“Eventually, your mortal friends and family will come calling, too. They’ll see you as a tool to get what they want. They always do.”
I bristled. “My family is nothing like your family.”
“No?” His voice sounded so hollow, barren of the happiness I’d glimpsed in him only hours ago. His eyes had gone dim, their piercing blue-grey now a dull, lifeless slate. He was fractured, and I was the one holding the hammer. “Your mother never told you lies? Your father never kept secrets?”
I winced at the truth of it.
“And whether you’re willing to see it or not, no one wants to use you more than that pathetic mortal boy.”
“You told me to stay with Henri,” I shot back. “You said ‘we’ll find a way.’ Has your support dried up so quickly?”
“Do not mistake my support as agreement with your choices,” he snapped. “Outside this room, I will stand by any decision you make. I will shed my blood to protect you from any threat, even my own family.” His features warped with disgust. “I’ll give my life to protect him, if that is your command.”
He jabbed a finger toward the door. “Out there, I will do anything you ask of me. Anything. But here, in private, do not expect me to hold my tongue while you give your heart to a man you had to beg to keep from walking away.” His glare sharpened. “A man who only agreed to marry you when you offered him a throne.”
“You were eavesdropping on us,” I gasped, my eyes going wide. “You had no right—”
“I don’t care,” he thundered back. “It’s my job to know the true motives of the people closest to you. I will keep you safe, and I will not apologize for it. Not now, not ever.”
He roughly cupped my face in his hands, his fingers clinging to my skin like he might fall to his death if he ever let me go. “Not even if you despise me. Not even if I am nothing to you. Because my calling comes from a higher authority than even you can claim, Your Majesty. As she guarded my heart, I will guard over yours. Even if it kills me.”
The aura of his power flared, its pulsating energy flooding the room and seizing me in its furious, desperate grip. A thousand invisible hands clutched my face, my arms, my legs—and everywhere in between. My own power hummed in harmonious response. It clawed against the inside of my skin, pleading to be set free and match his magic’s mighty wrath.
For the most fleeting of heartbeats, the world came to a stop. There was nothing but him and me and this light that burned between us, this glowing beacon we couldn’t ignore, even if it lured us to our destruction.
Every moment with Luther felt like a tug-of-war against fate. Every look, every touch felt weighted with an ominous heft, like each one held some deeper, unseen consequence that went far beyond the two of us. It was as exhilarating as it was terrifying, and for once, I was sick of fighting it. Sick of fighting him.
I closed my eyes, parted my lips, leaned in, and surrendered.
But his hands fell from my face. His power withdrew, and the warmth of his body vanished. A moment later, the door slammed closed.
And once again, I was alone.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
“One, two, three—ow!”
“Sorry!”
“You’re doing great—four, five, six—”
“Shit.”
“Keep going! One, two, th—”
CRASH.
“Oh gods, I just broke the Princess.”
“I’m fine! It’ll heal—I think.”
Teller bit down hard on his lip to keep from laughing. “Are you two alright?”
“Is it too late to cancel the ball?” I grumbled. I helped Lily brush away the dirt on her dress after my clumsiness sent her tumbling across the dungeon floor.
“You’ve almost got it,” she chirped, her encouraging smile getting a little lost between grimaces of pain. “Let’s try it again.”
I frowned. “Maybe I should practice with Teller. I can injure him all I want without a diplomatic crisis.”
“Thanks,” he deadpanned. “But I don’t know how to dance, either.”
I sighed and placed my hand in Lily’s, setting the other on her shoulder as hers came to rest on my hip. She flashed me her usual bright smile, and for a blink I saw a glimmer of her brother in it—that sliver of joy he’d allowed me to see before our fight last night had cast him back into the shadows. My heart gave a painful lurch.
Lily counted off, and I followed her lead as we spun around the dungeon. We made an unusual sight, Lily playing the man’s role to perfection in her fine plum-hued gown while I tripped awkwardly through the woman’s steps wearing a tunic and breeches in preparation for my first training session.
“Keep reading your notes,” I told Teller as I stepped on Lily’s feet for the hundredth time. “I need the distraction.”
Teller rifled through his stacks of papers. Their classes had been canceled for the funeral and the ball, and despite my urging to stay away, Teller had talked Lily into sneaking him in this morning to pass along the information he’d gathered.
“As I was saying—among the Twenty Houses, five hold the most power. Houses Corbois, Benette, Hanoverre, Teniers, and Amraut. If those five are in agreement, the other Houses always fall in line.”
“Have any of them been friendly toward the mortals?”
“Yes, actually—House Corbois.”
I yelped, nearly colliding with a stone pillar. “Really?”
Lily nodded proudly and chimed in. “After the Blood War, several of the Houses wanted to ban mortals, but House Corbois wanted to declare amnesty and move forward. They compromised on the laws that are in place now.”
“Which House hates mortals the most?” I asked.
“Easy—House Hanoverre.” There was an acrid snap to his voice that suggested he had personal experience with their prejudice, further confirmed by the sympathetic look Lily threw his way.
“No wonder Iléana hated me at first sight,” I muttered.
A hint of devilishness corrupted Lily’s smile. “Luther said you put Iléana in her place at dinner.”
“Oh?” I tried to look indifferent, though my feeble attempts to stay upright stole my focus. “He told you about it already?”
“He came to my room last night to hide from her. She was chasing him all over the palace, as usual.”
So Luther hadn’t left the dinner with her after all.
I stared guiltily at my feet. “Did he say anything else?”
“He said he’s never seen anyone handle themselves so well with our family before. He said you were born to be Queen.”
My knees gave out on me, my feet tangling in Lily’s skirts as I crashed to the ground. My head cracked against the hard stone, and a bolt of pain splintered down my back.
Lily gasped and kneeled at my side. “Are you hurt?”
I stared up at the ceiling and groaned. “I’ve been wasting time worrying about the Challenging. It’s the ballroom dancing that’s going to kill me.”
Teller popped up and walked over, not bothering to hide his obscene amount of joy at watching me make a fool of myself.
And what respectable older sister would let her baby brother get away with that?