Page 89 of The Fallen Fae King

The room falls quiet, as if looking forward to the entertainment.

I won’t disappoint them.

I can’t.

It is the hardest thing that I have ever done to coldly remain sitting on the raised dais.

“Congratulations,” I force myself to say, “on capturing our enemy. You’ll be rewarded. Soon, I shall bond with you. Now, leave the prisoner and come and sit with me, my King and Queen.”

Lucius scripted those words and then helped me to memorize them.

They are everything that I have dreamed these long weeks apart from my Omega about achieving.

Yet they taste like ash.

“Oh, fuck off to the Shadow Devils, and if you find them, tell them that I sent you,” Daire snarls. “You are not treating another king like you treated me.”

“He’s no longer a king,” I say, before I can stop myself. “He’s mine to do with whatever I like.”

“But you promised.” Freya pushes herself shakily to her feet. “You swore that⁠—”

“What I promised,” I reply through gritted teeth, “was not to kill him. And I shan’t because I don’t believe that kings should be executed.” I glance significantly at Maximinus. “Plus, death would be too easy for the assassin who murdered my brother.”

I notice out of the corner of my eye the encouraging nods and smiles of the crowd.

“You promised not to hurt him,” Freya insists, stepping in front of Lanlin.

I force myself not to growl.

I wish that I was in my dragon form and could telepathically communicate with her.

What happens next will hurt Lanlin, but it will save our lives and all our kingdoms.

Why doesn’t Freya trust me? Have we been apart for too long?

Maximinus arches his brow. “Are you on our side, wolf? Or have you been seduced over to the enemy? Are you a traitor?”

The word traitor hangs heavy in the air.

Lanlin shoves Daire away from him, and Daire tumbles to the side, taken by surprise.

“She is still under my mesmerism,” Lanlin declares. My gaze sharpens with surprise. “I have seduced her like all Bloods use the power of their allure to trap the innocent. It will wear off, but we were bonded. I have a strong influence over both my Omega and Blood Lover. You shouldn’t take seriously anything they say. I see now that it was nothing but a fake bond to capture me. They were never mine.”

It’s a lie.

When we were young, lying together under the moonlight in Mother’s rose garden as Lanlin stroked one of his rats with his gloved hand, he once admitted to me how much he hated the magic of mesmerism.

“It is Hor’s talent,” he whispered. “He uses Omegas like puppets. I shall never use that skill on anyone. I would rather pluck out my own eyes and eat them.”

I shifted on the grass, grimacing as the fresh welts on my back stuck to my academy uniform. “Aren’t you a prince? Why don’t you have this nasty Hor person killed?”

Lanlin turned his head, until our noses were touching. “Aren’t you a prince? Why don’t you have this nasty Caligo, who whipped you this morning, killed?”

I blushed. “I don’t have that authority.”

“Neither do I, Relius. But one day, I will kill Hor with my own fangs. Perhaps, then you will visit my kingdom, and we can unite our lands of sand and gold. But wishing it simply because we’re princes doesn’t mean that we can stop the bullies, right?”

I squirmed under Lanlin’s intense gaze. “Not yet, Lan. But one day I will.”