A Dance with the Fae Prince (Married to Magic, #2)

by Elise Kova

Every time, I was “unreasonable” for reading between the lines. But that’s where the truth always lies, isn’t it? The unsaid between.

Beware the woods, Katria. Never go into them. Swear to me, on your mother’s life, you will not. It was her dying wish to spare you from them.

He continues as though I haven’t spoken. “The next rule is that you are only permitted on the front half of the estate grounds—along the road we entered on—and under no circumstances are you permitted to go into the woods.”

“The final rule, and the most important one, is that you are only permitted to leave this wing of the manor during daylight hours, regardless of what you hear or see.”

“Don’t let the dress fool you. I’m more accustomed to work trousers than satin.”

“Don’t look,” he reminds me. I quickly stare forward again. “I didn’t see anything. Well, just your shoulder again.” He’s hiding behind a tree. “You’re going to make me think you have some kind of obsession with my shoulders.”

Whenever someone tries to tell a lie to me, I smell smoke. Whenever I tell a lie, I taste metal.

I laugh bitterly. “Maybe that’s part of the problem. Maybe I’m so accustomed to being uncomfortable that I have no idea what to do with myself now that the discomfort is gone.”

I can do a good variety of maintenance and upkeep. None of them exceptionally well, I’m forced to admit. But well enough. I cannot cook you a feast, but I can make sure the food is palatable so that you don’t go hungry. I cannot build you a house, or explain the finer points of architecture, but I can tell you when a roof is going to collapse and where you need to shore it up to make it last another winter until there’s enough money to hire a proper tradesman.”

“So you are saying you would rather be my servant than my wife?” “No,” I say, so fast and sharp that I hear him shift uncomfortably in his chair. I don’t even apologize for my tone. “I will never be someone’s servant ever again.”

“Maybe,” he whispers, “I’m trying to protect you because I’m stunning. Because if you were to look at me with those eyes that Oren tells me are like a tempest sea, I could never let you go.”

“You know who else tried to keep me alive? My mother and sisters. You know how they did it? Locking me in rooms, preventing me from having friends, taking anything that brought me even the slightest amount of joy. They treated me like a thing more than a person.” I blink up at him, my eyes burning.

“I want to live—more than anything—and because I want that, I refuse to spend my hours as someone’s thing. I’m going to live my life, the way I want to live it, or die trying. So help me live or be ready to kill me,” I finish, voice quivering.

“I made my sacrifices. I earned this.” I shake my head, backing away. “I don’t have to defend myself to you, or to anyone.”

“If you have any fondness—no, any respect—for me, then you’ll do this. I am not a relic that you can store on a shelf until your next ritual. I’m a breathing person. Don’t treat me like a thing and I won’t have a reason to be out of place because the place I’ll be in is the one I’ve chosen.”

Cut off from our people and the magic of Midscape…he’s lived a lonely life of struggle. The only thing that’s kept him going is the obligation to free us from Boltov’s tyranny. Because their grip becomes tighter on these lands by the day. And if he dies—if the last with a claim to the power of Aviness perishes—then nothing will stand in the way of Boltov finally unlocking the full power of the glass crown. The power of kings will no longer be tied to the Aviness bloodline and will be free for the taking.”

“I was trying to keep us safe,” Davien insists. “You were trying to wear her down,” Shaye says, shoveling food into her mouth. “Either because you were frustrated with her because she has the magic…or because you were trying to push her to the point of using the magic for you again so you could see it. Regardless, still an ass, and you should get yourself together. It’s no way for a king to act.”

To love is pain. Even just the start of it has me aching. Confused. Torn apart at the seams by conflicting interests. Was this how my father felt? Did he know Joyce was terrible for him and yet something…something refused to allow him to leave? Even when he knew she was wicked, he called her his light.

avoid Davien’s attentive stare by helping myself to another slice of bread, dipping it in the oil and herbs before popping it into my mouth. It’s like he can sense what I’m thinking.

