Stolen Princess

by Nikki Jefford

  Beneath the table, Liri’s hand slipped into my lap.

  I dropped my fork. It clanked over my plate and landed in the food. Liri drew his hand away only to lift it and usher a footman forward. My fork was plucked off my plate and a fresh one set atop the linen cloth.

  “Thank you,” I murmured.

  Luckily, everyone else had commenced eating and paid little attention to me—everyone except Hensley, who stared at Liri and me sullenly from down the table.

  Jhaeros sat with his back straight as a board, using his knife to make small cuts in his egg before taking measured bites. He used his knife and fork on the bacon while Ryo lifted the strips with his hands to chomp on.

  Each bite of egg made my stomach turn. I tried to hold my breath to stop my nose from sucking in the smell. After finishing the egg, I tore off bits of biscuit and chewed on each piece until it dissolved to mush inside my mouth.

  Beside me, Liri bit into the bacon and chewed. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

  I gagged and clutched my stomach, trying to keep the food in, but it rushed up my throat. I only had time to turn to my right before regurgitating on the floor beside Jastra.

  Scooting away from me, Jastra nearly knocked into Sarfina, her teal hair flying at the golden blonde. “That’s disgusting,” Jastra cried, but her words were only noise.

  Even emptied, my stomach twisted as though wanting to leave my body the same way my food had. I groaned, feeling too miserable to worry about having an audience. No one rushed to my aid. I sat up slowly, grabbed a swan napkin, and dabbed at my mouth without bothering to unfold the thing. The room had gone as silent as the stars. No crunching or clink of cutlery. The Elmrays had probably never seen anything so offensive in all their royal, privileged lives.

  Only Hensley looked distressed, the skin pulled taut around her eyes and lips as though she were in pain.

  Nose wrinkled, a look of revulsion settled over Jhaeros’s face. My composure nearly crumbled as I fought to remain in my seat, calmly dabbing my mouth, when all I wanted to do was stand up and scream at him. I quickly calculated the weeks since Jhaeros and I had lain together at my cottage. Nearly a month. This sickness could be the signs of a child—one he’d put in my belly back in Pinemist, back when he loved me.

  If this didn’t get through to him, nothing would.

  Still, he sat immobile, frowning in distaste.

  Even the footmen stood frozen.

  Teryani was the first to rise from her chair. “Don’t just stand around gaping. Clean it up,” she commanded a footman across the table from her.

  From there, the room burst into action. The queen’s guards rushed forward, surrounding her.

  “You did mean to poison me,” she accused Liri, eyes bulging in outrage.

  “No one’s been poisoned,” Liri snapped.

  “She’s pregnant!” Sarfina screeched, ignoring the queen’s accusation. She shot up from her seat and pointed down the table. “It hasn’t even been six months since poor Cirrus was murdered and already Liri has impregnated our brother’s widow.”

  Teryani sighed. “Stop being fanatical. For all we know, Aerith simply indulged in too much faerie wine at the ball last night and is suffering the consequences this morning.”

  Queen Naesala pushed back from the table with a glare. “Let us hope she is either pregnant or hungover. Until that is determined, I will be dining in my rooms. Come along, Jhaeros.”

  Jhaeros stood and offered the queen his arm, escorting her out as the guards followed after them. The roiling in my stomach morphed into emptiness. If I was pregnant, the father of my child had just left with another female, one he looked determined to protect at any cost while leaving me behind with the Elmrays.

  After the footman finished cleaning up my mess, Liri commanded him and all the other servants to leave the dining room and close the door behind them. Galather and Folas were instructed to remain behind with the family. All traces of warmth had left Liri’s voice.

  A crunching sound momentarily distracted everyone as all eyes turned to Ryo, who had bitten into another piece of bacon. “What?” he asked as he chewed. “My stomach is fine, and I’m still hungry.”

  “How can you eat anything after she spewed?” Jastra demanded.

  Ryo shrugged and took another bite of bacon.

  Liri stood up before facing me, his pale face looking down on me. “Are you pregnant?” There was no emotion in his voice. “Are you carrying the child of that elf from back home?”

