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Prince Norivun took another deep breath, the ardor in his eyes finally cooling. “In that case, Lady Endalaver is about to realize what happens when someone messes with my—” He cut himself off and raked a hand through his hair again. I frowned. “Your what?” His lips sealed, and he shook his head. “Nothing, but if she thought she was getting a private date with me tonight, she’s wrong.”
So cringe oml...
To find one’s mate, the perfect half to one’s soul, would elicit such a reaction in any male fairy. Males were known for feeling the bond sooner than females. Often times, the females wouldn’t feel the full effects of the mate bond until . . . My throat bobbed in a swallow. Until the bond was sealed during the first bedding.
Bruh...corny af
The gods could be cruel when they wanted to be. Mate bonds were created by them. Their way of interacting with our fates.
I rounded the final turn to the prince’s wing, and the lights dimmed. My hurried movements continued until the lights flickered. Off then on. Off then . . . out. I ground to a halt as my rapid-fire thoughts of the prince abruptly stopped.
This bitch is about to be kidnapped...omg omg omg
My heartbeat slowed even more. Cailis’s instincts were usually spot-on, thanks to her affinity, but her experience only reaffirmed that very strange things were happening within this castle. “So, you believe someone’s following you to watch you?” Whatever I’d encountered in the darkened hall the week prior had intended more than watching. I was sure of that.
Since then, I’d returned to avoiding the prince, even more so since my conviction in our shared mate bond grew—as though avoiding the prince would make our mutual attraction disappear—but despite my frustrations at having such a bond, one blessing did manifest in my life.
The mate bond had once again gained control of him, just like it had after Lord Waterline’s attack. All Prince Norivun had seen was another male trying to lay claim to me, and his instincts had taken over.
Girl what???
He took another deep breath. “I created a small village here, hidden by so much illusion magic that nobody knows of its existence. Not the locals. Not my father. Not Nuwin. None of the council members. The only fae that know of what I’ve done here are my guards. Them and now you.” “Why would you do that?” “Because I may be the Death Master of the continent, but I’m not what everyone claims me to be. I bring fae here, fae I was supposed to execute, but they are fae that I cannot kill. I stopped murdering innocents a long time ago, but my father doesn’t know that.”
“Yes. They’re alive, Ilara. They’ve always been alive. I never killed them.”
Bruh i knew it
“This is your bedroom chambers? But isn’t it warded?” “Of course it is, but it’s never been warded to you.”
“It’s called whiskey. I had it imported from that other realm.”
Is that "other" realm humans…
“You’re right that it doesn’t make sense, but to understand any of this, you have to know my father. He doesn’t like his hands being dirtied. He likes that the fae of our land love and support him. It’s part of the reason he’s been able to stay in power for so long, which is why he’s raised me to be the villain.”
“So if he orders you to deliver all of the executions he wants, have you killed any fae who’ve attempted to cause dissent?” Norivun’s easy expression vanished. His look became haunted, as though a thousand ghosts tortured his soul. “Not those fae, no, but there were others in the past that I was forced to kill. Many winters ago, before I created that village in the Cliffs of Sarum, it was either kill them or—” He brought his drink to his lips again. “Or what?” “Watch my mother be tortured.”
“My father isn’t who the public perceives him to be. He likes to control me. I’ve always been kept on a tight leash. He’s used my mother to ensure I stay obedient.”
“If I don’t do as he commands, he forces her into isolation. If I refuse to kill fae that he wants disposed of, my mother is starved, and then there’s the physical beatings. He’s beaten her to within an inch of her life more times than I want to remember, and it was all because I hadn’t done exactly what he’d commanded.”
That's awful..
“The abuse she suffers is the lesser of the two evils. He won’t beat or starve her if I continue doing as he wants, but he knows that she’s nearly as powerful as me. If my mother’s magic was freed, either of us could kill him if we chose to, no matter how many guards he has surrounding him, so he controls me through her, and her by trapping her affinities.”
“We will.” That wild light entered his eyes again. “And then you’ll be mine.” Those instincts reared in his expression, the feral longing, the harsh desire.
Males always felt the mate bond more viscerally than females. It wasn’t unheard of for males to kill another male who in any way threatened their female. There were laws in the courts that allowed such acts, simply because the instincts were so strong that they were at times uncontrollable.
