Nectar of the Wicked (Deadly Divine, #1) (52)

The steward blinked and arched a brow. “Oh?”

I narrowed my eyes. “And I’ll have you know that I find your unfair judgment almost as disgusting as your king.”

I left him gaping after me and entered the dining room.

The guard stood by the doors in silence while I ate with my fingers, my teeth ripping into a strip of pork. “Olin detests most things with a heartbeat, Princess, and I must advise against slandering the king.”

Shocked she’d spoken to me, I looked from the crackling fire to her light-brown eyes. “Are you to follow me everywhere I go?”

The guard gave me a bland look. “Yes.”

I dropped the pork to my plate. “What is your name?”

“Zayla.”

“Pretty,” I said absently. Then I knocked the plate of food toward her and rose to collect Snow’s breakfast from the hutch. “You’d better eat, then.”

“I’ve already eaten.”

Of course, she had.

Zayla followed me outside into the gray morning. The wind tangled my untouched hair and whipped it over my cheeks. “Where are you going, Princess?”

“To feed my wolf.”

“A blizzard nears.”

I cared nothing for blizzards when I’d been swept into a storm I might never survive. “Then we’d better hurry.”

In nothing but knee-high boots and my robe, I stomped through the ever-growing snow upon the grass to the stables. All the horses were in their stalls, Henron busy catering to their annoyance at being cooped up.

He laughed lightly as I passed. “Didn’t feel like dressing in one of your evening gowns today, Princess?”

That word again—from him. I’d ignored it the first time. There was no ignoring it now.

Most would be delighted to discover they were a long-lost princess, including my stupid past self. Now, I couldn’t think of anything worse.

“Shut your trap, Henron.”

The stable hand whistled. “Never thought I’d live to see the day you were grumpy.”

Zayla muttered something that sounded like, “Lucky me.”

The two of them talked quietly while I tended to Snow and tried to calm down. But not even her soft fur or dark and inquisitive eyes could help settle me. My anger and self-loathing worsened with the weather that lashed at the wooden walls around us.

Snow shivered, and I withdrew my hand from her velvet ear as an idea came.

Once she was done eating, I picked her up and carried her back through the stables.

Henron’s eyes bulged, a piece of hay falling from his mouth. “Where are you taking the wolf?”

“Out of the cold.”

He cursed colorfully at my back, while Zayla raced after me. “I urge you to reconsider, Princess.”

My hair flew in front of my face, making it hard to see. “Would you like to sleep in the stables in this weather?”

“If I were a wolf, yes,” she said, almost pleadingly. “Much better than the woods.”

I ignored her and tucked Snow’s head to my chest when a giant branch fell in our path. Zayla grabbed my arm, but I didn’t want her assistance. I pulled free and stepped around it.

She apologized, then tried to reason with me again. “Please, this isn’t wise. The king will be furious.”

I only smiled and thought, exactly.





I left Snow in my rooms and headed to the kitchen.

My nape prickled with awareness as I hurried past the king’s study. He was in there. Hopefully wondering what I was up to.

I’d keep him wondering for the rest of his days if he insisted on keeping me. I had no doubt he’d already been informed of the cub in my chambers. I hoped his skin itched with irritation.

Zayla followed, but she stood atop the stairs, apparently confident I wouldn’t flee from Florian via the underground rooms.

Approaching the island bench, I eyed the door shielding the set of stairs leading outside. Using it to escape would be impossible, especially with three males nearby and guards patrolling the grounds. I knew my chances of escaping at all were slim, and I was growing more and more certain that I would never see Baneberry.

Knowing didn’t help—that surrender was my only option. I’d been backed into a corner and my hackles were raised.

I might have been a pet, but that didn’t mean I would behave.

Kreed and his sons finally noticed my entrance over their laughter and chatter and the clang of pots and utensils when I cleared my throat.

They all turned at once. One of the twins blinked furiously.

Kreed wiped his hands on a towel and inclined his head in greeting. “Is there something you need?”

“A tunnel to Baneberry,” I quipped before I could help myself.

Kreed’s gaze darkened, his mouth tightening.

I leaned against the island. “You all knew, didn’t you? You knew exactly what he intended for me.”

The gurgling stew on the stove was the only sound.

I bit the inside of my cheek, then said, “I need a bowl of water, please.”

One of the twins asked, “What in the skies for?”

His brother elbowed him.

“To lap at like a good little pet,” I said coldly, shocking them and myself. I licked my teeth and sighed. “For the wolf in my rooms.”