Libby did not take the news well. She cried and screamed and hugged me, and then ran to her room, locking herself in. My heart broke at her tantrum but I knew I’d be back in less than a week to see her again, so we set off on our tour of the four courts of Thorngate. Fall was first, and my people were thrilled for me, chanting my name and throwing flower petals at the carriage as we passed. But some of them glared at the king like he was a monster, like I had yesterday when I’d first met him.
I was at odds with the stories I’d heard and the man before me. As we passed the last outlying fields of Fall, Lucien sat back into his seat of the carriage and looked out the open window. We would head to Spring now, and then Summer, and then his realm. Winter. After that, he would drop me back home and I wouldn’t see him again until our wedding night. The entire trip would take about five days, and I had Piper at my side to stave off any rumors of impurity before the wedding night.
My parents would stay back in Fall with Libby and await my return.
I glanced at Piper, who was currently reading a steamy romance book I’d loaned her, then my gaze flicked to the king’s movements. He carried no weapon, which was common with the highly powerful fae in our realm, and he was very clean. If one speck of lint marred his pants, he would pull it off and flick it out the open carriage window.
“King Th—” I started, and then remembered he’d asked me to call him by his first name. “Lucien, tell me about yourself. What do you do for fun? What makes you happy?” If I was going to be chained to this man for the rest of my life, I might as well get to know him better.
He bristled at the simple question, his gaze going from Piper to me, and then staring out the window at the passing trees.
An awkward silence stretched through the carriage and I wondered if he was going to ignore the question when he finally spoke.
“Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I was truly happy. Sometime before my mother died probably. I used to like riding horses.”
His honest answer reached into my chest and squeezed every last drop of blood from my heart. I felt Piper stiffen beside me but she stayed glued to her book. He didn’t know what made him happy? His mother died when he was sixteen. He was twenty-one now… he hadn’t felt happiness in five years? It was heartbreaking.
Had he given up horseback riding for fun after his mother’s tragic accident? I swallowed hard, knowing there was something deeper there, but also knowing I could not go near it. Was that why he started drinking wine and then had a problem with it?
“Oh, well, I shall have to try and change that and find something to make you happy,” I told him.
Yesterday I hated the man and now I was vowing to make him happy? What is happening?
His steely gray gaze met mine and my entire body melted under his look. His gaze traveled down my dress to my exposed ankles and he grinned. “I can think of some ways you could make me happy.”
Piper sucked in a breath and I gasped, reaching out to smack his shoulder playfully. “Lucien Thorne, you can’t speak like that. It isn’t appropriate.” I glanced to Piper for backup but she was glued to her book. Fake glued to it, because she was totally hiding a smile.
Lucien leaned forward, giving me a devilish look. “I never was good at being appropriate.”
Good night!
This man was… outrageous! I fell back into the seat, heat flushing my entire chest. I snuck glances at him, waiting for him to laugh and tell me he was kidding, but he never did.
He wasn’t.
I decided then that it was safer to not speak at all. I wasn’t sure how to handle Lucien Thorne. I liked it a lot better when I hated him and imagined him as a cruel, abusive prick. But this man wasn’t that. He wasn’t black or white, he was gray, and I didn’t know what to do with gray.
BY THE TIME we reached Spring Court it was dark and we went straight to the Spring palace, where the duke and duchess were hosting us. The second I stepped out of the carriage, Princess Sheera squealed and ran for me. I laughed as she pulled me into a hug.
“Betrothed to the winter king! Come, we must talk.” She pulled on my hand, but then stopped.
Lucien stepped out of the carriage with Piper then, and Sheera bowed deeply, as her parents stepped up behind her.
“Welcome to Spring Court, Your Highness.” Sheera’s voice was clipped and her glare evident. She didn’t like him.
“Thank you.” Lucien’s voice was just as clipped.
As Lucien and the duke and duchess spoke, Sheera pulled me into the palace. I inhaled the warm night air as we went. I loved spring—not as much as fall of course but who could deny the beauty of the purple flowers that lined the walkway? Of the fragrant breeze that stayed in the air and smelled of an approaching rain.
