The rooms that had been designated for me were bigger than what I’d had at the Fall Court palace. I had a private bedroom, three guest quarters, a sitting room for tea, three washrooms, and my own library! Not to mention servant quarters for Piper, and a small kitchen. It was like my own little house in a wing of the castle shared with the king and his father. I had no idea what type of living arrangements we would do after we were married. Most arranged marriages started with separate bedrooms, and the couple only came together for the occasional bedding to make an heir. I wasn’t sure if Lucien would want to keep to himself and I would always have this side of the castle or what. The thought of it made me a little lonely.
After getting cleaned up and changed, I slipped into a silver gown with white fur trim and walked down to dinner with Piper.
On the way, some courtiers popped into the hallway to greet us and introduce themselves. We met Master Greeves, who was the head of the household staff, and the one I should go to with any issues. Then we were greeted by a delightful older woman who was the baker and palace chef, Mrs. Pennyworth.
We also met a few high-ranking soldiers, some housekeepers, and a palace healing elf, and I was highly impressed with everyone. They were respectful and seemed genuinely excited to have a new queen. I felt very welcome, and the evil rumors about this place fell flat.
When I entered the dining hall, I was disappointed to see Lucien’s father, Vincent sitting at the table holding a glass of wine and glaring at his son.
I had hoped it would be just us, and that his father would go sleep off his drunkenness somewhere. Maybe he was like this all the time? Was this normal for them? I shuddered to think it. I had never seen my father this drunk. It was improper, especially of royalty.
“Mr. Thorne.” I curtsied to him. “Wonderful to see you again.”
He looked at his son. “You don’t deserve her,” he said, and my spine went rigid.
Lucien’s jaw clenched and he waved his butler over. “We can be served now.”
Lucien was just going to ignore that ugly comment? I felt a little sick at how verbally abusive Lucien’s father was being and he was doing nothing about it. It was a far cry from the hot-tempered man I had just spent a few days on the road with.
Lucien sat at the head of the table with his father to his left. I sat on Lucien’s right with Piper next to me.
“Do you like your living quarters?” Lucien asked me as a hot steaming stew was placed before me.
I nodded. “They’re lovely. Very large. I might get a little lonely. It’s bigger than anything I had at the Fall Court palace.”
Lucien’s eyes hooded over. “Well it’s only until we are married. Then you will be joining me in my rooms, right?”
I nearly choked on my stew. I couldn’t believe he said that in front of his father. But I also was excited at the prospect that he didn’t want the typical arranged marriage and separate rooms.
“Right.” I laughed nervously.
Piper was grinning. I kicked her lightly under the table.
Lucien’s dad hadn’t eaten any of his soup. Instead, he upended the wine cup into his mouth and then stared at me. “Why would you marry him?” he asked with a stony expression.
“Father, stop it,” Lucien said under his breath.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” his father snapped, flicking his hand towards his son. An icicle shot from his palm and cut into the side of Lucien’s face before crashing into the wall behind him.
I gasped, waiting for Lucien to retaliate. But he didn’t. He just pulled a napkin to his cheek and hung his head in embarrassment.
This happens all the time.
The thought horrified me. I wanted to take my knife and cut his father’s cheek in retaliation, but I knew that was insane. I’d never felt this protective over someone. The king was more powerful than I was and didn’t need my protection normally, but… it seemed with his father he did. This man had abused him before; otherwise Lucien wouldn’t be so docile.
Since he was a child? I didn’t know. Definitely since his mother died. Lucien had stopped fighting for whatever reason.
I stood and his father tracked my movements. Walking over to Lucien, I tipped his chin up to look him in the eyes. I wasn’t prepared to stare into the gaze of a small, wounded boy. It gutted me, and a fresh wave of anger rushed through me. “I’d like to eat dinner with you alone,” I told him. “Do you have a smaller dining room?”
Lucien’s face relaxed into my hand and the scared little boy retreated. “I do.” He stood, grabbing his bowl of stew.
Piper grabbed our bowls and we walked to the huge open doors of the large dining hall.
His father’s scoff sounded behind us and I turned to look back at him. He was glaring at me now.
“You may join us for dinners when you are sober,” I informed him, and we left the room.
It was a silent walk down the hall. A few of Lucien’s wait staff followed us in confusion. Lucien led us into a small dining room with just two seats and a small round table. There was a huge window on the far wall that overlooked the magnificent snow-covered fields behind the palace.
