Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

We stepped out of the carriage which had been sent to collect us and paused in the shadow of the palace, the tips of its many domed roofs gleaming in the sunset as the heat of the day finally began to fade.

There was a long promenade between two perfectly still pools of water which led into the grand entrance of the grotesquely ostentatious building, beautiful flowers blooming in pinks, whites, and yellows from huge golden planters standing on the far edges of them.

Koi of every colour swam slowly through the pools, their movements lazy and progress slow. I eyed them for a moment, wondering if there was any truth to the tales which swore that the emperor owned a pair of vicious crocodiles, bound to his will by one of his advisers whose Affinities gifted her power over animals. Supposedly, the pair resided in those pools, lurking within their mirror-like depths, waiting for the command to strike at any who dared come here with an intent to harm the ruler of our kingdom.

I raised my chin, keeping my shawl close to my body as I looked from the imposing building to the sister I loved more than life itself.

“Kyra,” Aalia said slowly, moving closer to me while I inspected the work I’d done to try and downplay her beauty. “What are you planning?”

She wore the orange gown, the colour as close to hideous as any could be on her. It had far too many frills and embellishments, the design gawdy and unfashionable enough that it would likely draw mockery from the spiteful members of the court who followed trends like their lives depended on it. Good. That was good. Let them mock her, and let the emperor hear it too – he prized perfection after all, and I doubted he would wish to be known to bed a woman who had been mocked by the entirety of the court.

Her hair was styled plainly, one overlarge lotus blossom tucked behind her ear, and I had painted her makeup on in a way that tried to diminish her natural beauty, making her cheeks appear a little hollow, her lips sallow, her eyes smaller. Little things which honestly didn’t do much to take away from what she was. My sister was beauty incarnate, the Affinity our vain mother had always called a gift and which I had secretly believed to be a curse for some time now.

“Planning?” I echoed innocently, and Aalia’s brow furrowed as I avoided the question.

“There’s another carriage approaching,” Aren murmured, offering an arm to each of us, and I took it, avoiding my sister’s gaze as we began the long walk between the pools.

We were quiet as we closed in on the palace, no doubt each as nervous as one another. Because when it came down to it, we knew where this night was likely to lead. The emperor would see Aalia and want her as he had before. He would request her presence once more, and there was no longer a valid excuse beyond the fact that she simply didn’t want to accept his offer.

Aalia was pale, and I knew a mixture of fear and acceptance had fallen over her. Acceptance of what she might have to do this night, and perhaps on many more, if the man who ruled our kingdom gained a taste for her. She would do it to protect Aren and the twins. I knew her too well; her heart was too good. She would sacrifice anything for them. But I would not allow it.

Aren was stiff as he walked towards this fate between us, the curve of his bicep beneath my hand rigid where I kept hold of his arm. He was giving everything he could to this façade of calmness and confidence. He was trying to be strong for Aalia, and I was certain that no matter what happened tonight, his love for her wouldn’t sway. But I also knew that I wasn’t going to let this happen.

I raised my chin as we passed beyond the pools, ignoring the prickling sensation which made me think something watched us pass from beneath that water. Let the crocodiles come for us. I had a feeling they would be the easiest challenge we would face tonight if they did.

A row of twelve royal guards stood at attention either side of the door, their bodies rigid where they clasped their spears, the golden breast plates they wore more decorative than practical, the emperor’s crest of two warring dragons emblazoned across the metal. Nothing but their eyes moved as they watched us walk between them into the bright light of the palace.

Servants approached us the moment we stepped inside, one of them asking us to show our invitation. I released my hold on Aren as I finally removed my shawl and handed it to the woman waiting to take it from me.

Aalia sucked in a sharp breath as she took in the entirety of the gown I had chosen to wear tonight, her brown eyes widening as her gaze met mine and accusation filled them.

“No,” she hissed, cutting herself off as the servant reached for her shawl next, and I simply gave her a firm look.

