by ERIN BEDFORD
Stepping up behind me, Jasmine peered over my shoulder. "What kind of pie is it anyway?"
"Actually," I grinned and grabbed the knife to cut into it, "it's a quiche. A one of a kind quiche. It's my mom's recipe that was passed down to her from my grandmother and her grandmother before that, and now she passed it to me." I grabbed a plate and scooped a slice of it onto it before turning to offer it to Jasmine. "She thought I might need something new and impressive to add to my arsenal. The palace is the top of the top as they say. If there was one place I needed to pull out all the stops, it would be here."
Jasmine took the plate from me curiously, and her nose dipped down to inhale the aroma. I knew exactly what she was smelling. The garlic, the gooey sharp scent of the cheese, and my favorite part, the bacon. Nothing could taste bad with bacon in it. At least, that was my motto.
I picked up a fork and handed it over to Jasmine who now seemed a bit more interested and less cautious of the plate in her hand. I watched with bated breath as she cut into the slice and then scooped up a heaping bite of my quiche. As she slipped it into her mouth, I let out a slow breath and closed my eyes. When she moaned, they snapped open as excitement billowed in me.
"Good?" I eagerly waited for her response, my eyes wide with anticipation.
"Good?” Her bright blue eyes lit up with delight. “No, this is great! Why has that idiot of a king been having you clean the floors when you should be making magic with a spatula?"
I shrugged and grinned. "Just lucky, I guess."
Chapter 12
Balefire
The words blurred on the page before me. I rubbed my hand over my eyes to try to clear them. I’d been staring at the contracts for the banshee immigration for over three hours, and while I couldn’t find any loopholes in it that would cause my people harm, I needed to be on my toes. I couldn’t afford to mess this up. If the banshees moved into the western territory without any leash on their powers, then all hell would break loose. I couldn’t have that.
My people were depending on me to make the right choice, and that didn’t involve getting distracted by one human servant.
Ericka Burner. I couldn’t get her out of my mind since the night she bathed me and we almost... Regardless, I didn’t have time for distractions, which unfortunately included sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I was there back in the tub with Ericka’s hands on me... except we didn’t stop at just almost kissing.
I sighed and dragged a hand over my face. Sleep was overrated. Who needed it? I’d gone four days now without barely a wink, and I was doing just fine.
Except the pounding in my temple that would not cease.
A banging on my office door made the pain in my head exponentially worse. I didn’t get the chance to tell them to go away before Finch came strolling through the open door. I threw my head back against the back of my chair and closed my eyes.
“Go. Away.” My voice came out as a raspy growl, which only made Finch chuckle.
“I see you’re in a good mood.” Finch’s footsteps tapped across the floor as he approached me. He sat something down on the desk with the clank of dishes. A waft of something delicious wafted up from those dishes and tickled my nose.
I cracked an eye open to see the tray on the desk. Tiny red roses lined the edges of a white plate. On the plate was a slice of crust-covered meat pie. I knew from the scent of it that it would be as delectable as it smelled. My stomach growled.
Wasting no time, I grabbed the plate and fork and dove into the pie like a starving man. A look at the clock out of the side of my eye said I had every right to be. Eight in the morning. I’d been up all night again. This was breakfast again.
“You’re still not sleeping.” Finch sat on the edge of the desk, his eyes focused intently on me. “How long do you think you can keep going like this? We might live forever, but we do need the basics. You need to sleep eventually.”
I grunted, not looking up from my plate.
Finch picked up the papers in front of me and leafed through them while I practically licked the crumbs off my plate. I ignored the arched brows and smirk my adviser sent my way before dropping the plate back onto the tray and picking up the bowl of steaming soup. This, I ate a bit slower. I was hungry not masochistic. Pain had never been my choice of poisons.
“So, the banshees are getting restless.” Finch shuffled the pages before crossing his arms over his lap. “They are going to want an answer and soon.”
I swallowed hard and dropped the bowl down on the tray harder than needed. A thin line splintered up the side of the bowl. I winced. I didn't mean to do that. With one hand I picked up the mug of coffee, the ceramic cup warming my hand almost to the point of pain. I ignored it and snatched the papers out of Finch's lap with the other hand.
"It'll get done. Just leave me be."
Finch stared hard at me, his head tilting to the side as he studied me. I hated when he did that. It was like he was trying to read my mind, not something he could actually do, but Finch knew me so well that he might as well have the ability. I busied myself drinking my coffee and not flinching under his unwavering stare.
Not wanting him to poke at something that didn't need to be poked at, I glanced around for something else to talk about because if I knew my adviser he wouldn't just leave unless I could prove I was fine. Which I wasn't. I felt like my eyeballs were going to fall out of my head, and my head would implode on itself at any moment. My gaze landed on the tray before me, and I licked my lips in remembrance of the delectable meat pie.
"Jasmine has really outdone herself today." I paused and furrowed my brow as I thought about it. "Actually, the last few days. You should tell Jasmine to keep up the good work." I scooped up my pen and tapped it on the table, focusing my attention to the contracts before me once more.
