Page 169 of Trick

As the hours passed, people let their guards down. Drugging petals melted on their tongues, inspiring visions and producing glazed eyes. Revelers twirled and gyrated to lutes and drums.

In his pavilion, the embittered Summer King requested us. He demanded a verse from Poet and ordered me to stand by and witness it. But as Poet began, King Rhys proceeded to ignore Poet and converse with Queen Giselle, talking loudly over the jester’s words.

The rest of the attendants followed suit. It was a tactic meant to humble and humiliate. No one had ever ignored Poet before.

The Seven stood nearby. Freya, Questa, Rhiannon, and Lisette snickered. Like the majority, their admiration for Poet hadn’t declined completely, but it had waned. As much as they didn’t want to lose him to Autumn, nor were they ready to absolve him yet.

How easily one could rise to popularity, only to fall as quickly off the pedestal.

Vale, Posy, and Cadence did not find it funny. They tossed scowls at the company, including the rest of their clique, who swallowed their mirth instantly, their brows crimping with astonishment. The ladies’ support drew an appreciative grin from me.

If Summer’s disregard bothered Poet, he didn’t let it show. He started another verse, weaving a tale that made me into a warrior—I rather liked that—and exaggerated the Summer King into a farcical sovereign. A monarch who couldn’t see past his overgrown hedge of a mustache to locate his flaccid cock, much less read the fine print on the Fools Decree.

I ducked my head, trying not to laugh. So did the others who’d begun paying attention.

Poet finished to applause that caught King Rhys’s attention. The monarch’s forehead cinched, and his eyes narrowed in skeptical confusion.

Loudly, I clapped. My insolent jester glanced sideways at me and inclined his head.

No criminal law prevented what I was about to do. There were social codes of conduct, but we had already breached that. We’d had enough attention—and not enough.

Rules were meant to be upended today? We would oblige.

The people wanted two fools? We would give them two fools.

I strode over to Poet, grabbed his face, and seized his mouth with mine.

39

Poet

Her touch has always been irresistible, as have my deceptions. However, combine the two and drop them into the midst of a revel, and ’tis a whole new marvel.

Before the congregation, we threw one final trigger at the court, gave them one more felony to talk about …

*

Gasps broke through the tent. I stilled, then caught her face and kissed her the fuck back. My carnivorous teeth nipped her bottom lip, my shameless mouth parted hers wide, and my evil tongue committed heresy. It flexed in and licked against hers, tasting the sweet tartness of defiance.

Our mouths clutched and rocked, tongues swatting like flames. The tremulous curl of Briar’s tongue slid down my spine, urging my fingers to vault through her hair. I sank my mouth into hers, undulating those lawless lips against mine.

The world didn’t vanish. Oh nay, it came to life. It combusted like an inferno, bringing darkness and lightness into stark relief.

Our audience’s rather volcanic reaction spurred us on. I crushed my mouth to Briar’s, she shoved her lips against mine, and we strapped ourselves around each other.

Like this, she dominated me. And like this, I violated every restriction she’d ever followed.

Together, we smashed the rules to a fucking pulp.

A primeval sound tore out of King Rhys’s gullet. It splintered the princess and me apart.

Although not the best way to appease Spring, our antics befitted the occasion. The festivities had intoxicated the revelers enough for them to watch us with stupefied intrigue. Ah, such was the glibness of court life.

From the sidelines, four members of Fatima’s retinue gaped. Opposite them, Vale, Posy, and Cadence whistled and hooted naughty suggestions.

Rhys’s jowls darkened to a pissed-off purple.

My lips curled, still tingling from the aftershocks of Briar’s taste. “Any other requests, Your Majesty?” I intoned, husky. “I could offer another verse. Or my beautiful companion and I could keep binging on each other’s mouths. Or perhaps you’d like us to render this merry company speechless in other ways. Unless you’re sated and want us to—”

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