Aren ran a hand over his face as comprehension dawned on him too. I found a mixture of grief and gratitude in his eyes as I turned from my sister to him, glad to find that at least one of them understood this.

The gown I wore was a deep scarlet, my lips painted to match the colour, and my ebony hair styled in a way which left most of it hanging loose down my spine. My bare spine. Because though the item I wore was indeed a gown, there was so little of the top half of it that it was entirely scandalous.

“It’s the latest fashion,” I said blandly to my sister whose cheeks were colouring with her fury at me. It was true enough, though I had opted for the most extreme version of the style, and I didn’t back down from the accusation in her eyes as I smoothed out the full-length gossamer skirt and adjusted the delicate golden chains hanging across my midriff beneath the strips of fabric which encircled my neck and crossed over my breasts.

“The fashion may include exposing some flesh,” Aalia hissed as we headed away down the corridor towards the ballroom where the sounds of music lured us closer. “But you are currently dancing the line of nudity, Kyra.”

“So?” I asked innocently, increasing my pace as I leaned into the Affinities which Bentos, the god of seduction and fertility, had given me, my hips swaying with my steps.

A hand gripped my arm and pulled me up short, whirling me back around in the thankfully empty corridor. I arched an eyebrow in surprise as I found Aren holding onto me.

“You mean to take his attention from Aalia?” he asked, pinning me with his dark eyes and forcing an answer from my lips.

“Yes,” I replied simply, and Aalia hissed her disapproval.

“I won’t let you,” she growled, and I turned to look at her, though Aren didn’t release his grip on me.

“It’s just sex to me, Al,” I said, letting her see the truth of that. “I’ve fucked enough Fae to know the difference between my body and my heart. And if this is the only way to protect you from him, then I will gladly do it.”

“I would never ask you to-”

“I know,” I interrupted her, tugging my arm free of Aren’s grip and moving to clasp her cheek in my palm. “I know you wouldn’t. But I would rather spend every night this year in that arsehole’s bed than allow your heart to be broken by attending it a single time.”

The truth of my words drew a sob to her lips, and she gripped me tightly.

“That doesn’t make it okay,” she said as I wound my arms around her and let her break for a moment as she accepted this.

“There are two cliffs,” I said to her, the story we had both been told so many times by our father, causing a touch of deja-vu to echo around us. “The one you fall off blindly and the one you jump off freely.”

“Both hurt when you hit the ground,” she replied shakily.

“But I’d always prefer to see my fate coming for me,” I finished, pushing her back a step as the sound of more Fae approaching reached us.

“I always picked the blindfold,” she muttered, and I smiled, wiping a tear from beneath her eye before looking to Aren.

“I don’t want you to do this, Kyra,” he began, but I shook my head at him, beckoning them both to start walking again before we were caught lingering here by some nosy courtiers.

“If only we lived in a world where want carried any weight.”

Aren offered me his arm again, his hand landing over mine as I took it and squeezed tightly.

“Thank you,” he breathed.

I looked up at him and the love and fear I found in his eyes only made my decision on this plan all the easier to accept.

“Who knows?” I teased as we turned a corner and found ourselves before the towering doors to the ballroom. “Perhaps I’ll enthral him so deeply that he’ll take a queen at last.”

Aren scoffed while Aalia choked back a sob, both of them knowing that the life of some pretty queen, dangling from the emperor’s arm and enduring court life daily was about as far from the life I would wish for myself as it could get.

The second set of guards bowed low as we passed inside, a herald calling our names and waving a flourishing arm towards the raised dais where the emperor sat on his throne, waiting to greet his guests.

I kept my chin high, my eyes fixed on the emperor while he spoke to one of his advisers, not bothering to so much as look our way. His deep brown hair was slicked back, his jaw rigid and brow broad. Attractive enough, like most of our kind were, but he was no great beauty to look upon. His body was more lean than powerful, his days of practicing with a sword supposedly long forgotten, and I couldn’t help but think how terribly average this great and feared emperor was in person. All across the world, people whispered the name of this Fae. Even the rulers of the distant kingdoms and empires didn’t dare oppose him too forcefully, and yet there he sat, just another man with too much power and not enough purpose to his endless life.