I glanced at Piper after she set my bowl down, and she waved me off. “I’ll be in the corner.”
One of Lucien’s staff grabbed a chair and small standing tray for Piper, and she sat in the corner of the room, eating alone. I felt bad for her, but after Lucien and I were married she wouldn’t need to follow me around like this. It was to protect my reputation, I knew, but it felt silly at times, especially times like these when I wanted so badly to have a private conversation with him.
Lucien sat next to me, eating his stew quietly and staring out at the falling snow. It was coming down in clumps and looked magical.
“I quite like this room. I think we should take all of our meals in here,” I told him.
He gave me a sad smile and it broke my heart. We ate in silence, and I couldn’t help but replay what had happened with his father over and over again.
“I’m embarrassed you had to see that,” Lucien finally managed to say. “I’m sorry… I wish he would just die already, or go live in the mountains and leave me be.”
I swallowed hard, but didn’t judge his harsh words, not after what I’d just seen. “Has he always done that sort of thing?”
Lucien shrugged. “Not so much when my mother was alive, but a lot after she passed. He doesn’t remember the next day.”
Not so much. That wasn’t the answer I wanted. And not remembering was no excuse. It reminded me of the elder in our court who’d had a drinking problem and needed help.
Reaching out, I grasped his hand. “Why don’t you stand up to him?” I’d seen him lose his temper with others a dozen times over the past days. But with his father it was like he was dead inside.
Lucien gave me a haunting look, his eyes dull and void of emotion. “Because the last time I did I froze the entire realm for a full day and night.”
I gasped. That was the reason for the Great Freeze? He’d gotten in a fight with his father and couldn’t control his power? His father must have beaten him, told him he was responsible for his mother’s death because he didn’t save her. What did those words do to an innocent sixteen-year-old boy who was already hurting inside?
“Oh, Lu—”
He stood, scooting his chair backwards abruptly. “I’m exhausted from the day’s travel. I’ll turn in and see you in the morning.”
I was so stunned by his revelation that all I could do was nod. His father had pushed him too far that night and now he was afraid to stand up for himself for fear of freezing the realm again. Over fifty people died that night. He felt fear at causing such a thing again.
Well, I wasn’t afraid. I had complete control over my power. I stood abruptly and Piper ran to my side. “Don’t do anything crazy,” she warned, knowing me too well.
She’d heard everything Lucien had just said. I looked at her with what I hoped was an unhinged expression. “You told me to stick up for my man, to show Lucien what it would be like to have a supportive queen by his side.”
Piper’s eyes widened. “Yeah, well, that was in relation to Marcelle, not the former winter king!” she whisper-screamed.
She was worried for me after seeing his display of power when he cut Lucien’s cheek with the icicle, but I didn’t fear that man. Ice could be turned to snow with one gust of wind.
I tipped my chin high. “I will not live in this home without that man being put in his place.”
Piper looked worriedly at the doorway, her mind no doubt churning through protocols and decorum.
“Wait here,” I told her. “Best there are no witnesses. Then it’s my word against that of a drunken fool.”
Her mouth popped open and I blasted past her, going in search of the man with the black heart who called himself a father.
I FOUND Vincent Thorne in the dining room where I had left him. His wine glass was full and his soup barely touched. His beard was so long it dipped into the soup and it almost made me feel sorry for him.
Almost.
There was no staff here, so I closed the doors behind me after I entered. He looked up at the sound to see me and rolled his eyes.
“Go away and leave a man in peace,” he snapped.
“No,” I growled. I didn’t care if it was inappropriate, I didn’t care what protocol dictated, I would not allow him to bully Lucien and I, and whatever children we would have, for the rest of our lives.
I looked up at the small circle window at the top of the far wall and pulled my power to me, making a small crack in the glass and generating enough wind to make my hair blow around and let Vincent know I was pissed.
Lucien’s father laughed then, a drunken, grating sound. “I made her mad!” he cackled to no one.
I calmly strode over to Vincent and stood before him, gathering more wind with me and using it to press him into his chair. His eyes widened.
“You would dare use your power against me!?” he roared, and the temperature in the room plunged.
I leaned forward, hoping I looked as venomous as I felt. “I would. In fact, if you ever draw blood on Lucien again, I will kill you.”