I stared at Sheera’s honey brown hair and dark brown skin, which were all in a stark contrast to her icy blue eyes. The tips of her pointed ears were painted with glitter dust, and I smiled at the latest fashion. Sheera always knew what the up-and-coming styles were.
I came twice a year to visit her on Spring Equinox and a leader’s event my parents attended, and she did the same to me. Four times a year we got to stay up all night talking about boys, powers, who we would one day marry. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Lucien Thorne would be my betrothed.
Once we were in her room with the door closed, she spun. “Tell me everything. Is he awful? Has he hurt you?” she said in a rush. “We can run away together, hide out in Cinder Mountain if we need to.”
I processed her questions rapidly, not blaming her for thinking Lucien was a monster, I had thought the same thing yesterday morning. And maybe he still was, but not to me. Not that I had seen.
“He’s… kind of… sweet?” I wasn’t even sure if my assessment was correct. I barely knew the man, but he had let me negotiate my own dowry and paid me whatever I asked. He’d complimented me at every turn and made it seem as if he actually desired to marry me for more than the politics involved.
Sheera’s dark brown eyebrows knotted together in the center of her forehead. Reaching out, she touched my cheek. “Are you ill? You just called Lucien Thorne sweet.”
A nervous peal of laughter escaped me and I began to pace the room.
“Madelynn, he froze the entire realm, killing dozens. And since then it’s been story after story of his menacing rule. Sweet is not how I would describe him.” Her voice was sharp and cutting. I’d never heard her like this.
“Well, he’s been… accommodating,” I amended. “My staff said he was nice to them as well.”
She watched me pace her room. “Because he wants your power.” She stepped in front of me and I stopped to face her. “Maddie, it’s well known that you are the second-most powerful fae next to him. He will tell you anything to get you to marry him and have his heirs.”
I frowned. Was that what he was doing? Being fake nice to me so that I wouldn’t put up a fight?
“I told him I don’t want children at first. He said that was okay.”
Sheera laughed. “Don’t be that naïve. The second you marry him the mask will drop and his true nature will show. You’ll be pregnant within the first month and he’ll be forcing you to fight at his side.”
I frowned. “Fight? Fight who?”
She looked like she’d said too much, casting a glance over her shoulder at the door.
I placed a hand on my dearest friend’s shoulder and forced her to look at me. “Sheera, fight who?”
She swallowed hard. “I overheard my parents saying that the winter king is pledging his army to join an upcoming battle with the elves and the dragon-folk.”
My eyes grew wide. “A joint battle with Archmere and Embergate? Against who—?” But as soon as I said it I knew. “The Nightfall queen.” She made life Hades for the other realms but she left us relatively alone thanks to Lucien. I’d heard that Lucien let the frost and snow from his border cross over into her land every once in a while to remind her what he was capable of. It must have worked, because she left us alone for the most part.
Sheera leaned into me. “Spring and Summer don’t want war. We won’t send soldiers to die for the winter king so that he can help his buddies.”
I licked my lips. “Well, if he demands it, then you would have no choice.”
She shrugged. “If he’s not our king anymore, then he can’t demand it.”
Confusion pressed in on me. What was she saying? How could Lucien not be king anymore? Unless…
“Sheera, is your father going to try to overthrow King Thorne?”
Her face went stony still as if she were assessing me, no longer looking at me as a dear friend but more as the newly betrothed queen to who I was now realizing was her family’s enemy.
“We should go to dinner. I don’t want to keep my father waiting,” she said, and then pulled me from the room.
My heart dropped into my stomach at her dismissal of my question. I knew that by being close to Winter’s border, my father naturally aligned with King Thorne on most things, but did that mean that Spring and Summer were going to stage a coup? My mind spun with this information as we walked the halls of Spring Court to the large dining room. A few days ago I wouldn’t have minded learning this new information, but today… I was torn.
When we entered the dining hall, the duke and duchess of Spring turned to greet us. Lucien sat at the head of the table, in the place of honor, and I noticed the seat beside him was empty, for me.
Piper was gone, which meant she’d either been asked to stay away or had chosen to do so. I didn’t blame her. She and Sheera never really got along.
Sheera’s mother, Petra, stood to kiss my cheek. “Madelynn, it’s been too long since we’ve hosted you. What a surprise to find out about the upcoming nuptials.”
