Page 775 of Hell Hath No Fury
“It’s not that simple,” she said, her brow tight. “He won the right to marry me in the Marriage Trials I competed in. Do you not know anything of my kingdom’s laws?”
Anger raked through my chest and my skin became as hard as iron as my Order stirred within me. So she had competed in the trials after all. That changed things, but only in terms of making this more complex. I would not relinquish her to anyone, fiancé or otherwise.
Even the mere knowledge that another man already had a claim on her was making murder hum a tune in my veins. Death was my easiest answer, but death of a noble would invoke war, and my entire purpose of this trip was to secure peace and prove I was not always such a merciless king. I had thrown about furious words earlier, threatening to kill the emperor to Hamish, but only because the darkness had slipped in again. I had to remind myself that I was here for peace, not war.
“Who are you?” I boomed, realising I should have asked this far sooner, before I had let my maddening want for her take me to my knees for her.
She sat up straighter in her seat, and I realised even before she said it that she was royal. It was so star damned obvious now. “I am Princess Merissa Adhara, daughter of the Emperor Adhara, and I am betrothed to Arturo Boötes.”
I punched the wall of the carriage, the wood exploding around my fist and Hamish yelped somewhere outside. “And you did not think to mention this sooner?” I roared.
Though she remained on her seat and was far smaller than me, she did not appear to be rattled by my outburst, nor in any way submissive to my power. “You did not ask.”
I huffed a breath of fury, dark purple smoke spilling from my lips as my Hydra awoke more fully.
“You showed me a future of us together, so you mustseea way around your betrothal?” I hissed and her lips lifted at me turning to her for advice, an act that seemed so natural despite her being a stranger.
“It will not be easy,” she said hesitantly. “Many actions you take could start a war.”
“Then there will be a war,” I growled, determined to have her even though I was casting away my bid for peace already. The dark always claimed me so easily, and it was getting hungry again.
My suspicions over this entire thing were circling in me now too. Had this all been some plot devised by the emperor? Sending his Seer daughter to me to paint fake visions in my mind and make me vulnerable to her?
Those visions though…they had been so real, how could they be anything but the truth?
“If you go to war with my family, I will not stand by your side,” she said in anger. “I will not let you attack my people in some assertion of power to claim me.”
“Yourpeople are the ones who have been threatening war. I came here for peace.”
“Peace?” she scoffed. “I heard you speak of beheading my father when I came to your rooms before.”
Fuck.
“I was angry. Sometimes I cannot control myself, what I do or what I say.” I scraped a hand through my hair.
“That sounds like an excuse,” she accused.
“Excuse?” I snarled. “I wish it was an excuse. I wish I did not have to fight this darkness in me, but it is a part of me, and it only deepens with each day that passes.”
I could feel the chaos rising and tried not to fall too deeply into it, knowing when I came back to the light, I would no doubt find myself in a bloody war with Voldrakia and a stolen princess in tow as I made my return to Solaria.
Merissa frowned like she was trying to understand, her anger softening. “You will not go to war. You will make the right decision,” she said, her confidence in me clear and I scoffed.
“I do not remember the last good decision I made. Even the well intended ones tend to rot.” I dragged my eyes from her, falling deeper into that twisted place inside me. I could feel it coming upon me, the hunger for war, the need for destruction, to crush all enemies that stood in my way to getting what I wanted.
“Destroy any who oppose you. Seize as much land as you can. Expand the Solarian borders to the edges of the world.”
The words echoed through my mind like they were gifted from the stars, though sometimes I feared it was just the darkness talking.
“Hail,” Merissa breathed like she couldseesomething terrible coming, and I knew it was coming too without the need for The Sight. It always felt like this just before I did something unimaginably terrible, the reins of fate slipping from my grasp and the beast in me taking over.
My hands began to shake, and before I lost complete control, I threw the carriage door open and pointed to the sky. “Spread your wings and fly away from here. I can summon you through the ring. It will burn hot when it is safe to come back.” I grabbed her hand, pushing my ring onto that same finger that her fiancé had claimed.
She took hold of my arm but I yanked it free of her, the need for brutality building to a roaring thunder inside me and the stars help anyone close enough to fall at my mercy.
“I’m not leaving you,” she said passionately, clasping my cheek in her hand and making me look at her.
The final pieces of sanity slipped from my hold, and I gazed at this precious creature before me, fear crushing my chest as I pictured her bloody and lifeless at my feet.
I fisted her dress in my hand, dragging her to her feet while her eyes flashed with visions of the future, the terror crossing her features showing her exactly what I was capable of. And that fate was coming towards us like a freight train. Was I going to lose her before I had even begun to know her?
I leaned in to speak in her ear, her body bent against mine as I caged her unyieldingly. “You are about learn why they call me the Savage King, Princess. Start praying to the stars, for they are the only ones who can save you now.”
