Page 58 of A Tale of Treachery

“I’ll seek revenge on my brother and fight for what was stolen from me. I made a vow to the people of Faerie.”

Hewouldleave. The thought disillusioned me, but he had his own life, his own journey to follow, as did I. I needed to stay in this kingdom to ensure that the portal remained unpassable, and if it did, then I could use that crystal to free myself of the burden of my magic.

A smile stretched across my face at the thought. I could finally be normal.

Ryken’s eyes darkened, and I met his stare. There was something virile and hungry in his gaze, the look igniting a fire inside me. I leaned closer, smelling him and the rich musk of darkness that he exuded.

He slanted his head, moving his lips a hairsbreadth from mine. I breathed in the air that he breathed out, my mind spinning at the closeness. I wanted to feel those lips on mine.

But he would be leaving soon.

“I think we need to head for the welcome ball. The princess and Aiden will be waiting.”

At the mention of Aiden, Ryken’s face hardened, a cold fire burning in his eyes. He released my face and backed away. “Of course your thoughts are on Aiden. We shouldn’t keep your perfect prince waiting.”

I faced him, begging him to understand. “Ryken, it’s not like that. I—”

A loud knock sounded at the door, and Ryken shifted away, pulling his hood up to hide his features. “Come in,” he commanded, his voice rough and tinged with ire.

A smiling Brandon stepped into the room like a breath of fresh air, but his grin faltered when his eyes landed on the hooded assassin, who radiated death. “Um,” he said, clearing his throat and looking down in a subconscious show of submission. “The king has requested the presence of the assassin in his office,” he mumbled. “I’ve been assigned to take over Dahlia’s watch from here.”

Ryken glowered at Brandon, issuing a look that would kill a lesser man. He marched over and towered above my friend, his stance threatening, like he was primed to attack.

Brandon kept his gaze on the floor. If he’d looked up, he would have gotten a glimpse beneath the assassin’s hood, a glimpse of a sinful face carved in stone and the lock of silver hair that brushed over metallic eyes.

“Ryken! Stop it. Brandon is my friend, and I wouldn’t trust anyone more to watch over me.”

Ryken’s glowing gaze locked on to mine, and his lips tilted into a vicious snarl.

I cleared my throat and corrected myself. “I wouldn’t trust anyone more besides you. Now leave my poor friend alone. Look at him. You’re terrifying him.”

Ryken shifted back to Brandon, who still had his eyes averted and seemed nearly ready to soil himself, and let out a mocking laugh. “I’m not sure he can do much in the way of protecting you, considering he can’t be man enough to even look at me, but very well.” He bent over Brandon and whispered a warning. “If I find one hair out of place on her head, I will find you and destroy you in the most agonizing way you could possibly imagine.”

I would be flattered but wasn’t sure if Ryken was worried about me or losing my ability to seek out this crystal of his.

As if this warning steeled Brandon from his sense of impending doom, he looked up and faced Ryken head on, a gasp tearing from his throat at the sight. “Never. I would never allow any harm to come to Dahlia. She’s my friend. You can trust me to protect her with my own life,” he vowed, inclining his head and placing a fist against his chest as if he were making a promise to royalty.

Which, unbeknownst to him, he was.

Ryken grunted, seemingly satisfied with Brandon’s response, and stormed out the door. It slammed behind him with a loud bang, and Brandon flinched.

We could hear Ryken’s footsteps stomping through the corridor, and once they faded away, Brandon let out a low whistle. “Good God, that man is beautiful.”

I laughed and hugged Brandon tightly. “Don’t get any ideas. I have a feeling you’re not his type.”

“I can make myself his type,” he joked as he squeezed me back, eliciting a snort of protest from me. “I can’t believe Aiden allows that man to guard you. It must drive him absolutely mad. If I were you, I would climb him like a tree.”

The mere mention of Aiden’s name put a damper on our reunion, and I pulled away and sat in front of the vanity to primp and avoid any talk of the prince. I couldn’t find it in my heart to tell Brandon what his friend had done or how all of this had been put into place without my consent. But I also couldn’t pretend to be happy about my circumstances.

“What did I say? What’s wrong?” Brandon asked. He stood behind me, gazing at my reflection in the mirror.

I twisted a loose curl around a comb, pretending to know how to fix my hair, and reassured him. “Nothing. I just need to look nice tonight. Why would you think anything is wrong?”

He scoffed and grabbed the comb from me, placing it down on the gold-plated wood of the vanity. “Well, for one, I have never seen you look as nice as you do today, so you don’t need to pretend to care. Two, you don’t brush curls. You just plump them with your fingers.” He pinched a curl and spiraled it around his finger, tugging it down to release it. The curl sprang back up, bouncy and filled with life. “And three, which is the most important part, you went silent when I mentioned Aiden, and you are not one to be silent about anything. Ever. Especially not with me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I don’t know how to handle curls. My hair is stick straight! But I’m trying to learn. I want to look nice tonight. It’s apparently a pretty big deal.”

“Yes, it is. You’re meeting Aiden’s future wife.” He raised his brows at me in the mirror. “Tell me how you feel about that.”

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