Chapter 43

43

Cassius

I paced the royal rose garden in the twilight of day, fuming as I waited for Ella's interrogation to finish. I'd hoped Horace would have me there, but they'd cut me out. I'd have to rely on Ella to know exactly what was going on.

Damn that girl. Now that I had my head straight and wasn't dizzy with lust and an overwhelming desire to protect her, I needed answers.

What the hell had she been doing in the Triad's garden? Was she spying? If so, for whom? She seemed too unfamiliar with immortals and the ways of the court to be a mole for one of the great houses. What about for the humans, then? She was passionate about the plight of her people. Was she a revolutionary?

I paused by the spot where I'd found her sneaking among my roses the other night. She'd been tense. I'd thought it had simply been because I caught her out of place, but now…now I had to decide what to do with her.

My father would have executed her at the mere inkling of suspicion. So would any other member of the court. But I couldn't. Every instinct told me to protect her, and after centuries of defending the border, I'd learned to trust my instincts.

Did I have the strength to trust them now?

The scent of lilies and fresh rain carried on the midnight breeze, and my blood heated. I turned as my guard escorted Ella into my rose garden.

She's all right. Relief washed over me, but I buried it beneath an exterior of steel. I gave her a curt nod as she approached, then addressed her escort. "Give us some privacy. I want the garden cleared, and we're not to be disturbed, save by Aamon or the Triad themselves."

"Yes, Your Highness!" He saluted and left, leaving us mercifully alone.

The purple dress I'd given her made the lavender of her eyes even more brilliant. The neckline dipped low, revealing the soft rise of her breasts and the inviting length of her throat. Desire flared at the sight of the two marks on her neck—they'd protect her better than anything, proof that she was mine .

I crossed to her and touched the length of her silver hair. It had to look as though I was smitten with her, after all. It wasn't a hardship.

"You're okay." My voice was rougher than I expected.

She lifted one eyebrow as if mocking me. "I'm the prince's trollop and of no threat to anyone. Why wouldn't I be?"

I scowled. Now was not the time for levity. "Walk with me."

"Of course, Your Highness ."

We wandered the path that led between the roses, now in full bloom. Bloodred, ivory, pink, and yellow—the castle garden had become a riot of color. Had the gardener done something different? I'd never seen it so full or resplendent.

Or perhaps it had always been this way, and I'd just never noticed before.

We lingered in silence until eventually she said, "The roses are beautiful."

"They're the symbol of my house," I responded absently. She was more beautiful by far. Even in the sea of color, she drew the eye—a perfect silver rose that put all others to shame. She was a bloom like no other, and I stiffened at the thought of how sweet her nectar would taste.

She glanced over, suspicion in her bright eyes. "Why do you keep looking at me that way?"

I tore my covetous gaze away and focused on the path ahead. "I was just thinking that dress suits you."

"Lord Horace seemed to think the same."

Horace . The lecherous bastard. I'd witnessed the results of his interest on several occasions. My vision tunneled into darkness, and I couldn't stifle the growl that tore from my throat. "Did he touch you?"

Her lips parted in shock at the ferocity of my tone. "Fates, no. I'd never let that bastard get close enough to touch me."

Like she could stop him. My knuckles cracked as I strained to control my anger.

The Triad were all cruel in their own ways. Thalindra was vicious and conniving, while Malthus was ruthless and cold. But I despised Horace more than the others combined. He wore golden rings and expensive robes, but he was still the same wretch he'd always been—an abusive bastard who worshipped nothing but power and gold.

I'd put him in the ground if I could, and the rest of them as well.

Unfortunately, an outright attack was doomed to fail. While I was stronger and faster, their magic was far too powerful, and I doubted I could take on one of them, let alone three. Worse, they'd been drinking my blood for centuries. It not only prolonged their lives and youth but also gave them the ability to heal from almost any wound within a matter of heartbeats. I'd considered trying to poison the blood, but the Triad provided their own enchanted goblet and blade and insisted that I bleed while they watched. Clearly, they suspected betrayal.

