Chapter 13

“W hat is your game, Mazrith?” The Queen’s voice was laced with venom.

“My game is with the gold-giver , not with you.” The Prince turned to her, then inclined his head slightly. “Mother.”

She raised one eyebrow at his word, some of the fury leaking from her eyes. Another drop of blood dripped from above, and I couldn’t help lifting my eyes, my resolve drowned in the wake of whatever had just happened.

A man was hanging upside-down from a massive hook, the kind used for fishing whales. A long slit from his neck was the cause of the drip. His lifeless eyes were just visible in the dim light.

I felt my empty stomach roil, and forced my eyes closed.

I would escape this place. Freya, Odin and Thor help me, I would escape this place.

“Your father liked playing games, too,” the Queen said softly. I opened my eyes and saw the Prince stiffen. “And whilst he often played them with humans, he never played them with the rune-marked. You are playing with fire, son.”

“And I will not get burned. She will never leave my sight. But as my betrothed, she will not be touched by a single member of this Court.”

Betrothed? They called their concubines their betrothed? Twisted fucks, making a mockery of what was important to real people. Adrenaline was starting to flow through me, now that the pain had ebbed away fully. A sense of recklessness had filled me at his words.

He’d said nobody could touch me.

I staggered to my feet.

“There is more to this than you are telling me, Mazrith. And I do not wish to discuss it with your little friends present. Leave with your copper-haired wench, and let me work out the frustration you have caused me with these other two.”

“They stay with me.” My voice was louder than I had expected it to be.

The Prince turned to me as the Queen’s head tilted to the side. “No. They do not,” she said.

I ignored her, instead staring into the eyes behind the Prince’s mask. “Go back on your word and leave them with her, and I will end my own life myself.” I said the words as quietly as I could, hoping he could read my lips.

Whatever he wanted from me, he wanted it bad, and it seemed he needed me alive. I would do whatever it took.

“Look inside my head if you don’t believe me,” I murmured. “I’ve been ready to die since you arrived in my workshop.” I’d actually been ready to die since Lord Orm had chosen me, I realized.

“I had an idea last month,” the Prince said suddenly, turning to the Queen. “Well, my shadow-spinner had an idea, more accurately. But to test it out, we need gold-givers. If our theory can be proven, then we may be able to create a weapon, using the rune-marked of our enemies.”

“A weapon?” The Queen’s eyes were alive with interest.

“Yes. A weapon. I hadn’t wanted to tell you until I knew it would work. I wanted to present it to you as a gift.”

The Queen sat back down slowly. “A gift for me?”

“Indeed, a gift for our whole Court. But I need time to test it. And I need these three.”

She stared at him a long moment, raking a black nail down her pale cheek. “Sometimes, Mazrith, I wonder if you truly love me. Today, I choose to place my faith in you. Leave now, and I will see you, and your betrothed , for dinner.”

* * *

The second we were out of the hall I drew in deep breaths, trying to clear the stench of blood and flesh from my nostrils. My brain had gone into a sort of numbness, confusion clouding my thoughts.

The Prince and his warriors moved quickly, and I gave up trying to work anything out as we were hurried toward the staircase. I had to half jog to keep up with them, Kara still crying quietly as Ellisar pushed her along.

My head was spinning too much to keep track of all the corridors and staircases we traveled, and the only thing I was able to take in consistently was the low lighting from the many torches in wall-sconces, casting drifting shadows over the deep-red walls.

Finally, we entered a room that didn’t have walls the color of blood. I noticed vaguely that it didn’t have the same damp smell as the rest of the palace, either but smelled of wood-smoke and cherries.

The door slammed shut behind us and Frima pushed me toward a padded black upholstered chair. I didn’t fight her as she pressed me into it, Kara still clinging to my arm.

“You really are capable of some absolute horse-shit when it’s needed,” Ellisar was saying cheerfully.

Frima nodded before moving away. “Extremely fine horse-shit,” she agreed. “I can’t believe the Queen bought it.”

I blinked around the room, my thoughts like mud and my stomach sick.

The walls were pale grey, and all the furniture was black, but the large fireplace was lit with a roaring fire, and many candles were burning on the mantelpiece, casting a bright, dancing glow over the room. Thin trails of smoke rose to the vaulted ceiling, dark wooden beams criss-crossing the space. No racks or bodies, I dimly noted. There were lots of chairs, bookcases, and a few embroidered tapestries filling the room, and no bed, so I guessed we were in an antechamber of some sort.

