“Lilith,” he uttered thickly with sadness, as if she was a mere child instead of a full-grown woman. “Every year you look more like her.”
Her mother. Liliana of the Shadow Court, who the Horde had slain for fun when her father had refused the tithe they’d demanded. Only where her mother’s eyes had been as dark as the shadows, Lilith’s were ice blue, a gift from her father’s bloodline and the mark of the true heir to his court.
“I wouldn’t know what she looked like, now would I?” she asked, her seething tone mocking him for his weakness to protect her mother against the Horde. Her father had taken down everything of her mother’s, including the pictures that had once filled this palace. He allowed no memory of her to remain, not even her daughter.
“You have only to look into the mirror to find her,” he admonished, hurt filling his words as he watched her slow approach. “I’ve called you here to inform you of your betrothal,” he said after a moment.
“I have no plan to marry anyone,” she countered icily, her heart thundering as his words registered in her mind.
“The tithe is due, Lilith. As it is, the Horde has been merciful enough to allow a marriage in its place, since once again, we cannot afford to pay it. I don’t need to remind you what happens when you fail to pay the tithe to them, do I? You will marry a prince. A brother to the king, and become the first Night Court princess to raise our standards, to rise above being a lesser Fae, and birth a high born child into our court. It isn’t a choice. You will do this.”
“No, I will not,” she hissed, her eyes burning with liquid blue flames. “They took from us, and now they demand we give more?” she scoffed. “And you, you bow to no one. You’re the King of the Night Court, we don’t need to raise our place in the courts, they all fear us, and they fear me. We have always ruled through that fear, and so we shall continue.”
“They’re offering the other courts a similar bargain, and when they accept it, they will also rise in power. You’re the last remaining heir to the Court of Shadows, and my heir to the Night Court, Lilith. You will do this!”
“Marry him off to one of the others who will bow at his feet and worship him, not me. They murdered my mother! You cannot ask me to do this!”
“You will do this because I am the king and your father. You will do this, or you will be removed to allow the heir brands to pass to my next child. I cannot allow what happened before to happen again.”
“The only way to do that is to kill me,” she chuckled and then paused as she took in the warriors who waited for her next move, hands ready on their weapons as they watched her. “Which you’d do because power means everything to you, doesn’t it?”
“I will not cower before the other courts, Lilith. I have not been kind to them, as I have held both titles until a time you came to power, and still, I held your title so that you could hide away to mourn a mother you never knew. The Horde took from everyone, everyone! They took my mate, the love of my life from this very room, and slaughtered her before my eyes. I have known pain at their hands, and yet even I can forgive. The new king’s rule is blessed by the Goddess herself. You carry the blood of Artemis in your veins, and the blood of the darkest courts. You will do this for this court, and after you’ve secured a child, you can decide your own fate, daughter. Life is made by those who know when to bow, and when to strike. Now is the time to bow. The lands are dying and we with them. They wage war against those who trespass against this world, and I gave my word that I would do what was needed to help them. You don’t have to like this, but you will do this or else so help me, girl. After a time, you will be free to leave him and the child. If you choose to retire to your mother’s ruined castle, I will honor your wishes.”
“And who am I to marry?” she growled.
“Whoever the Horde King sends to take your hand. You will be a good wife to him, one year and one day; that is how long you will endure his touch!”
“You cannot mean it, not after everything they have done to us!”
“You have to pick your battles, daughter. This isn’t one I care to wage and neither can you. It’s not about what we have already lost which cannot be changed, it’s about surviving. With the Horde tied to our line, no other caste would dare trespass against us. I’m tired of fighting with you, with the others who seek to take what our family has created here. For once in your life, do as I have asked of you. Once you have secured a child, you can do whatever you desire. They have given me their word on it.”
“Why would they do this now when the war is at their front gates?” she asked, her heart pounding so hard against her chest that it ached. The thunderous beat of it deafened his words as she swallowed the bile that threatened to escape through her lips.
“Because the tithe is due and we cannot pay it. This was their offer; your hand and all debt this court and your mother’s owe, are erased.” His words echoed in her ears, the reminder of the last tithe stung, piercing her chest as she watched him age before her eyes.
“My mother’s entire court was wiped out by them, or did you forget to remind them of that small detail?”
“Not all of them, daughter,” he informed gently as he pushed his blue-white hair away from his bronzed flesh. “You have the bloodline of both of our courts, and the combined heir markings upon your flesh. You are the Queen of the Shadows and the Princess of the Night Court. As the Shadow Court was cleansed, you were protected by the Elite Guards, even if you didn’t know it. The new king was younger then, and he spared you what his father intended. You would have been added to his harem, used to secure his hold on this court as he had done to the others. This tithe is different, the world is different, Lilith. Don’t fight me on this one, I beg of you.”
“It isn’t that easy with them,” she muttered as her palms sweat and her stomach churned. She was Lilith, born of two royal courts and heir to two thrones. She didn’t want to bow willingly to any Horde heathen as long as air filled her lungs.
