Malicious King: A Paranormal Royal Romance (Territorial Mates Book 6)

by Mary E. Twomey

I don’t know what we’re going to find when we reach the stable. Every step I take increases the anxiety in my belly. What if no one’s donated a single item? What if our only option is to take the ivorum palace apart brick by brick and grind down the throne and all it stands for? Tha would show tha Alexavier and Lilya aren’t leading their people at all, but merely standing in a place of importance tha has no true influence.

  I want to throw up; my nerves are so peaked. I want to get home. I miss the sight of Heidi, the sound of her giggles. I miss Ronin. I need to be in his arms, and hold him in mine.

  The grunts of the fae soldiers behind me as they tug the grinders on flatbeds hits my ears to the tune of men who haven’t had to work all tha hard in their lives.

  I know I shouldn’t judge them; it’s difficult to expect soldiers to be on their guard in a time of peace where they’ve grown up in privilege. Still, the sluggish pace of their progress grates on my nerves.

  Please let there be ivorum in this stable.

  It’s not just the need to save the Drexdenberg territory tha’s on the line; it’s the entire concept of unity. This will be the test to see if the fae truly do care about life and death outside of their own, or if they are content to let an entire territory fade away when they could have helped.

  Was King Fairbucks right? Have we been leading the people nowhere, shouting a mission no one’s bought into?

  Again, the sickness curdles my stomach.

  I don’t want to look inside the stable. I can’t handle the disappointment. I don’t know if I’ll rage and set Lalita loose to do what damage she pleases, or if I’ll cry out my heartbreak and never stop.

  “Ye, there. Go on up and open the stable while we set up outside.”

  Aye, there’s no bravery left in me. I’m on too many pins and needles to open the stable doors for myself.

  The fae soldier has far less at stake, so he trots forward without the heaviness in his step tha’s weighting mine.

  When he flings open the doors, my eyes close on instinct. The gasps from the soldiers soak into my skin, becoming part of me—whatever they mean. Are they astonished tha no one gave a thing? Are they overwhelmed with the generosity of the fae people, coming to the aid of the vampires in their time of need?

  When I open my eyes, my heart sinks far lower than I thought possible. I thought I would be angry, but it’s devastation tha crashes over me.

  All this risk I took upon my family, doing what I can to promote unity while putting myself at risk—it was for nothing.

  “Four chairs? Four ivorum chairs in this entire stable? Tha’s all the fae are capable of?”

  I’m not supposed to let my wounds show. I know Salem would never despair in public like this, but I’m powerless to stand for this cause of peace another second. I collapse to my knees, holding my face to remind the tears they are not welcome here, in this land of utter selfishness.

  Too much devastation weights my shoulders.

  Lalita’s tail swishes once before it curls around her body, so she has something to hold when the world has so clearly forsaken us.

  I hear Alexavier calling my name some distance behind us, but I don’t care to answer. I’m not sure I care about anything. Or perhaps it’s tha I care too much, and the burden of compassion has crushed me.

  “Addy-girl,” Alexavier says sweetly as he gets down on his knees beside me, his arm around my shoulders. “It’s alright.”

  “Four chairs. Tha’s all the ivorum the fae could donate to spare the lives of an entire territory? Tha’s all the vampires are worth to them? What have we been working toward?”

  Instead of offering me useless words of cheer, the prince of Faveda ignores the grass stains tha are no doubt polluting his white slacks as he tugs me into his embrace.

  I don’t know him well enough to indulge in comfort, but I take what I can get all the same. “Addy-girl, it’s okay.”

  “I am not a vampire,” I say, though tha much is obvious. “I was not born in Drexenberg, but their troubles are mine. If I do not feel the sting of the sword meant for my ally, then what good is my friendship? What good is my compassion if it doesn’t move me to action?”

  He goes so far as to kiss the top of my head, holding me tight while I fall apart.

  “I gave up everything! I left my home and took my sister and my babe to Drexdenberg because I believed in the message. I trusted tha unity was on the horizon, and I was willing to put myself out there for it. But this?” I shake my head in to his chest while my tears finally fall, wetting his white shirt. “This is too much. Not enough. They’d rather see the territory die than give up their treasures? I can’t…”

  “Addy, look.” Alexavier’s urging draws out a disrespectful scoff I know I shouldn’t give voice to, but I’m just exhausted enough to let one loose.