Her careful wording was interesting. She called it a surprise but not a joyous one. Could I blame her? Our families were close and Lucien was hated across the fae realm. She was probably terrified for me.
“Thank you, Petra.” I kissed her cheek back. We were long past the Mr. and Mrs. or Princess this and that. We’d been on a first name basis since I was ten.
“Well, what King Thorne wants, King Thorne gets,” Sheera’s father, Barrett, said.
Another dig.
“Yes, and don’t you forget it.” Lucien raised his water glass and sent a chilling glare at the duke.
This is not going well.
“I think we will make a good pairing, and the realm will benefit from our partnership,” I said in the most diplomatic way possible. I barely knew the guy; I couldn’t say that I loved him or was excited to marry him. It would be untrue, and obvious that I was trying to quell the rising discomfort in the room. Lucien locked eyes with me and nodded.
“I agree. Two of the most powerful fae ruling over the kingdom. What more could the people want?”
I knew he was partly marrying me for my power, but hearing him say it like that did make me think of what Sheera had just said in her room. She looked at me as if to emphasize her point. I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a seat next to the king.
“The people want continued peace, Your Highness,” Duke Barrett said. “Rumors of war with the Nightfall queen have made their way to us, and I have to be bold and say that the people of Spring and Summer want nothing to do with that.”
My entire body flinched at his boldness. I looked to Lucien, who set his glass down and glared at Barret. “You speak for Summer now too, Barrett?”
The room suddenly plunged twenty degrees as a chill formed in the air.
Barrett shifted in his seat. “Well, no, but we’ve communicated on this issue and we are in agreement.”
Lucien nodded. “Well, I’m king, and if I think we need to go to war, you will mount your horse and ride at my side or I will have you imprisoned for treason.”
Holy Maker, he just said that out loud. I was again witnessing his famous temper, but I hadn’t expected it to be aimed at my dear friend’s father. Still, he didn’t raise his voice, or stab anyone in the chest with ice. No one’s tongue was cut out. He was a king asserting his dominance over someone in his realm. Could I blame him? What Barrett said was cowardice. If we went to war, we would need all four courts’ help.
“I thought this was supposed to be a celebratory dinner for our engagement. No more talk of war, okay?” I dropped my voice into the syrupy sweet range that I used when I wanted something from my father, and the men’s glaring session broke as they both smiled tightly at me.
Petra raised her glass. “To the newly engaged couple. Long may you reign.”
We all clinked glasses and then tucked into the most awkward dinner of my life. Silence, clanking forks, talk of the weather which was completely controlled by the men at the table, and more silence. After an hour, everyone feigned exhaustion and we all shut ourselves away into our rooms. By the time I got back to my sleeping quarters I was so glad to see Piper. She looked to have just finished unpacking my things in the bedroom. There was an adjoining guest room next door that she could sleep in.
“How was it?” she asked brightly as I entered.
“Pretty awful,” I admitted as I kicked off my shoes and turned for her to unzip my dress.
“Oh no, what happened?” she inquired as she pulled the zipper down and I stepped out of my gown.
I told her about the conversation I’d had with Sheera in hushed tones as she drew me a bath. Sitting there in my undergarments, I then told her what the king had said when Barrett mentioned he didn’t want war.
Piper shrugged. “Can you blame the king? He needs one hundred percent loyalty. If he calls for a war and there is dissent, lives will be lost on our side as the battle would be weak.”
I smiled at Piper; she’d make a wonderfully brilliant royal advisor. Her mind worked in a way mine did not as she always had a good perspective of both sides.
“I cannot blame him and he did not lose his temper,” I told her as I stripped down and sank into the bath.
Piper squeezed the liquid soap into the water to make bubbles and turned off the tap. Once the bath was drawn, she usually left me, but this time she knelt down and looked me in the eyes. “I cannot blame Duke Barrett either though. War is good for no one, and if the duke doesn’t believe in the cause, then his men die in vain.”
She left me with that and I felt unsettled for a long while after. What was she saying? Did I side with my soon-to-be husband and king, or did I side with one of my oldest friends, Sheera and her family?
