But Rob shot me a cutting glare and said, "It's my fault, Father. I wouldn't allow her to leave her room until she was absolutely stunning. Nothing but the best should be presented to the Storm King, the Storm Princes, and our dear ambassador of Timberlune."
The king rolled his eyes but allowed the lie to slide. "Sit."
The five of us found a remaining seat, stared at each other from around the table, then sat as a single unit.
The ambassador seemed pleased with our synchronicity, but not so much our seating arrangement. Rob was on my right, but Cal had somehow managed to end up sitting on my left.
"Your Highness," the ambassador said, speaking to King Zacharias while keeping his black eyes on me. "I am familiar with your sons, but I have yet to make the acquaintance of this lovely young lady."
The king waved his hand, and the first round of servants filtered in, bringing goblets of water and wine as well as a massive tray of steaming hot buns.
"Julius,” the king said, not bothering to call him by his proper title, “this is Lady Alexis. She's new to court, but she's betrothed to one of my sons. So, you should treat her accordingly."
The fae's dark blue eyebrows raised. "One of your sons? Which one exactly?"
"Whichever she chooses." Zacharias’s hard, blue eyes found mine across the table. "She has less than a month to decide."
"Interesting..." the Ambassador mused, slowly rubbing his chin. "I'm sure Princess Bria would love to meet you, Lady Alexis. It's lonely at the top. Perhaps you two could be friends?"
"She's not at the top, Ambassador," Cal assured him with a perfect smile. "You should tell my princess that she can find friendship in Lady Alexis if she chooses, but not competition."
The ambassador smiled. "Excellent, Prince Calvin. I'll be sure to relay the message. Though, if I had to guess, I have a feeling you'll be seeing her quite soon in person. She will undoubtedly want to meet her new friend face-to-face."
More like size up her competition. Even though I wasn’t competition, as Cal so kindly pointed out.
For some reason, I had a feeling Princess Bria and I would never be “friends.” Not even if I ended up marrying Ben and she ended up marrying Cal and we were like sisters-in-law or something.
I forced myself to smile and nod. "I look forward to meeting Her Highness.”
“Do tell me,” the fae ambassador continued, as he sipped at a goblet of water, “how you ended up betrothed to a prince in the first place?”
I smiled, though my stomach fluttered with nerves. I grabbed a bun and slowly pulled it apart. “That’s actually a very interesting story.”
“No, it isn’t,” the king interjected. “She’s from an old line of nobility we’d almost completely overlooked. She’s powerful, like my sons, and therefore any union between them, especially one that would result in children, will be a strong asset to the Storm family line.”
All the fluttering in my stomach halted as each nervous butterfly died a cold, hard death.
I took a bite of the bread but couldn’t even taste it.
Children. I knew the implication was there from the very beginning of this crazy setup, but to hear it so plainly stated was... jolting. I was most definitely not ready for that.
"I see." The ambassador bounced his fingertips together. "I'm sure King Titus and Queen Bravia will be very interested in hearing this news.”
"I'll just bet they will be," King Zacharias muttered.
I thought about shooting him a cutting glare. I mean seriously, did he want war with Timberlune? Because this was how we’d get war with Timberlune. His attitude was most definitely not helping their relationship.
"What is your power, Lady Alexis?"
I quickly swallowed my food, but before I could answer, the Storm King slammed his goblet down and glared at the ambassador. "Julius, why don't you tell us all about Timberlune's newest weaponry and most recent battle tactics?"
The fae pursed his lips distastefully. "That is, of course, confidential information that only King Titus could dispatch."
King Zacharias smirked. "As is the nature of her powers. So stop prying."
“Are you insinuating she’s a weapon to be used in battle?”
“I said stop prying.”
The ambassador bowed his head. "As you wish, Your Majesty."
Dear gods, this was more tense than I'd imagined. No wonder Cal cared so much about preventing war—his father certainly didn't.
I want to tell the fae what my powers are.
The thought surprised me. I glanced around the table, from face to face, watching as everyone ate their meals in silence. I swallowed hard and bit my bottom lip to keep my mouth shut. The urge to spill my guts to this stranger was hard to ignore. My leg started bouncing, and I fidgeted with the hem of my dress.
Suddenly, Rob's hand was on my thigh, stopping my jittering. I knew he was probably just annoyed at my nervousness, but having his hand so close to my lady bits was invigorating. A burst of heat rushed through my veins, and my need to speak collided with my desire for more of his touch.
I opened my mouth, a millisecond away from spouting out something about having fire and marriage powers, but I got a hold of myself at the last moment. Not soon enough to avoid a strange moaning sort of sound as I closed off my throat though. Because of course not.
Dan raised his brow at me from across the table, and his gaze immediately darted to his brother's arm. The angle it disappeared beneath the table was more than suspicious, considering it was practically in my lap. Dan's glare hardened as Rob looked up and met him with an equally menacing stare.
"Is there a problem, Daniel?" Rob asked as pleasantly as he seemed able.
Dan pasted on a pissed-off smile. "I was about to ask you the same thing."
"Shut up," the king warned his sons. "More eating, less talking. And for gods' sake, don't finger your date at the table."