His mouth popped open in shock. He struggled against my invisible hold but I detained him firmly in place.
“And from now on, if you want to be in your son’s, or my presence, you will be sober.”
“You don’t tell me what to do!” Lucien’s father snarled, frost crawling along the walls around me. I pushed more wind at him so that the very skin on his face was shaking and flapping against my power.
Then I leaned forward, pressing a finger to his chest, pushing enough wind into him that it made him struggle to breathe. It was a dark side of my power, something we did a thousand times a day and didn’t really think about. Breathing. And I had control of it all. I could take the air from his lungs without leaving a trace. “Your son is king. You abdicated, remember? And soon I will be your queen. That puts my station above yours. I’m sorry for the loss of your wife but it’s no excuse for this behavior. She would no doubt be ashamed of you. I will not bring children into a home with a grandfather like you.”
He looked stricken, like I’d finally broken through the icy shell that encased his dead heart. Then his face turned into a menacing snarl. “You’re just as bad as Lucien!” he roared, and I felt the frost claw at my ankles. “A dirty little whore who—”
I’d had enough. With one thought I pulled the air from his lungs and his eyes bulged in fear.
I grinned in his face, ignoring the freezing of my feet. He was drunk and didn’t have enough power to defeat me. “Oh, Lucien honey,” I mocked, in a devastated voice, “I don’t know what happened. Your father just stopped breathing. I think the wine weakened his heart.”
Vincent’s eyes bugged even wider, his face turning purple.
“Maybe I should just end you right now,” I mused. I didn’t know what had come over me. It was like all of the repressed anger I’d been carrying my entire life was unleashing in this moment. I had to be perfect and proper Madelynn, the eldest, the most powerful, I had to do as I was told. I didn’t want to do as I was told anymore. I wanted to kill this bastard and save the man I was pretty sure I was falling in love with from having to ever be hurt by him again.
“I’m sorry.” He mouthed the words, unable to speak. His frost and coldness fell away all at once and I realized that I had gone too far. Killing Lucien’s father wasn’t the answer. Maybe this piece of trash could still be saved.
I dropped my power and Vincent fell forward onto his hands and knees, gasping for air. He beat on his chest and I watched, waiting for his response. It would determine his fate.
When he finally caught his breath, he got up and sat back in the chair. He then reached for the wine bottle next to his glass.
I caught his arm with my hand and he looked into my eyes. Lucien had said something to me at dinner that I now knew he’d never have the courage to tell his father. So I was going to do it for him. “You cannot live here like this. The elves have a healing technique that helps with this. You can spend a few weeks there and they get you sober. Take away the urge.”
Fear flashed in his gaze and I realized he was scared of going without it, of not having wine and mead at his fingertips to drown his pain and anger—or whatever reason he drank.
I shrugged. “Or you can move to a cottage in the mountains. I will send provisions, enough wine and mead to drink yourself to death.”
His mouth popped open in shock. I knew that no one had ever spoken to him so boldly. Maybe that was the problem. This pathetic excuse for a man had gone unchecked for too long.
“Your choice, Vincent.” I used his first name to hopefully cut him deeper.
“You’re… you’re…” He seemed at a loss for words. I dared him to call me a whore or any other foul name again.
He sighed, falling back into his chair and rubbing his chest. “Fine, I’ll try the elf place, and if it doesn’t work, or I don’t like it, I’ll take the cottage in the mountains. Have the wine ready for me,” he grumbled, and crossed his arms like a sour-faced child.
I nodded, relieved he didn’t try to pick a fight again.
The lack of drink for the past ten minutes seemed to have slightly sobered him. He stared off into the distance. I wasn’t sure how to leave this conversation but I wasn’t going to apologize.
“You’re right,” he said, his voice hollow as a tear slid down his cheek. “My wife would be ashamed of me.”
I nodded in agreement. “Then shape up, so Lucien and I don’t have to be.”
His mouth set into a grim line at that, but he nodded once, more tears flowing.
The tears I wasn’t prepared for. Did he feel regret for how he treated Lucien or was this part of the drunkenness? Or did he only miss his wife? I was waffling between wanting to smack him and hug him. So I decided it was time I go.
“I’ll arrange your stay at the elvin sober infirmary,” I told him and let myself out of the room.
When I opened the door, a yelp left my throat as I came face to face with Lucien. He stared wide-eyed into the room at his father and then at me.