Male bond is crazy
“I’ve seen enough to know that much, and I’ve heard things too. The servants speak of you, of your kindness and willingness to always help. They’ve never met a lady like you. You don’t see yourself as above them or them as merely there to serve you. You see them as fae, as individuals. It hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
Crackling from the fire filled the quiet. Shifting, the prince’s wings splayed out more behind him. “I want you to be mine, Ilara. I never want to be parted from you. Let me claim you. Please.”
“We can’t, Norivun. Not yet.” As much as I knew the prince detested to admit it, we both knew that we couldn’t stop his father unless Norivun was willing to pay the price—the price being his mother’s safety or his own execution for defying the king.
“So beautiful.” He lifted my foot and brought the arch to his mouth. My toes curled when he pressed a kiss there, then he ran his fingers up my calf. “So soft. Your skin is like silk.”
My attention snagged on those leathery appendages. They were spread slightly, as though he wasn’t able to keep them locked in tight, and my toe inched toward his left wing before running slightly up the inside, where the bone met flesh. Norivun hissed, and a shuddering groan left him. “Do that again.”
His eyes were wild when he prowled upward and kissed my breast, first one and then the other, before rolling my nipple with his tongue and then sucking. I moaned, arching into his touch. “I could spend all day here,” he growled.
“I want to taste you,” I whispered. I hadn’t been with many males. Only two in my lifetime, and I’d never had a male in my mouth, but looking up at the prince now, at his utter power and ferocity, had my belly quivering and liquid longing flooding my core. I needed to taste him.
His fingers drifted south, stroking along my thighs until he found my clit. Fire licked my insides, and I gasped and clung to him while his fingers began working me in earnest. “You’re mine, Ilara Seary,” he growled softly in my ear. “Forever. You are my mate, and you belong with me. Anyone who tries to take you from me will suffer my wrath.”
His nose trailed up my neck, sparking a ripple of desire in me. “I did. I abhor violence against females, so when I saw those bruises on your neck back in your field barn, it took immense self-control not to rip Vorl to pieces right then and there.”
I swung back around, but my trainer’s warmth pressed into my back when she leaned closer and whispered, “You’re strong enough to be the next queen, Ilara. Don’t forget that.” For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Matron Olsander wasn’t one to give compliments lightly. I gave her a small grateful smile.
And while Nuwin would probably be understanding of my worry, I couldn’t drag him into this mess. I still didn’t know if he was aware of his brother’s secret agenda.
Courtly politics and devious scheming weren’t for me, but I was quickly learning that Michas thrived on them, which meant I needed to learn to play the game, or I would end up a discarded pawn.
I gave her a strained smile as Michas leaned closer to me and trailed a finger up my arm. At the head of the table, Norivun flashed his teeth as a rumble of his magic shook the dinnerware. I sighed. The entire dinner Michas had done everything in his power to provoke Norivun. It was male dominance on full display, and unfortunately, I was the female caught in the middle.
“He wouldn’t have anything to say as I was just leaving.” Michas gave a formal bow in my direction and refused to meet my gaze. “Good night, Lady Seary. Thank you for a pleasant evening.” And with that, he turned away and took my chance with him at learning what really drove his father.
Three more fae had been reported missing. They’d all disappeared without a trace. And what was most concerning about that was the sheer number. Three. Before it had always been one.
My lips parted, a stone settling in my stomach as I took in withered black stalks lying limp on the snow. They dotted the entire landscape, barely visible through the blinding storm.
Why do I suspect the George-whatever girl
“How strange,” I murmured. “It almost feels like a veil or some kind of net is deep within the land.” I paused and glanced up at the prince as my mind raced. “Do you think our crops are dying from an unnatural occurrence that has nothing to do with the gods? That perhaps whatever I’m feeling in the land is encapsulating the orem?”
I laid my head against his chest, and his steady heartbeat was like a soothing balm on my nerves. With each of his breaths, my head lifted slightly, and soon, my eyes were closing as sleep pulled at me.
Once we were alone again, my mate lifted me and carried me to the couch, and I let him since I knew keeping me close and feeling that he was doing something to protect and care for me were what his instincts demanded.
His look turned reverent as he dipped lower in the bed, positioning himself over the edge as his mouth came to my core. “I was born to pleasure you, Ilara Seary.”
Confusion filled me. I wasn’t a queen. I was a farm girl from Mervalee, but Drachu had always looked at me as if I was so much more.
“Of course, Krelahala. I’ve been waiting for you to join my clan and for you to learn who you really are.”
Who???
