Chapter Eight Arthur

I immediately bow before the queen.

Beside me, Mabel is doing no such thing. I hide my face as I cringe. This will all go a lot easier if Mabel just follows my lead.

Things I probably should have told her rather than fucking her. But, by the gods, it has been far too long since we were intimate, so now we are just going to have to muddle through it all.

"My queen," I utter with as much respect as I can muster after being caught in such a compromising position.

"What have you managed to drag ashore, Ornath?" Queen Siorah asks, and I glance sideways, wondering what Mabel will make of the name I have been called. She glares warily between the pair of us.

"What's she talking about Arthur?"

And there it is. If the queen wants a way to trap me completely to this wretched place, she now has it. Up until this point, she never knew my real name. It may have taken me far too long to realize she could not hold me against my will because of this but, once I knew, I coveted my real name like it was a precious jewel. And now Mabel has plucked the treasure from me and handed it to the queen on a platter.

Once again, things I should have mentioned to her before we fucked.

"Yes, Arthur , please fill me in." The way Siorah sneers my name sends chills down my spine. If Mabel is cursed and can only do Reeve's bidding, she has pretty much done the same to me now that my real name graces the queen's deadly lips.

"It is nothing," I say, turning to Mabel. "Only the name I go by here."

There's no point in trying to backtrack. My name is out there now. The queen only suffers bullshit for so long before death is the reward.

"And who are you?" Queen Siorah asks pointedly.

I stand finally, drawing myself up and positioning myself next to Mabel as she continues to glower at the regal woman in front of us. She certainly has balls; I'll give her that. But I knew that already. Even as a human, she was not prepared to take anyone else's shit.

"I'm Mabel," she replies, her fists balled by her sides. "I'm guessing you're the ruler here?"

"Smart, for a human," Siorah replies as the boat rocks gently. I plump my chest out, just as Mabel does the same, my huge form creating a stir in the air as I do so. The mists around me swirl, my body melding to them for a moment before they dance off in the direction of the queen. I watch as her nostrils flare in response. "Well, that is a treat, isn't it? She's not human at all."

I wonder how she will react. After all, her history with monster hunters is mixed , to say the least. While I have told her about Mabel, I neglected to tell her about what she truly is. Siorah just assumed I had been talking about a human all these years.

"We need shelter," I say before Mabel can really gear up to say whatever it is about to burst from her mouth. I don't need to look at her to know that it will make a mess of things. Reaching out discreetly, I clasp her arm gently, hoping my touch will calm her down without making it too obvious. Glancing sideways, I see her grind her teeth and swallow back her words. I hold back the sigh of relief and continue with my own plea. "Mabel is being chased by King Gilberd."

There's no point mentioning Reeve, only the names of kings matter to Siorah. And this one will piss her off to no end.

"King Gilberd ," she spits out like she just swallowed a mouth full of piss. "Well, that changes everything. Come, bring your monster hunter ashore."

"There are others too," I say as I step in front of Mabel. While she is behind me, she takes advantage of the privacy to hastily pull on her clothes. "We have an orc, tentacle monster, and satyr on board who also need to come ashore and be protected by your authority."

I study the queen's face carefully. It's a lot to ask of her. She never likes to meddle in the workings of the world outside of Kiros Somu. After all, why would she? They were the ones who banished her all those years ago. Gilberd's line being at the forefront of those wanting her kind gone from their world.

Siorah studies Mabel as she steps back in front of me, fully clothed this time. Although her hair is still a mess, white and wild, as it streams over her shoulders and reminds me of someone else I know from Kiros Somu. As our ship bobs, her hair moves and she almost looks like she could fit in here, among the smoke and fog of this strange land.

"They are important to you?" Siorah asks Mabel, who only nods her head. Once. A solid move that is confident in her answer.

"Then bring them too."

I am surprised at how quickly the queen has agreed to this.

But, then again, it probably has everything in the world to do with Magnus.