He was an ancient creature, though time had stopped him from aging at some point in his mid-twenties, as it did to all Fae ever since the gods had blessed us with immortality. But his eyes gave it away. That long life filled with countless nights like this, watching people come and go, enduring endless repetitions and the boredom all the oldest of our kind seemed to indulge in.

I never understood why they didn’t just walk on into the Garden. The place beyond. Most did once they reached that point in life, when nothing gave them reason to live anymore, they embraced their end and moved on. But not Emperor Farish. He simply lingered here on his throne, his children watching and waiting for an inheritance I assumed they’d never get. Unless war came to our door and killed him for us.

Farish’s head snapped up, his eyes darting to mine and locking with my gaze, making my heart leap. I scoured my mind for any Affinity which might have allowed him to hear that thought, to know that I had just considered his death with not only amusement but anticipation.

Fuck.

I didn’t drop his gaze, knowing that all the time his focus remained on me, it wasn’t on my sister. But I couldn’t think of a single Affinity which might gain a Fae access to the thoughts of another, and I had to hope that my paranoia was simply a side effect of my fear.

“Your Majesty,” Aren greeted beside me, his tone warm and submissive as he released his hold on my arm and dipped into a low bow.

Aalia fell into a curtsy beyond him, but I hesitated another second, my gaze still locked with the emperor’s. He arched a brow as I danced the line of impertinence before dropping into a low curtsy and murmuring a greeting to him. I didn’t lower my gaze though, looking at him while he looked at me and letting him see exactly which powers the gods had gifted me.

He held my gaze for several endless seconds more, and I didn’t so much as release my breath until his attention shifted away suddenly, moving over Aren without pause before falling onto my sister.

My heart stilled as the corner of his mouth hitched just the smallest amount, but in the next breath he was waving us away, commanding us to dance and mingle and enjoy the ball, and I was left wondering if I had simply imagined his reaction to her altogether.

We didn’t linger, moving quickly to the far side of the ballroom where we endured small talk. I accepted several invitations to dance, my attention never slipping from the emperor while he greeted the rest of the guests.

He didn’t look at me or Aalia again, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was brewing in the air, like an oncoming storm we wouldn’t be able to survive.

I wished we hadn’t come here. I wished we’d ignored his summons and run. With every turn I took around the dance floor, that feeling increased, like a knot tightening in my stomach until I felt sick with it.

I spun away from my dance partner and gasped as I collided with a hard chest, my gaze rising to meet Calvari’s as he took my hand in his and coiled his free arm around my waist, stealing me from my current partner.

“I’m cutting in,” he said in a low voice.

The noble, who had looked about to protest, let his gaze roam over the scarred warrior briefly before feigning a sweet smile and graciously abandoning the floor.

“That was rude,” I teased as Calvari began to move me. He had less grace than the partner he’d replaced but he knew the steps, and I could admit that I preferred the breadth of his chest to the soft hands of the noble.

“You don’t like me for my manners,” he replied simply, guiding me across the floor towards Aren and Aalia where they danced together, their eyes on each other and so much emotion in the looks they were sharing that people were starting to comment on it.

“What is it I like you for then?” I teased, and his smile only widened.

He drew my body flush to his, pushing a muscular thigh between my legs with the movement and dipping me backwards as the music quieted for a few beats.

“No need to be vulgar in front of the emperor,” Calvari replied, tugging me upright once more.

I caught the grin he threw to the group of warriors who sat at a table not far from the edge of the dance floor and rolled my eyes.

“I thought we didn’t do the whole possessive bullshit thing?” I asked as his hand trailed down my bare spine, causing me to arch against him.