My eyes went wide with shock and embarrassment, and I couldn't hold the urge to speak back any longer.
"I have fire powers!" I blurted out, earning a snake-eyed glare from every Storm in the room.
"What the fuck, Jewels?" Rob shouted, throwing his hands in the air.
"I—"
I started to say I didn't know what the hell was going on and that I was sorry, but I ended up spilling more of my guts instead.
"I also have marriage powers!"
Cal's mouth literally fell open. He looked utterly astonished that I could be so stupid.
Yeah, well, you and me both, buddy. It wasn't like I was doing it on purpose.
The fae ambassador smiled, looking just as surprised as I felt, but much more enthused about it.
"Is that right?" he asked, leaning in closer. "Perhaps you're planning on using these powers of yours to woo the Sky Prince? Princess Bria will not be pleased to have competition with such an unfair advantage."
I shook my head. "No, no, it's not like—"
The Storm King squeezed his goblet until his knuckles were white. "Alexis, stop talking."
I nodded and bit my lips, but the urge to keep babbling completely consumed me.
I took a deep breath, but both my legs bounced out of control. My fingers tapped incessantly at the sides of my chair. The back of my throat burned until I couldn't take it anymore.
"I don't know how to use my power," I admitted quickly. "Most of the time it refuses to come out at all, and when it does, I can't freaking control it."
"Alexis!" the king shouted, jumping from his chair and shattering his goblet in his bare hands. "Get the hell out of this room right now! You know what? All of you. Just get the hell out!"
The princes and I all but ran for the door, but the ambassador remained seated, sipping rather smugly at his goblet. The Storm King knocked it right out of his hands.
"I said all of you. That includes fae scum, you iron-headed dipshit. Go back to your kingdom and tell your snot-nosed royals the betrothal is off."
I paused just outside the doorway, heart ham
mering madly in my throat. Oh gods, what have I done? I ruined the treaty and any hope for future peace between our kingdoms. Why, oh why, couldn’t I have just shut the fuck up?
The fae floundered for a moment, stuttering his words as shock washed over his features like an icy wave. "But… but… Your Maj— What on…? How could you…? What does this…? Are you saying—"
"Yes," the king growled. I heard the crunching of the glass in his fist. "You glamoured her, didn’t you? I can think of literally no other reason why she'd do something so godsforsakenly stupid."
Wait, he... glamoured me? That's where the strange urge to tell him all my secrets had come from?
The fae, as far as I could hear, said nothing.
"As such," the king continued, "you are in direct violation of our treaty. Congratulations, Julius, you got the information you simply had to have, but now you've ruined any chance of a union between our kingdoms. I hope they put your head on a spike."
A chair scratched loudly against the stone floor, signaling that one of the two men was about to leave.
I fled to a shadowy corner in the hall, hiding behind a decorative plant and a statue of Zeus. I had a feeling it would be the king stomping by any second, and I had zero desire to confront him in such a rage.
Don't let him see me. Don't let him see me...
I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared for the worst.
But he marched right by, his footsteps pounding quieter and quieter on the stone tiles until he disappeared up the stairs. I opened my eyes, and a moment later the ambassador huffed off in the opposite direction, probably toward some hidden exit I'd yet to encounter.
I slid down the wall and crumbled into a boneless pile on the floor, the stress and anxiety of the past few minutes practically breaking off me in chunks. I was a rag doll coming apart at the seams, and I was going to need a few minutes to mend myself back together before I could so much as think about moving. I allowed my eyes to fall shut, willing the last dregs of tension to slide out of me.
How fucked was I now? Like officially? My best guess for why the king would want my powers to remain hidden would be some sort of a political strategy. Beyond that, I had no idea. And now that the cat was out of the bag, I had to wonder if I wasn't in for a whole world of trouble and pain. If I'd been slapped in the face with a broadhead arrow for failing to call him "Your Majesty," then what would happen to me for metaphorically lighting his political plans on fire? Or, you know, kind of literally, considering it was my fire abilities that were supposed to remain a secret.
Suddenly, Cal's voice sounded at the end of the hall. "Ambassador, wait!"
I froze, and my auditory senses heightened, straining to make out each and every word that might ensue. But I couldn't. Their voices were too muffled and getting quieter by the second. They were walking away.
Daring to peek around the corner, I realized they must've made a turn.
Shit!
Against my better judgement, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to follow them. It was the ambassador’s fault that we were in this mess to begin with—even though I was the one who appeared to have ruined it—but I needed to know if Cal would be able to smooth it over for the entire kingdom's sake.
Tiptoeing as quietly as I could, I followed them to a wide-open side door, their figures dimly lit by the moonlight streaming in. They appeared to be arguing, which didn't seem to bode well for Blackwood.
Had Cal or any of the other princes stuck around long enough to hear the truth of what the ambassador had done? That he'd glamoured me? Forced me to talk against my will? Or did they seriously think I was an idiot hell-bent on making things worse around every turn?
"Tell them," Cal demanded in a quiet tone, "that the treaty still stands in Northern Blackwood. Tell King Titus and Queen Bravia that they've been cordially invited to Nightshade Castle by Prince Calvin himself. Tell them they're my guests of honor, and that I intend to make my promise to Princess Bria official. Hopefully that will stop whatever war is now brewing."
