The Dagger and the Forbidden Heir (The Forbidden Heir Trilogy, #1)

by Emilia Jae

It took me years to come to terms with the fact that she would never accept me for what, or who, I was.

I would always take any loss personally, no matter how small. These were my soldiers. I led them here and now some would never return to their spouses and younglings.

This reminded me of why we did this; to protect the people, to see the smiles on their faces, and to know that they felt safe within the walls of our kingdom.

It was an odd feeling to miss someone you had never met.

My favorite smell, of course, was the freshly baked bread from the bakeries. One thing was for sure, my thighs didn’t get this thick on their own.

“The queen has let hate decay her heart. The king still doesn’t see her for what she is. I tried to tell him the night you were born.”

If he has ever been cruel to you, I am so sorry, Lia. It is unnerving to be a king and know that three of my four children are kind-hearted, yet the one to be heir has a soul full of cruelness.”

“I believed your mother, Ophelia, to be my mate when everything happened, but mates have the ability to sense each other’s pain. I felt nothing as she lay there, dying. And while deep down inside I've realized that she was not my true mate, for all intents and purposes, she was. And I will be in love with her until my last breath.”

I looked up into his hazel eyes that I didn't want to admit took my breath away, but before I could respond, a thunderous crash halted the ship.

The afterlife had always been spoken of as being serene, and anything that particular soul desired it most to be.

“Your lies are like a siren’s song, Solus. They roll off your tongue so sweetly, beautifully. Almost enough to convince me,” he said in a low, alluring tone.

Now here we were. Two enemy leaders stuck in the middle of a supposedly enchanted forest together.

I tried to hide the fact that my lips faintly turned upwards into a smile. Why did my body try to react that way when she was being difficult and annoying? The last thing I needed her thinking was that I found her amusing.

She had every right to wish for someone to love her the way she desired and deserved. I could only hope that whatever Lord she ended up marrying treated her that way.

That’s the thing with the fae, they could never be trusted.

A small giggle left the chest I was holding so tightly to my ear. I lowered her body down to see a mischievous grin spread across her filthy, infuriatingly beautiful face, and the dagger held in her hand, pointed directly at my throat.

I had never seen him smile so genuinely before—maybe at all. It was absolutely beautiful. His features seemed lighter, softer. He looked happy.

His muscular arms wrapped around my entire body effortlessly. We slowly pulled apart and as my eyes met his, the golden flecks shone in the moonlight. I hated how it took my breath away.

I could feel his breath on my nose as he leaned over me. “Is it respect you want, Elianna?” he asked, his tone alluring and wicked.

The sun shining down on him as he smiled made the tiny gold flecks in his hazel eyes radiate. It took everything in me to try to focus on anything but that.

The thought of you even being injured…I can’t explain it. It feels as if flames ignite within my very veins and light my entire existence on fire. It's not an option I was willing to accept. Nor will I ever.”

A slice of fury cut through me at the thought of another man knowing her so well, better than I did, and using it against her.

“From this moment moving forward, you are no longer my enemy or my prisoner. Members of each side have committed acts of extreme cruelty and horror. That no longer speaks for the entirety of either race. We are going to figure everything out. Together.” “Together,” she breathed onto my lips, as her eyes glistened in the moonlight.

His kiss ignited a blaze within me. In my very being—my soul. A powerful wave of heat rushed through my entire body at the feel of his lips on my own. A feeling he swore not even a day ago that I would never feel again.