Finch snorted. "You could just tell her yourself. Actually, you should get out of here." He looked around the office and sniffed. "Things are starting to smell ripe in here. Have you opted out of bathing as well as sleeping?"
I stilled for a microsecond before scoffing, "No, of course not. You must be imagining things." I shifted in my seat and then growled at Finch. "Fine. It's been a few days. I just... I've been busy."
"Busy avoiding your problems.” Chuckling to himself, Finch lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “Yes, I can see that."
I stood abruptly, my chair falling back so it clacked on the floor. "I am not avoiding. I'm trying to keep our kingdom safe. That requires time and sacrifices. So, what if I haven't slept in four days or bathed? It's all in the name of national security."
"You keep telling yourself that.” Finch stood up as well and nodded with a sardonic grin. “But eventually no one will remember you’re the king of the Spring Court if you smell like something that came out of the bog." He walked backward toward the door, his hands behind his back and no less than smugness on his face.
Sighing, I picked my chair up with a wave of my hand, letting the magic slide from my fingertips into the wood to lift it in the air and place it back underneath me. I thought I was getting off easy and went back to the pages before me.
"However..."
I leaned my head back against the chair and groaned. Of course, I wasn't that lucky. Finch always had to get the last word in. He could never leave well enough alone.
"What? What else could you possibly have to say now?"
Finch held the door in his hand and smirked in my direction.
"Those meals you've been eating. That food you've been scarfing down like it is going to be your last meal in the world..." To my annoyance, he paused for dramatic effect. "... wasn't made by Jasmine."
"Then who were they made by?" I asked, even though something inside of me knew what he was going to say before the worlds ever left his lips.
"They were made by that pesky little human you've been hiding from these last few days," he tut-tutted at me with a wag of his finger. "And if you want me to pass on your message... you'll just have to deliver it yourself."
I jumped to my feet again, but he was out the door faster than I could get to him, the prat. I banged my hands on the desk in frustration which made the lamp on it shake. With a scowl, I dragged both hands through my hair and then over my face before slumping back into my chair. Trying to push what Finch had said to the back of my mind, I picked up the banshee's contract once more and focused on the words.
After a few moments, my eyes drifted. To the tray. To the empty plate. I picked up the bowl of soul I'd devoured in seconds, and a small smile played on my lips. Catching myself, I put the bowl back down and shoved the tray further away from me... except I had put too much power behind the movement and knocked the tray and its contents to the ground. The glass shattered and scattered around the room.
With a sigh, I stood, walked around my desk, and knelt down beside the mess. I could have a servant come to clean it up, but it was my mess. I'd been the one out of control. Letting my emotions control me like some human. I snorted and rolled my eyes at my own actions.
Humans. Such weak and feeble minded creatures. So easily rendered useless by their pesky emotions. In all my six hundred plus years, I'd never let myself become so controlled by my own feelings... not until now.
If my father could see me now, he'd laugh at me. Call me a coward just like Finch had implied. I was hiding from a human. A child really. For what? Because my little game got turned around on me? Because I'd found myself attracted to the very one I was trying to teach a lesson.
Well, I supposed the joke was on me. I wanted her to learn her place, but in the process, I'd been the one to learn something. I wasn't as in control as I thought.
I picked up the glass pieces and chuckled. Maybe Finch was right. I did have some other reason for tormenting her.
Ericka Burner. Such an unimpressive human with a spitfire attitude. Brave to boot. She'd have to be for defying me so many times, or just stupid.
My mouth curved into a wide grin. No, not stupid. She didn't seem the type. I'd have gotten bored of her after the first day if she had been. Now, all I wanted to do was poke at her some more to see how she would react. Only this time, I didn't want her torment and fear.
I placed all the pieces of glass on the tray and stood from the ground. I started for the door without really giving much thought of it, then found myself walking down the hallway holding the tray like some servant. It was certainly something I'd never done before.
"Your Majesty." A wide-eyed red-headed human servant stopped before me, bowing deeply. Without lifting her head to meet my gaze, she held her arms out. "Please allow me to relieve you of that tray. I would be happy to take it to the kitchen for you."
I studied the woman for a moment, my head cocked to the side. So humble. So willing to help me in any way I needed without asking. Not like Ericka at all. If she had been the one to find me in the hallway, she'd likely turn on her heels and go in the opposite direction. Or knock the tray out of my hand.
I huffed a laugh at the thought.
"Your Majesty?" The servant's voice shook, and her eyes lifted just a fraction before they dropped again when I glanced down at her.
"No, thank you," I gruffly replied and pushed by her. "I want to take it myself."
I could feel the servant's eyes on my back as I walked down the hallway. I'd probably frightened her with my actions. I surprised myself that was for sure. Would Ericka be surprised? Grateful?
I found myself wanting to see her face right that instant. To see the way her mouth twisted into a sneer when I entered the kitchen, even as the rest of the servants bowed and scraped before me. It almost made me giddy, and my footsteps quickened.
The voices from the kitchen reached my ears before I pushed the revolving door open. They were talking about something that had happened in the village and laughing amongst themselves. Even Ericka was smiling from ear to ear, her hands buried in dough as she kneaded it to perfection.
No, she was perfection. That smile. It made her glow brighter than any fae I'd ever met. So... beautiful.
