Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
39
THE KING
Fordham caught sight of Kerrigan in the crowd, and his eyes went dark and eager and open and hard, all in the span of a second. Then, he strode away from Netta and the mysterious female he had brought with him.
He extended a hand to her. “My lady.”
Kerrigan’s cheeks flushed with delight as she put her hand in his. “You made it.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
“That is my fiancée!” March bellowed.
Fordham turned his steely gaze to March and arched an eyebrow. “I believe it is the lady’s choice.”
March was turning purple at the declaration. The entire Society was watching, and not one of them could fault her for declaring herself to a king over a lord. Even if that lord would one day be king of Bryonica. It would be absurd to put her hand to that sort of man when another was offering his hand to her right here, who outranked him by a long shot.
Not a person would fault her. And since it was so utterly public, March couldn’t do any of his deceptive means to get her to comply.
To make matters worse for him, if she had ended their engagement for no apparent reason, he could have sued for recompense or gone to war over the breach of contract, and there was little the Society could do about an intra-tribe affair. But if March went to war over Kerrigan choosing the king of the House of Shadows, that was an inter-tribe matter. The Society would put the full force behind their own members to end that sort of problem.
She watched all of that flash in March’s eyes in a matter of seconds. The realization that he couldn’t win this. Not in such a public setting.
“Kerrigan,” Fordham said, “would you do me the honor of this dance?”
“Yes,” she nearly gasped. “Yes, I choose you.”
His smile was magnetic as he drew her in closer. His voice dipped low, just for her ears. “I told you that I’d court you properly once the curse was broken. How am I doing?”
“Oh, I would say you’re doing quite well.”
“Do you concede your rights to this engagement?” Fordham asked March formally. He offered him his hand. “As a gentleman.”
March ground his teeth together, but everyone was looking. He could stamp his feet all he wanted. And he looked half-ready to murder Fordham where he stood. That would be hilarious to witness. March stood no chance, and they all knew it. A duel of any kind for Kerrigan’s honor would end very poorly for him. He had no choice but to extend his hand.
“I wish you both the very best,” March said and shook once fiercely before pushing his way through the party and away.
Kerrigan grinned. She wanted to twirl and shout her excitement at the conclusion to that whole affair. The contracts would be invalidated in the morning. She was free.
“Shall we?” Fordham asked with a glint of humor in his swirling eyes.
She put her hand in his, and he drew her away from the onlookers, inside the gardens, and onto the dance floor. Music strummed to life as others joined them. Then, Fordham pulled her close into her arms, and the waltz drew them into its embrace.
“You couldn’t have had better timing,” she told him.
“I do like to make an entrance.”
“So … king?”
He winked at her. “It turns out that my people much preferred an Ollivier to an imposter queen.”
“I thought they might.”
Her eyes flickered to the space Netta had been a minute earlier. She had flown off, presumably to join the others at the Holy Mountain, and left the Fae woman behind. She was dressed formally in a black silk dress. Her hands behind her back, like a bodyguard, and yet her eyes were wide with shock at the spectacle.
“And the female?”
“Delle,” he said. “My first order of business was to fire my father’s chief attendant, Langdon. I shocked the court by making a female, Adelaide, my chief attendant for the House of Shadows. Delle is Adelaide’s daughter. A fine warrior and my attendant at Draco Mountain.”
“She’s very pretty,” Kerrigan offered.
“Adelaide and Delle were made aware of my intentions to court you,” Fordham said. “She has a husband back in the House of Shadows, to whom she is devoted. He’ll be joining us as soon as I work out the logistics with the Society.”
“You mean, how no one else is supposed to be out of the House of Shadows until next year.”
His smile was feral. “Yes, I have already broken that rule. An absurd one. We both know who started the Battle of Lethbridge. Punishing everyone for their mistakes is nonsensical.”
Kerrigan pressed her cheek to his chest in relief. “That’s the princeling I knew was in there all along.”
“Princeling,” he scoffed. “You will have to get a new nickname.”
“Kingling just doesn’t have the right ring to it,” she teased.