“I don’t usually,” he agreed. “But Ricos seemed to think he had a shot with you. Said you wouldn’t look at me twice. Call me an arsehole, but I wanted him to see how fucking wrong he was.”

“Ah. So I’m a point to be scored?”

“More like a notch I don’t want leaving my belt,” he taunted, and I casually swung my knee into his crotch, rising to the bait he was laying while he spun me in a circle and was forced to hide his pain to save face.

“You’ll pay for that,” I swore to him, drawing half a laugh to his lips even as he continued to curse me.

“Any time, beautiful. You want to tell me what brings you to court though? Can’t say I’ve ever seen you at any of these things before.”

As the highest ranking of Farish’s army, the elite members of the Fated Warriors were often invited to the palace, brought in to remind everyone of the might the emperor commanded through them. It was hard to miss any of them with their huge frames and glistening weapons, let alone the battle scars, so I understood the posturing, even if it did seem pointless for an emperor who had ruled for longer than most Fae could even remember.

I glanced towards the throne once more, a shard of ice slipping down my spine as I found Farish staring right at me, his gaze boring into the centre of me like he could see all the way down to my soul.

“What’s wrong?” Calvari asked, sensing the tension in my posture, his Affinities for war always making him keenly aware of any unrest around him. A Fated Warrior was never caught off guard.

“Nothing,” I breathed, but he followed my line of sight, a low chuckle rumbling through his chest.

“The emperor covets all he cannot have,” he murmured quietly. “He’s noticed the way you’re looking at me.”

I scoffed, pulling my focus back to Calvari as I arched a brow. “And how is that?”

“Like a woman who knows precisely whose bed she’ll be in by dawn.”

I began to protest, but Calvari leaned in and grazed my throat with his lips, his hand fisting in my hair as he tugged my head back to give him more room.

I couldn’t help it. I looked to the emperor again and, sure enough, his focus was on me.

Fear skittered down my spine and I forced a laugh from my lips, pushing Calvari back a step as I escaped his hold on me and rounded towards the edge of the dance floor. I may have been willing to steal the emperor’s attention from my sister if I had to, but I had absolutely no desire to gain it on my own merits.

“I feel a great desire to warm my bed alone tonight,” I called loudly as Calvari frowned at me in confusion. “But thank you so much for the offer.”

I dipped into a brief curtsy, then let the dancers cut us off from one another before turning and heading to the closest servant holding a tray of sparkling wine.

I needed a drink. More than that, I needed to get far away from the gaze of Emperor Farish.

My heart was racing wildly in my chest, and I had to remind myself that I’d known this could happen, that I had wanted it to happen if it would spare Aalia from his notice. But there was something about the emperor which had always unsettled me, and as I swallowed my wine in one long gulp, I knew without doubt that I held no desire to become his latest plaything.

Let the other jostling court ladies have him. All I wanted was to escape this night with my family and stay away from this place for as long as I could once it was done.

I passed several hours of inane conversation and pitifully tame drinking with one eye on the clock and the other on my sister.

Aalia had clearly relaxed in the time we’d been here, finding herself free of the emperor’s gaze and able to enjoy the night dancing with her husband.

I watched them as they twirled around the dancefloor, his gaze riveted to her every move and a smile so pure and beautiful on her face that I swear everyone around them could taste their love for one another in the air they breathed.

It was a connection beyond anyone’s ability to deny. Like fated lovers or soulmates, simply meant to be.

I had finally begun to relax too as the final song of the night was struck. I raised a celebratory glass of sweet wine to my lips, but as I looked across the room, I fell still.

Emperor Farish was on his feet, shifting between the crowd on the outskirts of the dance floor like a serpent moving through long grass, somehow going unseen by so many of those who surrounded him.

His guards remained close behind him as he closed in on the dance floor, and I found myself on my feet before I could even be certain of what he was looking at. Because I knew. In the depths of my soul, I knew. And I realised that somehow, despite my vigilance, he had been watching them this entire time too.

