’m the true heir.”
The pain his words cause makes it difficult for me to follow his story, and I’m left wondering if my mind is just too far gone to understand or if he’sactuallytelling me he’s hundreds of years old. “How are you still alive?”
He leans back in his chair as if to relax, but his fingers tense on the armrest. “We were banished, almost died… but gloam saved us. We are no longer captive to the passing of time as mere mortals are.”
The man just became twice as terrifying.
Renton glances down the suddenly quiet table and smiles. “It appears we are finished here.”
A tactful way to say that we need the very privacy I’ve been trying to avoid. In a panic, I attempt to grab a few more berries, but he snatches my hand before I get my fingers on them and pulls me firmly, albeit gently, around the table.
What in the blazes am I supposed to do?
“I wasn’t quite finished yet,” I rasp.
He chuckles as if we’re friends and he’s known me for years. “You were done ages ago.”
He tucks my arm around his and clasps a hand over mine, where it rests on his forearm, then instructs everyone else tocontinue the meal as he pulls me out a side door and into a shadowy hallway.
I look longingly back at the crowded table that sits silent as their king leaves, but when I see all of them staring after us, I quickly turn back around. This can’t be good.
Chapter 47
Vera
We enter a room with tall windows that look out into the encampment. They appear strangely bare without any curtains. An enormous desk with feet in the shape of deathstalker paws fills one half of the space. I startle and sidestep away when I see a live one curled up nearby, taking up a large corner of the room.
Renton pats my hand, and I realize I’m clutching his sleeve. “He only eats those I tell him to, darling.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I avoid looking at it, attempting to pretend it’s not there. I wish I could do the same with Renton, but he’s far too…present.
He chuckles as he pulls a chair closer to the one behind the desk and motions for me to sit. “Youare our long-awaited queen. No one will harm you.”