  Still, the prince doesn’t release me, even though I’m acerbic and prickly. He and Lilya just might be the only two fae worth a damn, and I’m scoffing at his sweetness.

  “Adeline, open your eyes.”

  I grant him this, only because I want him to leave me alone once I see his world and the pittance it’s offered.

  But when I look up, the stable beside the one I was directed to has been opened, and inside is a sight so blinding, I have to blink to make sense of the illumination.

  Ivorum stacked as high as the ceiling gleams out into the morning light, beaming more hope than my heart can handle without adding more tears to Alexavier’s shirt.

  “Two of my stables were filled to the brim. We’re working on filling the third one still. Did you honestly think four chairs were all we could scrounge up?”

  An uncouth blubbering sound spills out of me as whatever decorum I’d been holding onto pours out. “I thought… There were only four chairs, so I… Alexavier, it’s… Two whole stables?”

  “We’ll fill the third one, rose petal.”

  The nickname draws out a laugh tha probably makes me sound off my nutter, but I don’t care.

  There’s hope in the world. Hope tha leads to healing.

  Alexavier pulls me to my feet and wipes the tears from my cheeks. “No one is alone in this world, Adeline. Not the vampires, and not you.”

  We step forward and watch as the soldiers begin to grind down the fine furnishings, jewelry and trinkets, taking their treasures and turning them into a future worth saving.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Race with the Cure

  Adeline

  The three days’ carriage ride from Faveda to Drexdenberg is more than I’m willing to wait. Lilya and I take as much of the ivorum powder in sacks as we can manage, strapping them to our backs and onto our horses’ saddles as we ride atop our two trusty steeds with new fervor across Faveda.

  I haven’t slept in days, and I’m hitting the point of insanity as we surge through Neutral Territory in what I’m sure looks like a villainous escape. The rest of the ivorum powder is still being ground, and will be transported both by fae soldiers on horseback and in carriages. The riders are lined up and ready, travelling by twos to Drexdenberg with the only cure.

  I don’t want to focus on the niggling thought tha we are bringing a cure for the thing tha’s killing the vampires, but it’ll all mean nothing, because the blood supply is still too tainted for them to drink. We can cure this, but a famine’s still broken out, and there’s still no cure for tha.

  The ivorum powder cleanses a person’s stomach, not their tainted blood.

  I cannot think on tha right now. All I can do is ride as fast as Ronin’s horse will take me, and hope tha the fae can purge the impurities from their systems so we can replenish the blood supply.

  I don’t know how to fix tha. I don’t know how to do anything but ride.

  Ronin’s sleek horse no doubt hates me, and Lilya is probably cursing my name as I ignore the growl in my stomach and the madness tha comes with too little sleep.

  We cross through Neutral Territory without stopping more than once to water the horses and shove fru
it into our mouths as fast as we can. There’s little talk between us, because we both know too much is at stake for comforting words to do anything more than waste time.

  Destino could be dying. Ronin could be…

  Ronin won’t take ill. He’s too stubborn for it. He would never tolerate being sick, much less succumbing to something as terrible as this.

  Lalita doesn’t believe me.

  Ronin is fine. He’s fine. He’s fine.

  I chant it over and over in time with my horse’s gallop. If this horse ever looks me in the eye again after we reach the castle, it will be to glare at me, no doubt. I’m riding him too hard, too fast, but still nowhere near fast enough.

  Ronin’s fine. He’s fine. He’s fine.

  I need to sleep. I need to see Heidi.

  Ronin’s fine. He’s fine. He’s fine.

  The sun is shining like a false halo of hope around the castle. How many have died? How many will soon be dead? Is Ronin…

  Ronin’s fine. He’s fine. He’s fine.

  We don’t stop at the stables, but ride right to the castle’s entrance. The soldiers part for us with grave faces tha confirm a fear I refuse to give voice to.

