The King's Captive (Gate of Myth and Power, #1)

by K.M. Shea

“Sir.” A naiad tried to bow at Noctus. I couldn’t tell if it did anything, from this angle Noctus was a silhouette with the porch light behind him. “We have been sent by the Unseelie Queen of Magiford. She is done bargaining with you to join her Court.” Noctus was motionless. “Oh?” The naiad gulped and spoke to the lawn, but she kept on going. “If you do not join her as a warrior under her services, there will be consequences.” Consequences? No! This is a stupid attempt at bargaining—you aren’t just barking up the wrong tree, you’re in the wrong forest! I hissed and twisted in the faun’s grasp, trying to get free, but he held me securely with his gloves. “Consequences? Like the capture of my cat?” Noctus asked. His voice was so…different I barely recognized it. “Y-yes,” the naiad said. “If you do not swear fealty to Her Majesty, we are to take your cat.” Wow, yeah, even if they suspect he’s an elf, they definitely don’t know who he is. No one would try to coerce an elf king like this. It’s suicide. I dug my claws into the faun’s leather gloves and tried to thrash my way to freedom, but the faun clutched me tighter. I wasn’t too upset by the issue. If the Unseelie walk away with me, I’ll just turn into a human and squash the faun. I’ve escaped the Unseelie heaps before. They’ll be infinitely easier to run from compared to Noctus: the overly invested pet owner. It said a lot about my life that I was calming down. But, hey, at least it wasn’t the tracker!

Idiocy