The bitter irony of it burned through me. My kingdom was under the heel of three sociopaths, and it was my own blood that kept them in power.

I'll find a way to overthrow them, one way or another.

Until then, I had more pressing concerns. Ella.

I forced my hands to relax but I couldn't meet her eyes. "What did Horace ask you?"

"He—" She clasped her throat, voice suddenly stifled by a spell of silence. My smoldering fury reignited, even though I'd known to expect it.

"Stop," I commanded. "Don't try to answer."

Her eyes dilated, and she drew her lips back in a snarl as she fought against the curse.

I grasped her shoulders. "Don't fight it. You cannot win. They mute all those who serve them."

Her eyes flashed with anger. "I don't serve them. That bastard took my voice."

I shook my head. "It is for the best. If you can't speak of the Triad or what happened, then you can no longer be a danger to them, and thus, not to yourself."

Rather than soothe her, my words seemed to anger her. She pulled free of my grasp, and her expression twisted with fury. "This is so wrong. You should have warned me."

"And if I had, you likely would have resisted or fled and gotten yourself killed."

I wasn't blind. Ella was no innocent serving girl, and she'd been in the hidden garden for a purpose. Although I didn't know why yet, I was certain she wouldn't let her hard-won discoveries be taken from her.

Horace's curse of silence protected her and me both.

"Who are they? What are they, and why do you tolerate them?"

"Like I said before, they are none of your concern," I said coldly, then turned and started walking away. "No more questions. No more investigating. Let it go."

She grasped my arm and stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop. "What power do they have over you?"

A muscle in my jaw twitched. "How are you asking me these things? Didn't Lord Horace's curse silence you?"

Determination flashed in her eyes. "Just from speaking about them. He didn't say anything about asking questions."

Suspicion crept over me. Why leave her the ability to ask questions? It had to be intentional. While I'd certainly let my guard down around her, the Triad were different. They never stopped scheming. What did Horace stand to gain?

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Did Lord Horace order you to bring him information?"

She bit the bottom of her lip, then pointed to me.

"You're to bring it to me?" I frowned. Either Horace trusted me blindly or planned to test me. Either way, it was a bad sign, and a deep unease settled over me. "This conversation is over."

I continued on, but I couldn't free myself of the troublesome woman or her inquiries.

"If I can't speak, what's the harm in telling me?" she pressed as she hurried after.

I spun on her, my fear for her safety fueling my anger. "Were you born without any common sense? The Triad is none of your business. Why should I tell you anything?"

She straightened and glared. "Because those people just screwed with my head."

"You're lucky you still have one."

She pivoted in front of me, cutting me off in a brazen challenge, with her hands on her hips. "Clearly, whatever this kingdom is, it's a lie. You are a lie."

I froze, her words crushing my chest like a war hammer.

She stepped closer, until we were inches apart. "I don't know what's going on, but I can tell you hate it. Don't you wish there were someone you could tell? Someone you knew who would never speak the truth?"

I set my jaw. The poor girl believed the truth would set us all free, but the reality was that our entire kingdom depended on the lie. It depended on them .

She raised her eyebrows expectantly. "You want to tell me, so do it . I'm forbidden to speak what I know, so there's no risk."

The words ached to be free, but I was a fucking fool for even considering it. She was a spy. If you fall in love, the woman you choose will destroy everything your father built.

I couldn't possibly love the girl—I didn't have the capacity—but the warning was germane, all the same. I'd been playing with fire, and I had to stop.

"Of course there's risk. Everything has risk." I stepped around her and continued walking.

"Then take one," she challenged.

I turned and glared. "I did that already when I saved your life. That's risk enough."

"Is it?" she asked, but I walked away, leaving her standing among the roses. A beautiful siren promising release but doing nothing more than calling me to my doom.

I vowed to resist her as long as I could, but the gods knew I couldn't stay away.

I avoided Ella the rest of the night, but I couldn't shake her from my thoughts. She'd become a specter of need and worry that haunted my mind.