  Instinctively, my hand slid to my belly. Liri’s eyes followed the movement.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Don’t know or didn’t want to tell me until you had an opportunity to trick me into thinking it was mine?” His voice dipped, getting colder with each word.

  “Trick you?” I asked in confusion.

  “Is this why you threw yourself at me last night?” he demanded, his voice now rising. Color sprang to his cheeks like bruised plums. A vein bulged in his neck, and his teeth appeared to sharpen the more they flashed as he raged. “You discovered you were with child, so you came to my bed hoping to deceive me—make your bastard elf heir to the throne.”

  Jastra turned her chair around to face us and folded her hands in her lap, watching the show with obvious enjoyment. Her smile could not have been any brighter.

  “I planned no such thing. I’m not a deceiver like the rest of you,” I spat with venom. “You know I don’t want to be here. You know I was with another before you kidnapped me against my will. Last night was a mistake.” Hensley’s mistake, but I left that part out. She could thank me later.

  “This is who you wish to make queen?” Jastra asked sarcastically.

  “Shut up!” Liri snapped at his sister before returning his cruel gaze to me. “If it turns out you are pregnant, Aerith, it won’t only be your baby’s life you will have to fear for.”

  My mind went numb, my body as cold as death.

  He’d never threatened me until now. Not only that, I’d lost any opportunity to end him first.

  Bitter defeat pressed over my shoulders, and I sagged into the chair, every muscle in my body giving up. Whether I was pregnant or not, I felt doomed. Worst of all, my sister and Jhaeros were stuck in this mess with me.

  I was at a complete and utter loss.

  “It was me!” Hensley’s chair fell back as she shot up and yelped. Once she saw all eyes on her, she continued with grim determination. “Sarfina glamoured me to look like Aerith. I wasn’t aware of it until after the fact, but I was the one who threw myself at you, my king. It was me in your bed. I drank too much faerie wine at the ball. Please forgive me.”

  Jastra gasped.

  Sarfina hissed.

  Ryo burst into laughter. “Liri never could keep away from his brothers’ females,” the dark prince remarked.

  Teryani showed off one of her rare smiles.

  “Lies!” Liri bellowed. If he questioned Sarfina, she wouldn’t be able to deny it, but he was too intent on Hensley. “You cannot protect your mistress, Hensley.”

  “It was me,” Hensley insisted.

  Ignoring her, Liri turned his cold eyes to me. “Get up.”

  I remained in my seat, glaring up at him. What did he plan to do? Throw me in the dungeons?

  “I said get up.” He spoke to me as though I were a stranger, an enemy—someone he loathed.

  A shiver tingled down my spine.

  “If you don’t—”

  “‘I’ve wanted you for so long,’” Hensley said in a loud, commanding voice, impersonating Liri. It grabbed the attention of everyone inside the room as though he really had spoken. “‘I’ve wanted to lick every inch of your body until you screamed my name. Mine, not his.’” I knew who Liri had been referring to. Cirrus. Hensley’s voice rose as though emboldened, as though she was falling off a cliff gaining speed. I knew what awaited her at the bottom.

  “Hensley, no!” I cried, but she was practically shouting, and everyone listened raptly as t
hough she’d cast them all under a spell.

  Hensley lifted her chest and smiled wickedly. “‘I am your king now, and I will conquer you. Open your gates to me. Open them wide and prepare to be besieged by my royal tongue.’”

  Someone snorted before Sarfina erupted into laughter. Tears streamed from her eyes, and she doubled over. Ryo joined her, nearly falling off his chair as he clutched his stomach. Teryani cocked her head in mild amusement but did not laugh. Jastra fought to maintain a scowl, folding her arms as though it would help prevent her from laughing at her beloved brother’s expense.

  My teeth clenched. There was nothing funny about any of this. In trying to save me, Hensley had sealed her fate.

  Liri went rigid beside me. Tight fists pressed into his thighs. “Galather,” he commanded in a calm, cool voice. “Take the human to her room and make sure she doesn’t leave.”

  Galather swept through the room like a cold wind, promptly removing Hensley before she could utter one more damning word. But the damage was already done.