They didn’t deserve the right to her mother’s lands, not after they’d beaten her and slaughtered an entire court of people for not paying the tithe. Her father had borrowed and taken from the Shadow Court, leaving them open to attack unknowingly, and her mother had paid for it in blood. And now he expected her to marry some High Fae prince of the Horde? This was straight bullshit.
“They come soon. You are to be here when the moon reaches its zenith in four days. Do you understand? Because even if I have to bind your hands and pluck your tongue from your mouth, you will agree to give the king’s brother one year and one day of your life. You’re immortal; one year with him is nothing to you.”
“Yes, father.”
“Lilith, do not do anything to upset them. We cannot continue living as we have been. Not with Winter waging war against us as Summer and Autumn reach for more land.”
“We are the court they fear, yet you bow so easily, old man. I am the Queen of Shadows, the only remaining member of the Shadow Court, and I will cower before no man, ever.”
“You’d let them destroy this court? Because I assure you, daughter, that is what the price would be if you upset them. They may not wish to do it, but they would because the Horde would demand it of them. So take tonight, and enjoy your freedom while you can. Don’t make me force my hand against you.”
“And what about what I want?” she asked, her hands shaking as anger took hold of her. “What about what they’ve done to my court?”
“There is no Court of Shadows, but it wasn’t only the Horde who destroyed it, Lilith. It was involved in other things, things they shouldn’t have been.”
“It was the Horde who murdered my court, and his children,” she pointed out as she pretended to examine her nails.
“And had they not tried to take down the Horde, he wouldn’t have been in the Shadow Court. I understand your anger, trust me. I do. Your mother was the love of my life, my mate. What she did saved us all, and I have never forgiven myself for what happened,” he said with a deflating sig
h as he stared into the eyes that were so akin to his own.
“If I marry him and secure a child, what then? I’m free?”
“You will be free to remain in that pile of ruins you love so much until my death, at which time you will rule both courts. You have my word on it, Lilith. I may have daughters to spare, but your mother only left me one. You know what you mean to me.”
“So much that you are tossing me to the wolves?” she snorted as she crossed her arms and stared up at him.
“I am doing what I have to in order to protect you and this court from history repeating itself. I fear losing you isn’t something I wish to endure, daughter. Four days, and then you are to return here to accept the man you will marry.”
“Monster, not man,” she snapped.
Chapter 2
Asrian stared at Ryder and Synthia, his jaw ticking as they discussed who would be heading off to each corner of the Fae Realm. He’d sworn to do his duty, to collect a wife who they’d chosen, sire an heir upon the wench, and get the fuck out of that realm and back to his own. He’d given that oath long ago, in another lifetime.
Yet here he was, facing his king and queen with his oath being called into play. The entire human world was on the verge of chaos, mortals were losing the war for survival. Faery was waging war against Changelings, and he was being sent off to collect some spoiled brat who he’d wed and bed. Fucking brilliant.
“She’s the queen of the Shadow Fae and Night Court’s chosen heir. It’s a good match,” Ryder said, even though he didn’t believe the shit he was spewing as the others absently listened, knowing their time would come soon enough.
“She’s a spoiled little bitch who wants to be pampered, don’t word-fuck me. You and I both know she isn’t what I want or need.”
“One year, one year to secure an heir and if you have not succeeded, the deal is off. You gave me an oath, Asrian. I don’t want this for you, but they need to know we are willing to stand with them or they won’t join the fight. We need them at our side, not clawing at us as we prepare for war. Especially with Danu gone,” Ryder grumbled as he rubbed his temples in exhaustion.
It wasn’t that Asrian didn’t think he could collect the little female, or do the deed; it was that he didn’t want to deal with a woman who would demand things, or want things from him which he couldn’t give. He hadn’t expected this oath to come this quickly, and he almost wanted to fork out the gold, harvest, and secure the other items for them to pay the fucking tithe. But that was against the laws of the Fae; no other caste could help another to pay the tithe owed to the Horde. Fucking politics.
“When do we leave?” he asked hesitantly as his brethren watched him. Outside, embers burned, igniting as the world turned to ashes, mirroring his emotions.
“Now; her father is collecting her from the Shadow Court, or what is left of it. She should be at the Night Court already. Asrian, you should know that there is tension you will be faced with; our father made a point of punishing the Night Court as a warning. He also murdered her entire court when they failed to pay the tithe, but also for their part in a plan to remove him from power.”
“So my bride is the queen of nothing? And she probably hates me and our kind, great,” he chuckled. “It just got interesting.”
“You will travel with Sinjinn, Cailean, and Tor. I expect you to be on your best behavior and return home with your darling wife already swelling with your child in her womb. The sooner you breed with her, the sooner you can rid yourself of her. If by chance you decide to keep her…make it a mutual thing, understand?” Golden eyes watched him, never faltering as he made sure his every word was heard, and the underlying meaning understood.
“I won’t want to keep her. I got a lot of willing women; one spoiled little Queen of Nightmares isn’t enough to tame me.”
“You’re so fucked,” Cailean chuckled from behind him, his thickly coiled brands pulsing as he watched through turquoise eyes with thicker black outlining them. “If you don’t want her…” he let the offer hang in the air.
