“And what has my brother been doing?”
Liadan shrugged gracefully. “He rarely leaves the Queen’s side.
He dotes on her when he should be working. She demands it. I
thought she wasn’t royal, Your Highness, but she certainly acts like it.
She forced the women of the village to sew her a new wardrobe, and
the miller to up his work all because she has to make some strange
210
Sophie Oak
human food. She even took one of my dresses. The new queen thinks
that anything to catch her eye should be hers, I suppose.”
“Is that a fact?” Beck asked.
Liadan looked properly intimidated by his low growl.
“She is even forcing the villagers to work for her,” Liadan said,
pointing out a stall. There was a long line, and two young sidhe were
working hard to sell some sort of food product.
Beck nodded shortly. His queen had gotten out of hand while he
was gone. It was time she knew the king was back.
Bound
211
Chapter Sixteen
Beck made sure he had a tight hold on his mental shields as he
approached the cottage. Even as he loo
ked around, he kept the walls
up so he didn’t alert his brother to his presence.
Beck was shocked at the state of his lands. He had left a sad,
rundown cottage and was returning to a home someone gave a shit
about. Someone had weeded the gardens and planted flowers. The
front walk was lined with orange and yellow marigolds. The walk had
been swept, and someone had woven ivy up and down the front walls.
The cottage looked lovely. There were pretty yellow linens hanging in