Page 66 of A Story of Sinners

I squeezed his shoulder, knowing it must be as difficult for him to let her go as it was for me. “You’ll be my new advisor. Do you accept?”

“Will you listen?”

I snorted. “Probably not.”

Redmond released a long, weary sigh. “I accept.”

“Good. Then let’s go. There is a lot to accomplish today, and I’m fairly certain the throne room is filled with visitors.”

We strolled back to the palace as I braced myself for what would come next. The tears in the barrier would need to be monitored, new agreements would need to be signed, since I destroyed the last one, but all of that could wait for a different day. Today, the doors to the palace would be open, and there would be a massive influx of fae looking to have the favors they granted me repaid.

Before we entered the throne room, I turned to Redmond. “You will stand just to the side of my throne. If a fae asks for too much, it is your duty to devise an alternative solution.”

Redmond nodded, and we strolled in. The crowd that had gathered kneeled as Evander announced us, and the silver stone of the throne met my body as I plopped into it unceremoniously, rubbing the arm rests with long overdue gratitude.

“Evander,” I announced, “I’ll take your request first.”

Evander approached, kneeled, and held his fist to his chest before rising. “I would like for the summer court taxes to be waived this year.”

I waved my hand. “Done.”

The next fae approached, Kieran, repeating the same process of kneeling as Evander. I smirked at him as he rose, wondering if he would finally find the gall to speak for a favor. I owed him hundreds, but he could never gather the courage to open his mouth and ask. When he didn’t speak, I tilted my head.

“Kieran, do you wish for a favor to be repaid?”

He glared at the occupants in the room, then his lips parted, sending a chill down the spines of all of us. “The Queen of Cambriel. Don’t return her to that human king, even if he begs for her.”

My brows rose, and I chuckled, never having seen Kieran so smitten before. Hell, I’d never seen him show anyone a hint of interest. “What is it about the human girl you are so fond of? And so quickly, too.” He narrowed his eyes with warning, and I smiled. “Granted, Kieran. I wasn’t planning on returning her anyways.”

“Make an oath,” he demanded in that dark tone, the red in his eyes gleaming with a threat.

It was rare for me to make an oath. It required the word vow and held fae tight in the grip of promise, but Kieran deserved to know some sort of happiness, and I doubted a situation would ever arise where I would return Gabriella to that boy king.

“I vow to never return Gabriella to the King of Cambriel,” I whispered, feeling the words lock into place. He clucked his tongue, knowing that there was an easy way around the vow. I could always just have Redmond return her, if necessary.

I groaned. “I vow to never approve or arrange Gabriella’s return to the King of Cambriel. Better?”

Kieran nodded and stormed away, and those in the room gasped as his power vanished.

“Next,” Redmond shouted behind me, and Lyra paced to the center.

I rolled my eyes. “And what do you wish for, Lyra?”

“To be queen,” she answered without missing a beat. “I wish to be your queen.”

“No, Lyra. I have a mate already, and if there ever is a queen, it will be her,” I responded, annoyed. “Find something realistic and return at another time.”

“She doesn’t even want you,” she argued, grinding her jaw. “You can have a mate and be married to another. You can keep her on the side, if you so wish, but it seems doubtful she even wants to be with you.”

The audacity.

My chest rose as I tried to breathe through the flash of anger that filled my veins. My fists clenched the sides of my throne as I tampered down the power that desired to lash out at the female in front of me. “Fuck off, Lyra. I don’t want you and never will.”

“You did once.”

“Once, twenty years ago, before I realized what a self-serving manipulator you were. Now go!” I roared.

Lyra’s lips pinched together as she sifted away, disappearing in a flash of light. I’d shared one drunken night with the female, and she never ceased her desperate attempts ever since.

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