“You’re betrothed to the Winter Court’s princess, fuck-face. Your time will come, and we will see who got off easier. And it’s the Queen of Shadows, not Nightmares, that’s another court and another bad fucking idea waiting to happen,” Torin scoffed as his hazel and brown eyes filled with laughter.
“And you’re stuck with Summer, who adores you so much already,” Asrian said drolly. “Shadows, Nightmares, same fucking thing. All trouble, all more shit than any of us want to deal with. All about to fuck our world up and ruin the good thing we had going.”
“You assholes know I wouldn’t do this if there were another way,” Ryder injected, his eyes filled with hard steel and resolve. “No one can pay the tithe with Faery failing, and to not collect the debt makes the Horde look weak. Not to mention we are facing a war that may last longer than any of us care to admit. Tithes must be collected, and the courts our father wronged must be righted. Having a bride doesn’t end what we have; it just means some of you unlucky fucks are going to be fathers, while some of you may not be. Maybe then you too can be fucking sleep-deprived and worried as fuck every waking minute of the day. In the words of a wise lady, buckle up buttercups, because it’s a bumpy ride.”
“That’s not what I said, Fairy.” Synthia glared at him before returning to her gaze to the small child who played on the floor.
“And hopefully you assholes find mates who rut less than this dragon does,” Ciara groaned as she rubbed her swollen belly. Fury played on the floor, his tiny hands stretching for his mother as she slid a rattle closer to where he sat. “But if not, be kind to the lass. This shit sucks.”
“You love being pregnant,” Blane chuckled as his gaze warmed at the sight of his wife. “I hope you guys have an easier time collecting your brides than this one gave me.”
“I wasn’t willing, asshat, remember?”
“Asshat?” Blane hissed with heat burning in his eyes.
“Asshat,” Fury crooned, clapping his hands as Ciara growled.
“Watch your tongue, dragon, or I’ll cut it out of your mouth.”
“You like my tongue, that’s why you keep ending up pregnant.”
“Bumper sticker, dragon,” Synthia interrupted with a shooing motion of her hands before she knelt down to pick Fury up, returning to her chair with him. “Go read it again, and shoo, both of you. Fury only speaks a few words and most of them are cuss words.”
“Asrian taught him the last one, and he says Happy Meal now, who taught him that shit?” Ciara asked with a pointed look.
“Ryder did, and he’s king, so he can do as he wants,” Synthia smothered a laugh against Fury’s dark head as he pulled on her war braids.
“Are you assholes ready?” Sinjinn asked as he fixed the bag of weapons he wore and eyed his brothers. “I still think this isn’t the fucking time to be sending the guard off in separate directions, for the record.”
“Noted,” Zahruk said as he stepped from beside Ryder and handed the brothers scrolls that decreed their bloodline, along with which caste and their place in line for the throne. Alazander had hundreds of children; most of them had been born male, besides Ciara, who they knew of. But they hadn’t even begun to search for those who held the Horde’s bloodline, and now wasn’t the time to start looking. It also wasn’t like their father had been kind, and most would be the result of his brutality.
“Let’s go aviking!” Tor announced.
“It’s not the same.” Asrian shoved his brother forward before nodding to the king and queen as they headed outside to the portal.
“It’s the same.”
“It is not the same. There’s no pillaging and burning shit down, which makes it a lot less cool than what the Vikings did.”
“Can we burn shit down?” Sinjinn asked, and an exasperated sigh came from Ryder.
“You realize they will probably burn half of Faery down pretending to be Vikings now, right?” Synthia laughed as she cradled the toddler.
“Gods save us,” Ryder laughed as he shook his head and touched Fury’s chubby cheek with his index finger.
“Not even the Gods would touch that one, husband.”
Chapter 3
Lilith exploded into the Court of Shadows as chaos and anger filled her veins. How could her father be so cruel? Hadn’t they paid enough with the blood of her court to those heathens? So what if the new king had protected her father’s court from the same fate? It shouldn’t have ever happened. Now she would marry some Horde bastard and stay with him for an entire year?
The ruins shivered as her anger exploded around her. This wasn’t happening. Not now, not after everything she’d done to secure a match who would be worthy of rebuilding this court back up to its former glory with. Didn’t that mean something to her father? This court had been slaughtered, left in nothing but a pile of ruins and her entire life had been spent rebuilding what the monstrous Horde had done. And now Cade had backed out on her. It was infuriating.
“You’re angry,” Lara murmured as she stepped from the shadows.
“I’m pissed!” Lilith responded with angry tears filling her eyes. “That bastard!”
“Your father?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yes! He’s gone too far this time. He’s insane to think he can force this on me.”
“He’s found a husband?” she guessed, her gentle midnight blue eyes smiling with mischief as she watched her sister.
“Yes!”
“You knew it would come eventually. So, to which caste has he thrown you?”
“To the Horde!” Lilith spat coldly as she watched her sister’s complexion pale, losing all color in her face as it sank in.
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