Although I'd sent her back to her duties, she was far from safe. Whether they knew it or not, the Triad were hunting her, and they would not stop until they discovered the truth. I spread what disinformation I could, but I knew it wouldn't be enough. Protecting her might call for something more drastic.

The castle walls pressed in on me, and the dank air grew suffocating and claustrophobic. It felt like every conversation echoed too loudly but was muffled and indistinct. Around every corner was another preening idiot who'd bow and scrape and flatter me as if my power mattered. The Triad constantly meddled with the politics of the court and were a check against every decision I made, living handcuffs that fed off my strength.

The bitterness of it galled me. The crown I would soon claim would be as much a lie as my marriage.

By the next evening, the need to be with Ella had become almost maddening. Aamon and Cassandra peppered me with questions about the frontier and the beasts and the ball and alliances, but I barely listened.

I loosened the neck of my shirt. I had to get out of the castle. I needed to get away from them all—the court, the Triad, the simpering fools. I had to be alone.

No. Not alone.

With her .

For all the trouble she'd caused, for all the danger and distraction she presented, she promised release. I dismissed my advisers and sent word for Ella to immediately meet me at the stables.

She made me wait, which only stoked my incendiary mood, and I was pacing in agitation by the time she arrived. She'd abandoned the purple dress, returning to the blue and gray uniform that all the house staff wore, but rather than cool my desire, it only fanned the flames. The plump curves of her breasts and their perky nipples were hidden, but I'd sampled them and had to resist the urge to rip the neckline down so that I could taste them again. Her silver hair was pulled back, exposing her neck and the slowly healing marks I'd left for all to see—the marks that reminded everyone that she was mine .

The hunger ignited within me. I wanted to hike up the plain cloth of her dress and plunge myself between her legs, then drive my teeth into the sweet flesh of her neck. I didn't care if it was up against the wall of the stable or if anyone saw. Let them all watch me claim what was mine. What I wanted to be mine.

What I didn't dare take.

The girl didn't deserve to be corrupted by the likes of me.

I crushed the railing of the stall beneath my grip, and she looked over. "Is something the matter, Your Highness?"

"Saddle Chastity. You're riding out with me," I ordered more harshly than I'd intended.

We didn't speak as she prepared the mare, but I watched her relentlessly. She was so skilled and gentle with the beasts, it was no wonder she'd found a way to tame me and bend me to her will—for Fates' sake, the woman had gotten the godsdamned prince of the Bloodvale to lie for her and hide her treachery.

Either I was fool or she was a siren. Or both.

Ella must have sensed I was in a mood because instead of badgering me with relentless questions as we rode, she stayed uncommonly silent, letting me brood. It only made things worse. Her words continued to claw at me, slowly corroding the iron around my heart. Clearly, whatever this kingdom is, it's a lie. You are a lie.

My chest felt like it was going to crack, bursting with repressed desire and long-hidden secrets I was desperate to speak. That truth had been something I'd always lived with, but it felt more like a burden than ever. A mad part of me longed to tell her everything, regardless of what she was, informant or revolutionary or spy.

All I knew was that whatever her true motives for being in the castle were, she had a good heart, better than any I'd known. I saw the signs everywhere she went—the compassion she showed animals, the love she had for her people, and the strength with which she suffered the slights and abuses of the sisters.

She made me want to be better. She made me feel like I could be better.

I could barely stand it.

We crested a rise and paused, looking out over the tree-lined slopes toward the river and the castle high above. As I stared at the white towers of my home, all the emotion inside of me became a sea of bitterness, and like floodwaters battering a dike, my will finally broke.

"The kingdom is a lie," I whispered, not taking my eyes from the castle. "You were right."

Her breath stilled. "How so?"

A simple question that had dangerous answers. I was a fool for even speaking the words, but she had cracked my foundation to the core. I couldn't resist telling her any more than I could resist the sweet taste of her blood.

"You asked for the truth," I said, meeting her impossibly enchanting eyes. "The truth is that we lost the war, and your kind won."