“The Queen is as crazy as a bag of fucking frogs, of course she bought it,” said Svangrior.

“I got to be honest though, Maz, I didn’t expect you to pull out a binding.” Everyone stilled and turned to the Prince, who was standing by the only window, staring out into darkness.

I blinked, trying to keep up with the conversation. Were they suggesting he’d made up what he’d just said about using us to create a weapon?

“Leave me. I need to speak with my betrothed. Alone.” He said the word betrothed like it tasted bad in his mouth.

“I will not leave Reyna alone with a monster like you,” Lhoris growled.

Ellisar took his elbow, then pulled Kara up to her feet. “Give them half an hour, old man,” the human said.

The Prince looked at my mentor. “No harm will come to her. Not if she co-operates.”

Lhoris snarled, but before he could argue I spoke. “Lhoris, it’s okay. He just went to some pretty extreme lengths to keep me alive. He’s not going to kill me now.”

“I’m not worried about him killing you,” Lhoris spat.

The Prince’s eyes sparked behind the mask. “It is her virtue that concerns you?” Kara sucked in a loud breath. “Leave.” There was no room for argument in the Prince’s tone. With a roar, Lhoris tried to tug free of Ellisar, but Svangrior took his other arm, and they lifted him from the floor. Frima took Kara, but not roughly. Swearing the entire way, the two males led Lhoris kicking and biting from the room.

The door clicked softly closed behind them, and when I turned back the Prince was standing right in front of me.

“You have questions.”

“Yes.” It wasn’t what I’d expected him to say, but it was true.

“I am curious as to your first.”

“What are you planning to do with my friends?”

“Predictable. They will be kept safe as long as they provide me leverage over you. You are extremely transparent.”

“Coming from a man in a mask,” I snarled.

“I am no man, little gold-giver . What is your next question?”

“Who were the men hanging from the ceiling?”

He cocked his head. “Interesting. Enemies of my stepmother.”

“Is what you said about using us to create a weapon true?”

“Partly. But not in the way it was delivered to the Queen.” What the fuck did that mean?

“Why…” I swallowed, almost fearful of asking. “Why me? Why do you need me?”

“You will find that out soon enough.”

“Is it… Is it as your stepmother insinuated? You wanted a new concubine?”

He stared at me a beat before he spoke. “Concubine?”

I stared back at him. Did they not use that word here? But the Queen had used it, hadn’t she?

“Yes. You know… A mistress. A woman used for…” My face colored. “Pleasure. Because if that’s the case, I don’t believe you chose well in me. I will make your life as difficult as is physically possible, I will do nothing you ask of me. I will-”

He stepped toward me, holding up a hand and cutting off my growing tirade. “You see that rune?” I glanced down at my hand, where he was pointing.

I drew in a breath, wishing my cheeks weren’t burning. “Yes.”

Firelight glinted off his mask, and he spoke slowly, as though I was stupid. “It is there because you are now bound to me.”

Anger cut through my confusion. “You think I didn’t notice?”

“Then why are you speaking of concubines?”

It was my turn to look at him as though he was stupid. “You bound me to you. My life expectancy linked to yours, my will is yours to bend as you wish. My body to do as you like with, along with all your other playthings.” My words dripped with hatred.

Something flashed in his eyes, and his shoulders tensed, then dropped. With slow care, he turned away from me and leaned his staff by the fireplace. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. “Is that what they do in the Gold Court?”

“What do you mean?”

“They bind multiple females, as concubines?”

I frowned. “How else can you claim a female and keep her from other males?”

He turned back to me, eyes burning into mine. “You marry them.”

Disgust coiled in the pit of my stomach. “You marry multiple females here? That is against the laws in the Gold Court.”

“No. A fae may only take one wife.”

More anger riled me. “Then you are the same as the Gold Court! Marry one female, bind as many concubines, or mistresses, to whatever the fuck you want to call them, to you for pleasure!” I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. He would take no pleasure from me, I would do whatever I could to ensure that. Fear that he could force me made my throat close, and I swallowed hard.

He shook his head and let out a long sigh. “No. We may only be bound to one female. I had hoped it would not come to this, but you are now my betrothed.”

My head spun. “Wait, when you say betrothed, you don’t mean…”

“You will be my wife.”