The ambassador's lips were thin, and worry crinkled his brows. "I intend to tell them all that has transpired, Your Highness, but I have no idea how they will respond to the news."
Cal put his hand on the ambassador's shoulder. "Try, Julius. Try hard. Make them see that war is not the answer. Convince them to come to Nightshade."
The fae nodded his head only once, then disappeared through the doorway and into the night.
Realizing that any minute now Cal might turn around and find me spying, I quickly darted away. I hadn’t even gotten halfway up the hall when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Panic overcame me. With a stranger up ahead and Cal somewhere behind, I dove back into the nook behind the statue and potted plant and tried to calm my breathing.
Eventually, the stranger came into view, and I was surprised to find it was King Zacharias. What in the world could he possibly want now?
"Calvin," he called, making the blond-haired prince stop midstep.
"Father, I... What are you doing here?"
The king scoffed. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same question."
"I was just on my way to—"
"Save it," he snapped. "I know what you were doing. When you leave for Nightshade Castle, you will take your brothers and the girl with you.”
“But, Father, that’ll only make things worse!”
The Storm King marched closer, and Cal fell deadly silent. “If you can’t find it within yourself to fix this political shitshow, no matter who is or isn’t around, then frankly, you aren’t fit to rule the north. Do I need to assign a new lord to the castle?”
“Of course not, Father.” Cal’s tone was dull and defeated.
“Good.” Even though he was a whole head shorter, the Storm King practically loomed over his son. “So, you’ll take them with you, and I’ll finally see what you’re worth... if anything.”
“As you wish, Father.”
“Now go. You’ll be departing at dawn.”
Cal bowed and hurried off, disappearing up the closest set of stairs, but the Storm King didn’t move. He stood eerily still.
My heart hammered. The longer I watched him stand there in silence, the more fearful I became. My breathing ratcheted up, and a loud whooshing sound filled my ears as my blood pressure soared.
Please don’t see me. Please don’t see me...
“Alexis,” he said, acknowledging the fact that he knew where I was hidden, and terrifying the absolute fuck out of me. “Come with me. Your mother would like to see you.”
Chapter 13
I exhaled in a rush.
Oh gods, that was all? He was just taking me to see my mother? Perhaps I was wildly overreacting?
I slowly crept from my not-so-hidey hole and entered the hallway, curtsying as deeply as I could manage. But the adrenaline from the past few minutes had finally subsided, leaving my muscles weak and quivering. My knees gave out, and I was forced to drop my skirts and catch myself before I crashed onto my face.
The king glanced upward toward the shadowy, vaulted ceiling and sighed. "Just... follow me."
As if I might actually have a hard time doing a simple task such as that. As if I were stupid or something. Okay, fine, I might’ve just royally fucked up my curtsy, but I was pretty sure I could handle walking.
My upper lip curled as I trailed after him, fighting the urge to give him a piece of my mind. It didn't take long for me to lose that particular fight.
"You really need to work on your people skills, Your Majesty."
He glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. You have this way of talking to people that really pisses them off."
"I don't see the problem."
I pursed my lips, contemplating his words. "You want to piss people off all the time?"
He merely shrugged. "As long as I get what I want in the end, then I don't particularly care who I piss off in the process. It comes with the territory of being king."
"B
ut, Your Majesty, don't you think a good king would try to be a little less confrontational?”
He spun around, shooting me a glare as sharp as daggers, one that physically made me recoil.
"I suggest you never insinuate that I'm a bad king ever again. It's treason, and I won’t tolerate it. And unless you want to lose your wayward tongue, you will learn to hold it back more often than not."
I nodded quickly and gritted my teeth together to keep myself from talking. For some reason, I didn't doubt that he would actually cut off my tongue if I annoyed him too much.
At the thought of the king’s cruelty, the memory of the dead man from the forest came racing back to me. The sight of the arrows jutting from his bleeding back seared across my vision. His dying words circled around my head, making me sick to my stomach.
Kill the king.
Who in their right mind would ever attempt such a thing? Even the princes feared their father, and I was beginning to understand why. He was lethal and unpredictable. You never knew when he’d strike or with how much venom.
Instead of leading us up to his wing of the palace where my mother was staying, he took me even higher, past the floor I shared with the princes, and up the spiral staircase of a tall tower.
My feet grew heavier with each step. My hands clammy and trembling. I had a terrible feeling about this little trip. Why the hell would my mother be all the way up there? Was it a trick? A ploy to cage me and keep me captive for the rest of my days, doomed to fuck a different prince every night until I miraculously became pregnant? The very thought had a cold sweat trickling down my spine.
Or what if this was my mother's fate? What if she was the one doomed to live in a tower, isolated and neglected? What if this was her new room?
By the time we reached the top, I was fighting hard to keep my breathing quiet. I was either on the verge of a panic attack or a heart attack, but either way, I needed to know what was going on as soon as possible. The wait was killing me.
Taken by Storm (Storms of Blackwood Book 1) Page 13