Oh fae.
Did he hear everything? Or just the last part. He looked… scared, and angry, and… something else. This wasn’t like with Marcelle when I’d stuck up for him. This was with his own father and I knew I’d hugely overstepped.
I closed the door behind me and found myself standing in the dimly lit hallway alone with Lucien Thorne. His eyes glowed a dark gray as a chill swept through the corridor, causing a shiver to run up my spine.
It was improper to be seen without a chaperone. If household staff caught us, they could start rumors. But I didn’t care. I cared more about what he heard me say and what he thought.
“I’m sorry for butting into your private family matters,” I began as he watched me with those glowing eyes, a storm no doubt raging inside. “But if I am to be queen, your wife, the mother of your children, I must feel safe in my own home.”
His chest heaved and he seemingly fought for breath. I swallowed hard, unable to read his reaction so I went on. “Your father and I have spoken and he has agreed to attend a discreet elvin sober infirmary that I know of, and if he cannot stay off the wine he will go to the mountains and live out the rest of his life alone.”
Lucien didn’t move and didn’t speak. I was starting to internally panic. Did he want to call off the wedding? Had I gone too far?
But when I looked at him, really looked at him, I could see that he was terrified. Stepping forward, I cupped his jaw in my hands. “He can’t hurt you anymore. Not while I’m here,” I whispered.
I didn’t think Lucien was afraid of his father, he was more powerful than him, but he was afraid of himself. Lucien’s power, like mine, was tied to his emotions. But I had a wonderful childhood; my emotions were stable and controlled. Lucien’s were not. This fear was that if he reacted too strongly to his father, like he really wanted to, like he had all those years ago, he would kill us all, freeze us to ice. That fear was paralyzing him, and clearly had for years when it came to his father.
Leaning forward, he inched closer to me and I froze. “I’m in love with you,” he breathed against my mouth, and then his lips crashed into mine. I wasn’t prepared for that and so I whimpered in surprise and joy.
I kicked his father out of his home and he loved me? The things I saw as flaws and overstepping, he loved. I parted my lips as his tongue came to stroke against mine and then he stumbled backwards into a set of doors that swung on squeaky hinges. I opened my eyes for a second to find we were back in the library. His hand gripped my hip with an almost painful urgency and heat bloomed between my legs. When my back hit the library bookcase, I moaned in surprise. Right now he was rough, and I liked it. This desperate need to be together only made my own passion grow. I boldly reached under his tunic and allowed my fingers to caress his bare chest muscles.
The guttural moan that came from his throat left me breathless.
This was so improper, so beyond protocols for a royal marriage, and yet… I wanted to bed him right here and now. In the library. I’d saved my purity for my wedding night and this kiss with Lucien Thorne made me want to give it up right here among these books.
My mother told me it would be a tight pinch the first time, sometimes a little blood, then a lot of pleasure if you were with a man who knew what he was doing. I had a feeling Lucien knew his way around a woman’s body.
But I also wanted that night to be special, something saved for a man I loved. I had no hope of marrying for love with the knowledge that my father would one day pick a suitor for me. But now… I knew it was possible.
Pulling away from Lucien, I looked him in the eyes. “I’m in love with you too,” I declared. “And we will most definitely be bedding for more than just making children.”
The full-fledged grin that graced his face made my stomach flip over. To be able to have that effect on him, it brought me great joy.
Lucien’s lips were pink and swollen as he released me and smoothed his tunic. Then he let his eyes rake over my dress. “You should go before I rip that dress off of you and do something very naughty,” he said, and my cheeks blushed.
Thinking of leaving him tomorrow made me suddenly sad. “Let’s get married next month. I don’t fancy a long betrothal,” I told him boldly.
Lucien’s eyes went half lidded. “No. A month is far too long. Let’s marry this same day next week. I’ll put my staff on overtime and everything can be ready.”
My entire face lifted with a smile. “Next week it is.”
Seven days to return to Fall Court, gather all my things and say goodbye to my childhood home. I would be sad to leave them, but I knew now Lucien wouldn’t mind frequent visits. And now that I had a taste of what my life would be like as a married woman, I wanted it.
Now.
“Goodnight, Lucien,” I told him breathlessly as I stood in the library doorway.
“Goodnight, sugar plum.”
I smiled all the way back to my room.