I dropped my glass onto a small table without looking, ignoring the sound of it shattering as I broke into a near run, the heels of my shoes clicking against the hard floor as I pushed my way between the bodies. My heart pounded with terror as I ran, my gaze scanning the crowd and finding the large group of warriors among them.

I pushed between the muscular men, ignoring their surprised mutters and grunts of protest. Most of the time, no Fae dared approach a group like theirs, let alone shoved through them, but I wasn’t afraid of them, and I had one last chance to stop the roll of fate from landing on my sister’s head.

Calvari looked up in surprise from his table, his lips parting on a question, but I simply caught his hand and hauled him to his feet.

“Dance with me,” I commanded. “Make the whole world think I’m yours.”

The music was just getting to the part where the tempo increased, the song a temptation to sin, the lyrics sung in a language which had been long forgotten but the meanings were clear to any who paid attention to the beat.

This song was written in honour of the god who had blessed me with his Affinities for seduction and allure, and I was going to channel every bit of that energy while there was still time to stop the coin of destiny from falling.

Calvari smirked as he gave in to me, his grip tightening around my fingers before he tugged me close, then spun me away from him fast.

My feet moved with the natural agility of our kind, my skirt flaring and parting around my thighs as I spun onto the dance floor. Before I could stop my spinning, Calvari was there again, catching my hand and yanking me back to him.

My palms landed hard against his chest as he caught my hips and lifted me, the heat which had flared between us last night building as I kicked my legs back into the air before swinging forward and winding them around his waist.

This kind of dancing was what had first brought us to one another, the unfettered, feral kind which came straight from the depths of the soul and simply had to be set free.

The solstice party we’d met at so many years ago almost seemed to reappear around us, the depth of the night and the heat of the bonfire in the sand, while the summer breeze tangled with my hair and we danced without limitations in the heart of the desert.

Our bodies moved to the same rhythm, his hand locking around my throat as he drew my mouth almost close enough to kiss me and then spun me away sharply, turning me beneath his arm as my skirt whirled once more.

He yanked me back to him, my spine to his chest as I dropped down low then rose up again.

People were watching us; I could feel their eyes following our movements hungrily, and more than a few Fae moved out onto the dance floor to join in. Those who felt the call of Bentos’ power just as I did.

I could feel the allure of the god as he drew closer too, this dance a form of worship to the one who had blessed us with his power.

My skin heated and desire flushed my cheeks, the friction of Calvari’s body against mine riling me up and making me hunger for more.

His hands moved over my body, possessive, controlling, worshipping, and as I whipped around, I found exactly what I had been aiming to achieve.

Emperor Farish was staring right at us, his dark eyes ripping through my skin as easily a hot knife shearing through butter.

I held his gaze as I ground my body against Calvari’s, biting into my bottom lip with a promise sparkling in my golden eyes.

His nostrils flared just slightly, his head tipping to one side as he muttered a word to his Royal Prophet, Kalir, and I tried not to look towards the shadows within the hood of those ice-white robes.

I almost missed a step as Calvari’s mouth brushed the side of my neck, but I refused to allow a moment of fear to colour my actions. Kalir was an atrocity so far as I was concerned, and the magic he wielded was nothing but stolen energy from the gods. It was an affront to the power and lives they had gifted us to steal from them the way his kind did.

There were many who muttered fears that the Prophets would one day curse us all for what they took, the sorcery they wielded which was unnatural and unearned. They were capable of far more than the power of our Affinities, but the cost it reaped upon their souls was clear to see the moment they dropped those white hoods.

I had no idea why the emperor kept a man like that so close to him, and the thought of Kalir turning his attention to me for so much as a moment made a prickle of terror spear through me, despite my best intentions.

I forced my focus back to Emperor Farish just as Calvari dropped his hands to my hips and dipped me backwards. I gave my body to him, my spine arching as he whirled me around, my thighs locking around his waist before he tugged me upright once more and our bodies were pressed together again.