  “Ronin!” I scream, the sound of his name scraping against the walls of my throat. “Ronin!” I stumble with the bags of ivorum powder, running up the stairs to the bed I share with the man I love.

  When Salem comes out of his room and meets me in the hall, his face says too much. “Ye don’t want to see. Go on. I’m taking care of it.”

  “No! No!” I can’t stop the insanity tha claws at my insides. “Ronin’s not dead! I don’t believe ye! Ronin!”

  I shove at the prince of my homeland, not caring for decorum or respect. Those things have brought nothing to my table, and they’ll not stop me now.

  Salem catches me around the waist and traps my arms to my sides with embarrassing ease. “Settle, wee kitten. Ronin took ill with the plague. We laid him out in here. Take a breath before ye go in there, if ye must. It’s hard to see.”

  “Ronin!” I’m beyond reason, beyond being able to hear anything other than tha he’s well and grand. “I brought him a cure! Ye don’t understand. He can’t be dead! Not when I’ve traveled this far. Not after all we’ve done to bring it back to him. Ronin, no!”

  Salem jerks me, trapping my back to his chest. “Ronin’s not dead, lass. But he’s in a lot of pain. I’ve had a job of keeping your wee babe out of there.”

  “I can fix it. I brought home a cure.”

  The second Salem releases me, I’m bolting to the bedroom, swinging open the door and setting the sack on the floor. I don’t bother with measurements or anything scientific. I grab the glass of water by his bedside and scatter a fistful of the powder into the liquid, swirling it before I dare go near his bed.

  “Ronin!”

  The heat’s practically radiating off his body. His face is flushed and covered in sweat. The coin-sized red marks all over his skin scare me more than anything else, because it’s a new development since I last saw him.

  No matter. He will be fine. So help me, I will climb to the clouds and rattle down the rain myself if it’ll wash away all tha troubles my mate.

  Ronin doesn’t recognize the sound of my voice. In fact, when I slide my arm under his shoulders to lift him halfway, he doesn’t rouse more than a flutter of his lashes, followed by a few coughs.

  Ronin’s not dead, but he’s on the cusp. His heart-shaped lips are cracked, yet still so heartbreakingly beautiful. His skin isn’t its usual velvet, but feels papery and somehow oily. He’s unshaven, which I know he would never stand for.

  I tip the cup to his lips and angle his chin toward the ceiling, so gravity helps us out. His throat constricts reflexively, and he chokes on the liquid.

  More flows down the hatch. I’m determined he’ll drink the entire thing. I’m tired to the point of madness, but I know for certain I cannot let go of this man until he’s whole again.

  I’m not even aware of Salem in the room until his voice spooks me from behind. “What is it?”

  “Ivorum powder. Once we found out the vampires were suffering from a life-threatening gut infection, we were able to narrow down the remedies. Lilya read in the Drexdenberg history books tha the healers used to grind up ivorum powder to cure stuff like tha, so here we are.”

  “Really? Jays, I have so many questions. But I’ll save those for later. How much do I put in a glass of water?”

  “Dunno. I used a fistful for Ronin. Why isn’t it working?”

  “Patience, lass. Healing takes time.”

  “What if he doesn’t have more time?”

  Lalita sobs in my chest.

  The silence tha falls in the room scares the tears out of me. Salem takes the sack into the hallway, probably to cure the rest of the household.

  I know it’s selfish, but right now, I don’t care about any vampire tha isn’t Ronin. My mate is suffering, so my own stomach feels the phantom rips and leaks.

  Salem’s voice spooks me again, and I wonder how long it is I’ve been staring at Ronin, willing his sores to evaporate, as if tha’s a thing rational people should hope for this soon.

  “He’s breathing more steadily,” Salem comments.

  “He is?” I’m so deranged with fear tha I’m missing the little things tha are actually big things. “Ronin?”

  “Lie him down, lass. Let the powder work its way into his system. It might take more time than you’re hoping. Might want to get comfortable.”

  I shake my head. “I can’t. I won’t leave him.”

  “Ye stink like a horse’s backside. Take a bath. I’ll watch him for ye.”

  It’s the only thing tha forces my head to turn. “But ye don’t like Ronin.”

