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I hummed quietly. Strangely, I agreed. Lumenfell did suit the dark, brooding figure I was coming to know too well. A man forgotten by the stars, the light, the radiance and wonder of the world. Outside was mesmerizing beauty, but inside... was darkness.
“As for my true title,” Bradach continued. “Why, the list is endless. I am Bradach Arasu, my lord’s right hand, his most trusted advisor, his sage counsel, his closest companion, his truest comrade.”
I stilled, alighting on one word:companion.
“Oh,” I breathed. “I see.”
Aeris heaved a sigh. “Bradach, how you overreach.” She had moved on to washing Emiana’s hair. Long, glistening red strands sluiced off the chaise, and hardened my heart. I dropped my hands and legs, sitting up bold and straight. Why was I being protective of a body that wasn’t mine?
“There is no overreach.” I stretched out my legs and Bradach immediately slid away. Was he avoiding my touch? Did faeriken dislike their normal fae counterparts as much as we disliked them? “My lord trusts me. He confides in me. I am his friend.”
“Preposterous,” Foalan spat, drawing my eyes, then blowing them wide. I’d never seen such fury on someone’s face, but then, no one I knew had fangs. “I would never presume to claim such titles, but if my lord were to bestow them on anyone, it would be me.”
“Do you think so?” Bradach’s grin was smug. “Then tell me why my lord asked me personally to stay behind and protect Lumenfell while he traversed the summerlands to acquire his bride?”
“He asked me, you fool,” Foalan replied through gritted teeth. “You were merely in the room.”
“You are recalling that incorrectly,” Bradach breezed. “One too many hits to the head with a sword hilt will do that to an old man.”
Foalan’s lips peeled back from his teeth. “A mere two weeks ago my lord threw his favorite coat in my direction, entrusting it to me.”
“Ah, but the day before he tore off my coat to wipe his bloody sword,” Bradach shot back, “entrusting mewith the care and cleanliness of his weapons.”
My gaze bounced between them, brows high in disbelief. Was this real? Were they truly fighting over the cold and withheld affections of that cruel man?
“Last moon an intruder broke into the castle, and my lord had me flogged only a hundred times, instead of the thousand I deserved,” Foalan said, smiling his triumph.
Bradach smiled wider still. “When my lord arrived this eve, he told me to have a meal prepared and sent to his study because he was... hungry.”
Two attendants gasped.
Aeris halted sudsing my hair. “What? He said this to you? Truly?”
I pulled a face at the lot of them. “Is this a jest? Surely it doesn’t matter that—”
“No,” Foalan sliced in. His expression was terrible. “The jest is that I believed myself higher in my lord’s esteem. Bradach has bested me. My lord has never shared such intimate knowledge of himself with me. Clearly, I have displeased him.” Foalan hung his head.
It was like looking upon a man in mourning, but the one mourning should be me. What kind of person was so closed off, it was a shock and delight for him to tell you he’s hungry?
My husband—that was who. I would never get a being such as him to fall in love with me. Which was why my only option was to run.
“So it’s true.”
I flicked up to Bradach, but he wasn’t looking at me. Following my gaze, I saw one of the attendants carrying a large, blue crystal bowl. She waved her hand over it and it filled with white, milky liquid.
I was so shocked, my brain froze—senses fading out.
“...true. My lord honors his bride with the full and true mating ceremony,” Aeris said. “The ceremony is nigh.”
“Fuck it to Meya, Princess,” Bradach cried. “Lord Alisdair intends to bond with you and make you his eternal mate? What’d you do to piss him off?”
If anything could’ve torn me from the miraculous sight of a woman performing magic, it was that. “Eternal mate? What are you talking about?”
“She rejected the marriage vows and plunged his own sword through his chest,” Aeris dropped.
Bradach whistled. “That’ll do it.”
“Excuse me? Hello,” I said louder. “What does that mean? What eternal mate?”
