His emotions opened like a floodgate. Sorrow flowed from him to me, so much of it—but bitterness, too, and betrayal. It went so much deeper than just saying, ‘someone killed my father.’
“Did the Fae who killed your father—Zander—choose to be a Conjurite?”
“He wanted the power. He didn’t care what he would lose to get it,” Rainier said. “I want to find out who tried to pin the death on you by changing your appearance to look like him. I want to figure out what’s going on. I’m sure if we find the Fae who hexed you, we’ll know what happened.”
Rainier had balled his hands into fists, and anger riddled his features. The heat of it was scalding hot on my skin, like a dry heat that singed everything in its path. As if he realized he was with me, he swallowed his fury and relaxed his hands. He pulled back and put himself back together again.
“What was your dad like?” I asked.
Rainier laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “He was a slave driver, actually. Hard on everyone, and he wanted things done the minute he thought of it. Patience wasn’t his strong suit, and he could be a mean piece of work if he wanted to be. He was a good king, though. He cared about his citizens, even if it was in a twisted way. He understood sacrifice, even if he didn’t understand where to draw the line. He gave everything for this kingdom, even at the expense of his family, sometimes…” Rainier swallowed. “He was a dick, to be honest.” He laughed, a little embarrassed, before his laughter faded. “But still…he didn’t deserve to die. I didn’t want him gone, no matter how often we got stuck. He was all I had.”
“Your mother…”
“She died during childbirth. They tell me she was an angel—not in the literal sense—but I didn’t get the chance to see that. My father, with all his flaws, may he rest in peace, was the only family I had. Blood, anyway. Dex and Nylah are still here, of course, but that’s different.”
I nodded. I didn’t know any of it. But judging by the way he felt about his father and his friends—what Ifeltradiating from him when he talked about them—he still had a lot of pain to process.
Rainier cleared his throat, and that strange sensation of knowing what he felt withdrew. He stood.
“I’ll let you rest. I’m glad you’re safe. Again, I apologize for my fiancée’s actions. They were despicable, and I will make sure it’s taken care of.”
“Thank you,” I said. I wasn’t sure it would be that simple. I had a feeling something was wrong—verywrong, but I couldn’t say it to anyone.
He nodded curtly before he left the room, leaving me alone.
I reached for the glass on the nightstand and took another sip of water before I lay back and closed my eyes.
Lucia wasn’t Rainier’s mate. It made me happy to know that. Someone like Rainier deserved more than that horrible female—a magical, conniving one at that.
However, they would still be married unless he found out who she truly was. There was nothing I could do about it until I could expose her. That would free him. It would remove her and allow him to be himself again. I was almost sure that she was using magic in a way that bound them all.
All but me.
But even if I could get rid of her, it wasn’t like I could ever stand a chance with someone like Rainier. Besides the fact that he was the King, and I was just a peasant, he was the most powerful Fae that had ever lived. I was just a human. He could live for thousands of years, and I was doomed to less than a century.
Even if everything else somehow worked itself out, I would be nothing more than a drop in the ocean of his existence.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think anymore. My head hurt like hell, and thinking about never being good enough for Rainier caused my chest to ache, too.
14
It took another day or so for my body and Nylah’s magic to fight against whatever Lucia had done to me. In two days, I was back in the arena, training with Dex and Nylah, following our usual routine. I trained harder. I couldn’t afford for something to happen again. The Fae all around me were more powerful than I was, and I hated feeling like I was at the bottom of the food chain. I pushed myself to focus for longer, training by meditating. I asked Dex and Nylah to train me together, using magic and physical attacks so that I was on my toes, ready for anything.
After the third day back in the arena, I felt good. I sat on the floor, drinking water. Dex and Nylah stood to one side, talking about important business I couldn’t hear. When I glanced toward the palace windows, I noticed Rainier watching me.
His eyes were on me—it was the reason I’d looked up at all.
His gaze shivered along my spine, cold and trembling, but heat came with it, too. It hypnotized me.
The atmosphere shifted. A breeze picked up and brought with it a sense of foreboding. I frowned and looked at Nylah and Dex. They were still deep in conversation, but Nylah cut herself short and looked around her.
She felt it as well.
“Dex—” she started.
The door to the warrior quarters crashed open, and Fae poured out through the door. Their faces twisted into snarls. They had weapons raised, and with a terrible warrior’s cry, they ran toward us. Dex and Nylah stood frozen, and I gaped at what unfolded before me. I couldn’t believe what I saw.
The first warriors reached Nylah. Dex jumped to the racks of equipment and grabbed a sword and a spear.