  Salem snorts a humorless laugh. “Aye, but I know what it is to be mated. If Lily was sick, I wouldn’t trust anyone to watch her, except for ye.” His eyes narrow. “I’m still working my way up to forgiving ye for making off with my mate in the first place. But once I knew she was with ye, I was able to breathe through it.”

  It’s an effort, but eventually, my arms pry themselves from Ronin. “Promise ye won’t leave?”

  “On my honor. Go rinse off. I’ll have food sent up. Ye can sleep right beside him so your animal can rest.” He extends his fist for me to bump it, but I can’t.

  I don’t want to touch Salem because first off, I’m filthy, and secondly, I’m fairly certain my tears will never end if anyone comes near me with tha much understanding in their eyes.

  “Cheers, Salem. I’ll be fast.”

  “Take your time. Des has the cure in him, so I’m not hurrying off anywhere.”

  “Did he take ill, too?”

  Salem sits on the chair, looking too big for the furniture—a problem I’m sure he has everywhere he goes. “Aye. Seems inescapable. He fell sick half a day after Ronin, and Benny after tha. Benny’s still upright, though, so he and Maiseline are administering the cure to the rest of the household. And before ye ask, I made sure Benny took some of the cure, too.”

  I grab whatever clothes are at the top of my drawer, not caring for anything but comfort and quickness.

  “Jays,” I say, my hand on the bathroom door. “I didn’t expect anything could hit Drexdenberg this hard.”

  “None of us did. Go on. You’re stalling. I’m watching him for ye. No place safer.” He leans back in his seat and laces his fingers behind his head, the picture of ease.

  But I know different. He’s always ready to attack if the need arises.

  I’m being silly, not wanting to let Ronin out of my sight.

  It’s more effort than I want to admit to, pushing open the door and turning on the water. Though it should be the longest shower of my life, it morphs into the fastest. Each minute tha ticks by, I’m anxious to return to my mate. Once he’s better, I’m sure it won’t feel like this, but for now, Lalita is insistent the three of us stay together.

  She purrs—actually purrs—when Ronin’s bac
k in my view.

  “His fever broke,” Salem tells me with half a smile. “It’s working.”

  A fresh sob breaks out, filling the room as I stumble to Ronin’s bedside. “Ronin?”

  “Let him sleep, lass. Let his body heal itself. Give it time.”

  When I sway on the spot, Salem stands. “Whoa. Easy, Adeline. Perhaps it’s time ye closed your eyes.”

  “No. Not until he’s well.”

  “He’s on his way to well. Best rest up now, so when he’s back on his feet, ye can stay with him and keep him safe.”

  I’m too turned around to argue further, but tha hardly matters when Salem sweeps me up in his arms like a wee babe and rests me atop the mattress beside Ronin.

  I’m in a soft silk nightgown tha matches the golden sheets. I don’t even care tha Salem can see my cleavage or the length of my bare legs. I don’t care about anything but staying near my mate.

  “Easy,” Salem whispers. “Settle, Lalita. Your mate will be alright.”

  “What’s the body count?” I ask Salem as he tucks me under the comforter like I’m his child.

  Salem turns his chin from left to right. “We’ll worry about tha when Ronin’s back on his feet. Lily said more of the cure is on its way. Best focus on the lives ye saved, rather than the ones tha have been lost.”

  I’m heavy with grief, weighted to the mattress and rooted to Ronin’s side. Maybe it’s not best to crowd him, but I can’t help it. I want every inch of me touching every bit of him. I was away too long.

  Lalita’s still scolding me, huffing and letting me know how very put out she’s been.

  Ronin sighs in his sleep, and the sound of his sheer contentment washes over me. My arm stretches across his chest, and he cuddles his cheek to my lips so I can kiss his oily face.

  Salem steps back, shaking his head with a wry half-smile. “Never thought I’d see the day where I said anything about Ronin is cute, but jays, tha’s cute. Are ye alright now? There’s a tray of food on the stand here, and more water.”

  I hold tighter to Ronin. “We’re alright. Cheers, Salem.”

  He nods once. “Grand. If Ronin wakes up thirsty for blood, let Lalita feed him.”