  “Folas.” The twin guard stepped forward the moment Liri said his name, as though expecting his summons. “Escort Princess Aerith to her rooms, and keep watch until I relieve you of your duties. Tell her guards they are dismissed from duty until further notice.”

  My heart dropped as Folas lifted me from my seat and steered me to the door.

  In the hall, my sister rushed toward us, wide-eyed. “Aerith!” she called. “I tried to get inside after the queen rushed out with Jhaeros, but the stupid guards wouldn’t allow me through.” She glared at the two guards standing outside the dining room.

  “It’s okay, Mel,” I said in the most convincing voice I could muster.

  “Hensley was dragged out of here a moment ago and now you.” She put a hand on her hip and glared at Folas.

  “Breakfast is over. Folas was about to escort me to my rooms.” I smiled weakly.

  Mel scowled. “That’s my job.”

  “Not any longer,” Folas said. “You and your boyfriend are relieved of duties until further notice.”

  Mel’s brows pinched together. “Relieved of our duties?”

  “By order of the king,” Folas said firmly.

  “What’s going on?” Mel asked, her green eyes searching me for answers.

  My mouth opened then snapped closed.

  “Aerith?” Mel prodded.

  “Time to go,” Folas announced, pushing me forward. “Not you,” he growled as Mel followed at our heels.

  “Tell me what happened!” Mel demanded.

  Folas stomped to a halt and swung around. “Your sister is pregnant,” he announced.

  My jaw clenched. How dare he deliver such intimate news to my sister? It was mine to share, and it might not even be accurate.

  “Princess Aerith is with child,” Folas pronounced once more like some kind of all-seeing shaman, “and the baby is not the king’s.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Hensley

  A lazy breeze blew in from the hills, across the lake, climbing up the castle’s stone walls to my windows. I filled the frame, staring out over the lands I’d come to love. They were vibrant and sunny, unlike the gray gloom I’d grown up in. The air smelled sweet. I’d all but forgotten the stench of refuse and rot; suppressed memories of drugs and needles; violence and sex. Depression. Despair. Hopelessness.

  Cirrus had saved me.

  He’d saved Aerith too. When she first came to Dahlquist, she’d told me her family would have become desolate without his generosity.

  I wasn’t blind. I knew Aerith never loved Cirrus, but that hadn’t stopped her from taking her commitment seriously. She’d served him as loyally as I had. It had bonded us, and I would sacrifice myself on her behalf ten times over. For friendship. For Cirrus. Even though Liri had been the brother to capture my fancy from the beginning. He had such a commanding presence and godlike beauty. I knew something had to be off when he’d invited me back to his room but, Lord help me, I hadn’t been able to resist, and I couldn’t entirely blame the faerie wine.

  Aerith had done nothing wrong.

  Some warped part of me was relieved she’d found comfort in another male’s arms and had no intention of becoming Liri’s mate. He’d always acted smooth as silk with his calm caressing tone and expressions. He hadn’t been calm this morning . . . or last night. And it had gotten my blood pumping like lava.

  It had been twenty months since I’d been intimate with anyone. Nearly two years. I felt as though I’d turned into a nun. Until Liri.

  Oh Lord, his tongue.

  Or rather, “Oh Sky,” as they said in the elven and Faerie realms.

  It was like nothing I’d ever felt. Everything in Faerie was better: from the food and wine to the music and males.

  His touch had been as delectable as the faerie wine. And like the wine, it was intoxicating. He was intoxicating.

  But now I would pay the price for Sarfina’s deception. I hadn’t been aware of the glamour, but I had most definitely been fully aware of him. It had been confusing when he first asked me to dance, but I’d believed it to be a family courtesy since I was to marry his brother. Between the wine and the way he’d gazed into my face, I’d become emboldened, molding myself against his lithe, muscular body, clutching him. And then he’d gripped me back.

  I’d pressed my luck kissing him, but again he’d answered with enthusiasm and passion that made my already spinning head whirl faster.

  I remembered every detail of the erotic encounter back in his chamber, every lick, every touch, every word spoken. I remembered screaming his name.