I bite my lip. I really hope that I’m wrong about that…because my mind isn’t a place that anyone should spend too much time in. It’s dangerous enough for me, and I live here.

“I made him feel strong. Ruling over me, telling me what to do, thinking my every breath was dependent on him…that was what gave him power. Which meant I had power. He needed me. And I wanted to take that from him. So I did. I found a mind of my own and I kept it. I harbored it in secret until the moment I could get away. And then I vowed to do everything I could to destroy him.” Shaye stabs her knife into the table at her side. “I will die happy if I am the one to slit his throat when this is all over.

“I’m shocked you didn’t find a wife before me, with charm like that.” I shove bread into my mouth. “I’m shocked you didn’t find a husband before me, with manners like those.”

“She looks like a Butcher to me.” Davien continues to put pressure on Allor’s blade. The woman wears a lazy smirk. I can almost see her holding herself back from carving Davien to bits. “And you look like a spoiled prince to me, so let’s not get into the name-calling, hmm?” Allor says. Her voice is as soft as her shadow cloak.

He doesn’t care about you, a nasty voice inside me whispers, not really. When he looks at you he sees the magic. I bite my lip and wish it wasn’t true. But I know it is. Davien’s brow furrows slightly and I wonder if he can read me like I can read him.

“I’m going to fly unless you tell me not to.” He locks eyes with me once more and our sides melt together. “Take me away,” I whisper. He wraps me in his arms and leaps for an open archway along the top of the gathering hall.

Everything about him is forbidden, everything screams of heartache. But I will not be my father’s daughter. I can indulge in these physical needs without falling in love and giving all that I am in the process.

“We only do as we desire.” He looks me dead in the eyes as he speaks. “Nothing more, nothing less. No expectations.” “And no feelings,” I repeat our earlier promise. He nods and kisses me again.

“Love is the closest thing we have to meaning in this world. The love of a mother for her children, the love between friends, the love of a husband and wife, love for who we are and all those who strove before us to hand us the world we have now—love is why we live, why we fight, why we carry on when things get tough…it is not always easy. But it is our reprieve from true hardship, not the hardship itself.”

Why does his smugness somehow make him both more frustrating and attractive in equal measure?

“Why is it that it is so much easier for me to process being treated like a thing than a person? How is it that the latter hurts more?” I blurt. Giles blinks several times over. His brows arch upward, knitting together in the middle. I can’t stand his pity already. “Because now you know this is how you should have been treated all along. Because you know that if one person sees you, respects you as they should, then there’s no excuse for anyone else not to. The fault does not lie—has never lain—with you, but rather the shortcomings of those you have been surrounded by. You were always worthy.”

“No…” I shake my head. “You are not my king. You are the Fae King. And I am clearly nothing but a lowly human vessel housing your magic. So fine, we ride, Your Majesty. But if there is blood today then know it is on your hands.”

This power was never mine, it’s yours. There’s no point in my learning it now or ever. I’m just a bystander, an accident, a thief. I am a brief note in your symphony, and it hurts too much to pretend to be anything else.”

“No you don’t,” I whisper. “I do.” He takes a step forward. “I love you in a way that I never expected to love anyone. I have always been destined to be thrown into a marriage of convenience. I never expected to love.”

“There’s no reason for cruelty, no excuse.” He shakes his head and kisses my hair. I’ve never felt more protected than in this moment and it only makes me cry harder. “But I swear to you, Katria, with all I am and all I will be…as long as I draw breath, I will never let them, or anyone, hurt you again. You will never have to go back to that house. And should you ever wish to, because you feel that confronting them in the cruelty they have wrought will bring you some peace, I swear I will stand by your side if you need me.”

“Because I love you, truly. I love you in a way that makes me want to sacrifice for you. That makes me want to move the mountains, or oceans, or stars, to merely see you smile.”

“That is what love is, Katria—what it should be. You are worthy of that love, from me, from others, and from yourself.”