My head turned to the emperor, but Calvari caught my jaw and snapped my gaze back to his, the cocky smirk on his lips letting me know that he had figured out my game.

The music was racing towards its crescendo, and Calvari’s hand moved to encircle my throat as he tilted my mouth up towards his.

“Trying to bed yourself an emperor, are you?” he purred against my lips, a mixture of amusement and jealousy in his words as his eyes flashed with the challenge of fighting for my attention.

“Perhaps,” I breathed, watching as his pupils dilated and his grip on my throat tightened.

He drew me closer, not a breath between our bodies as he lowered my left foot to the floor but gripped my right thigh tightly, keeping it at his hip, our position beyond indecent and the world still watching.

Calvari leaned in, his mouth set to capture mine and the heat in my skin begging for him to do so.

“Enough!” Emperor Farish clapped his hands together once and the music fell silent.

A beat passed as Calvari kept hold of me, his nostrils flaring at the command to stop while the heat of that dance and his own desire made him reluctant to do so.

With a barely concealed curse, Calvari released his grip on me, lowering my right foot to the ground before taking his hand from my throat and stepping back with a harsh exhale.

I bit my bottom lip as I turned to look at the emperor, certain that I’d had his attention, that he had seen Calvari’s claim on me and that it would be enough. Because it had to be enough.

I didn’t dare turn to look for my sister as we all awaited the emperor’s next words, and his dark eyes slowly surveyed the gathered courtiers like a wolf in the midst of a flock of sheep, simply taking his time while he selected a meal.

His gaze fell to me, and I fought my natural instinct to recoil as his heated attention roamed over my body, taking in every exposed piece of skin, the way my chest rose and fell from the dance, everything right down to the flush in my cheeks. He glanced at Calvari too, a smile almost touching his lips which seemed as close to a challenge as I could imagine.

The warrior at my side stared back defiantly for several seconds before bowing his head in submission and taking a step away from me. An offer. One which shouldn’t have stung but did just a little.

There had never been any promises between the two of us, but there had been something. Or perhaps I had only wanted to let myself think that.

Either way, he was offering me up without protest, and I had to remind myself that that was precisely what I had been aiming for anyway.

A smugness filled the emperor’s expression as he looked between the two of us, and my heart began to race as his gaze slid over me and then away, beyond me, looking through the crowd and seeking out the woman who I had tried so hard to shield from him.

There was a flash of cruelty that flared in his eyes as his gaze fell on my sister where she held her husband’s hand, her eyes lowered in hopes of going unnoticed. An excitement filled Farish’s expression that surpassed any lust he might have felt for me.

I saw it then. Saw the truth of this man who sat above all of us on a throne which he had laid claim to for a thousand years, making the world bow to his whims.

This wasn’t about sex. It wasn’t lust and pleasure between the thighs of a beautiful woman he sought. I’d had him in my thrall, he had seen me, and he had known what my Affinities were, known what I was capable of if he had invited me to his bed. If he simply wanted sex, the rough, brutal act of fucking for the sake of nothing but pleasure, then he could have turned his attention from her. But that wasn’t it. This was about power. It was as much about her love for Aren and her children as it was about her beauty.

He could fuck any number of beautiful women, and no doubt had over the centuries as often and as endlessly as he pleased. But in that time, this creature who called himself our emperor had grown bored of simply taking his pick of willing bodies. So he’d created this game. One where he used his power to take what wouldn’t be willingly offered without duress. One where he could make a man relinquish his wife for a night or many nights if he pleased, where he could watch his conquests’ hearts break as they gave themselves up to him out of fear of what might happen if they refused. One where he could taste the pain and destruction on the lips he stole kisses from.

He raised his hand slowly, extending a single finger as he pointed Aalia out in the crowd and lazily, almost as if this were boring him, he beckoned her to him.