  My next screams would not be ones of pleasure.

  Would he punish me first or throw me directly in the dungeons?

  I expected to be kept waiting the rest of the morning and likely afternoon. He’d see to Aerith first. Hopefully, he’d be gentle with her now that he knew she hadn’t thrown herself at him in some feeble attempt to pass off her child as his. Was she truly pregnant? If so, who was the father? She hadn’t breathed a word of him to me.

  We were close and yet kept so many secrets from one another. Owning up to my part in the evening’s deception was the least I could do. I’d never meant to get in the middle, though it was plain to me that Aerith held no affection for Liri and never would. My heart ached for him. For Aerith. And for myself. Happily ever after didn’t appear to be in any of our futures.

  My door opened and closed. It seemed much too early. The sun had yet to rise to its zenith. The breeze ruffled my skirts as though I was one of the curtains draping alongside the landscape.

  “Turn and face me, human.” Liri spit out the words in disgust.

  So, I was no longer Hensley but “human.”

  I contemplated jumping out the window for half a heartbeat, but it was a fall that could break bones, possibly my neck. And I didn’t want to flee. Faerie or bust. I had no place else to go. No place I’d rather be. Liri might kill me anyway, but I liked to believe it would be more pleasant by his hands than flattened against the earth below.

  I turned.

  Liri’s arms were folded over his black fitted tunic. Long white hair streamed down his shoulders, reaching like pale fingers over his taut, muscled chest. He looked taller than I remembered, but then, we were never alone together.

  Not until last night.

  And early this morning.

  And now.

  I swallowed and kept my distance.

  Liri looked me up and down, his lip curling. He sneered. “Get on your hands and knees like a dog, human.”

  Even as his compulsion pulled my body to the cold, hard floor, I glared at him for all I was worth—which wasn’t much in his eyes. I knew he was angry, but after everything we’d shared it still hurt to be treated this way. I supposed he wanted to even the score after being humiliated in front of his family at breakfast.

  Liri’s eyes narrowed when he caught my daggered gaze. “Crawl to me,” he commanded, pointing at the ground in front of him.r />
  I crawled on my hands and knees toward him. I could practically hear his twisted thoughts. Weak human. Pathetic. Powerless.

  My knees weighted down my skirt and made my progress pitiful, which likely pleased the king even more. Fortunately, there wasn’t much ground to cover in my sparse room. I hoped he didn’t kick me when I reached him. I tried to stop at the foot of my bed, out of kicking range, but my limbs refused to stop moving until I was crouched at his feet.

  “Now lick my boot,” he said cruelly, pointing at the toe of his boot.

  I lowered my head, brown hair brushing the floor. No matter how hard I clenched my jaw, my tongue pried itself free of my mouth and ran up the toe of his boot. I tasted leather but luckily not dirt. Liri always managed to keep his clothes impeccably clean.

  I lifted my head defiantly, hardly knowing what had come over me as the next words rose from my lips. “Is there anything else you would like me to lick?”

  Liri’s eyes expanded, wider than I’d ever seen them. Then they turned lambent, the desire swirling inside his steely irises turning them to liquid silver that sent a warm wave through my body. My mouth went dry. The king, realizing he’d momentarily forgotten himself, turned an angry shade of red. I’d seen him displeased before, but his pale face had never taken on the color of candied apples. Two red splotches filled his cheeks.

  I didn’t need compulsion to keep me on my hands and knees. Terror froze my body to the ground.

  In a move so quick he seemed to blur, Liri grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me to my feet. “You dare mock your king?” he bellowed, hot breath on my face.

  I briefly closed my eyes, cursing my idiocy. He hated me, and he especially hated the reminder that a lowly human had put her mouth on his precious prick.

  Warm hands wrapped around my neck and squeezed. My first thought was to wonder how someone so cold and so cruel could feel so warm, his body heating mine with the kind of fire I wanted to bask in naked.

  My second thought was much more rational. He’s going to kill me.

  Liri’s squeeze tightened in confirmation. He held me by the throat, his jaw clenched, and his eyes bright with anger.