But it didn't last.
When her dark eyes met my blue ones and froze, the smile on her face dipped, and her hands paused their task. Her laughter was cut off at the quick, and the rest of them followed. Their eyes lifted to me briefly before dropping to the floor. Everyone stopped their tasks and bowed, as I expected, some on their knees and others simply at the waist.
Except for Ericka.
The anger I'd felt before at her defiance and disrespect didn't flare to life this time. No, pride filled my chest and my lips quirked up at the sides against my knowing.
Ericka's brows furrowed at my reaction, and behind those curious eyes, she built her defenses against me. She didn't trust me, not yet.
But she will.
I stepped further into the room and let the door fall closed behind me. The glasses on the tray before me clinked against one another, and Ericka's gaze dropped to it. I stopped beside the middle counter where she was gathered with the other workers.
Giving a small smile, I lifted and dropped my shoulders. "I seemed to have made quite a mess."
Ericka's attention flickered back up to my face, and her lips twisted in an incredulous smile.
"You mean, you threw a temper tantrum and broke them. Isn't that right, your majesty?" The condescension in her voice was thick and heavy.
The other servants stiffened around her, Jasmine, the head cook, lifted her gaze to Ericka, bumping her with her arm in warning, but it did nothing to dissuade the glower Ericka sent in my direction.
"What can I say?” With a hapless grin, I sat the tray on the counter and backed away. “I've been having a bad few days." I leveled her with a look that made her eyes finally drop back down to her dough, and her cheeks colored to a delightfully pretty pink.
Ah. She was still affected like me. No doubt thoughts of the night she bathed me had come rushing back to her mind. Something that I hadn't been able to chase away myself, even with the lack of sleep.
"Your Majesty?" Jasmine shuffled around the counter and bowed deeply, her hands clasped before her. "Please forgive Dahlia for not taking your tray for you. I will speak to her as soon as she has returned." The fear in her voice pulled at my chest which made my pride swell. Then my eyes slid over to Ericka, who was frowning at me. The feeling stopped.
Of course, she wouldn't be okay with me making others fear me. Humans. Such soft creatures. I almost sighed but caught myself.
"Dahlia is not in trouble, Jasmine." I waved her off, assuming the servant in the hallway had been the one she spoke of. "She offered to take the tray, and I declined." My lips curled up as I turned back to stare at Ericka. "I wanted to come down here and provide my appreciation for the recent change of pace. I have never tasted something so..." I placed my hands on the top of the counter and angled forward as I licked my lips. "... delectable."
Silence permeated the kitchen. The servants around us might as well not even have existed for all I cared. I only had eyes for the human in front of me. Ericka.
She studied me with an air of suspicion around her. Her head tilted to one side as she watched me. Did she see me as a predator playing nice to the prey? It wasn't far off. I did indeed plan to play with her, but this time, it wasn't with the intent to eat her.
Finch had been right all along. I wanted her. Her spirit. Her mouthiness. Even her disrespect of me and all things royal. Not to mention the way her breath caught, and her chest heaved as she bathed me. I'd never experienced such want for someone, and I'd had my fair chance at any woman in the kingdom.
Perhaps it was the challenge of it all. Maybe I would become bored as I finally broke her down and had her, but that was a risk I was willing to take. I just had to make her see that as well.
Ericka turned her eyes down and continued kneading the dough beneath her hands. When her voice finally came out, it wasn't hesitant but forceful and perhaps a bit amused. Something I could work with.
"I am glad Your Majesty appreciates my work.
Just imagine you could have had it this way all along." Her lips, bow shaped and begging to be kissed, slid up into a smirk. "Had I not been scrubbing the floors and every other part of the castle and its inhabitants."
Her little jab at her recent punishment stirred my cock to life, and I couldn't help but tease her a bit more.
"Come now, it wasn't all bad. There were several places I could mention that needed a good rubbing down." Her eyes jerked up and met mine as her breath caught in her throat. "I have a few more that could use your delicate touch if you would be so inclined."
Her desire thickened the air, and I forced myself to keep control. The beast inside of me wanted nothing more than to grab her, throw her over my shoulder, and carry her out of the room to somewhere secluded. There, I would ravish her within an inch of her life and then some more.
To my surprise, as fast as the air filled with desire, it disappeared. My jaw tightened as her expression morphed into cool indifference.
"I'm sure Shirazan would be happy to help you with any of those hard to reach spots.” She gestured to the dough in front of her. “As you can see, I have my hands full. Good day, Your Majesty."
It took me a second to realize she was dismissing me. Me. The king of the Spring Court! For a moment, blind rage filled my gaze, and the fae around me quaked. With Ericka completely ignoring me, even with her fellow servants quivering beside her, I took a deep breath and spun on my heel. Barreling out of the kitchen, I forced myself to walk slowly and not throw everything in sight.
That woman was going to be the death of me.
Chapter 13
Ericka
The moment Balefire left the kitchen it was as if a heavy weight had lifted. The presence of the king had gone, and with it, the servants began to move once more. Silently, they returned to their tasks, and while some of them gave me sideways glances, none of them dared to question me.