Page 108 of White Raven

My head spun more, my feet stepping back. “What?”

“I placed Morrigan there years ago,” the king replied. “I needed someone to get close to the king. Close to you. And she played her role impeccably, didn’t you?” He gently tapped her chin, causing her to curl in closer to him, her expression pure adoration.

“I learned your father had a fatal flaw a long time ago. Being so uptight and rigid, he breaks easily for something wild and seductive behind closed doors.” His thumb ran over Morrigan’s lips. “And she is unmatched in all those areas.”

She beamed, her hand running up and down his thigh, making my skin prickle, my head spinning the more I grappled for breath.

“When lips part, a man’s mouth opens.” He smirked.

This whole time she was betraying us, stealing information to get back to Gavric.

“But . . .” I croaked, confusion at her turning on her own kind. “You are a Day Raven.”

“You think because she looks like you, she should be faithful to your king?” He lifted a brow. “Your father abandoned his people at Silverguard, left them to die.” He stroked her head, his free hand gesturing up to the cages. “I saved them. I gave them a home.”

Morrigan hummed, laying her head in his lap. “You did, my lord. And you gave me so much more.”

“A home?” I choked, pointing up to the Day Ravens, ignoring her. “You call keeping them as prisoners a home?”

“Go ask them if they feel like prisoners.” He pushed Morrigan off him, standing, sauntering up to me without an inch of space between us. “They enjoy what they do. I provided a roof, food, and security.”

“You brainwashed them then,” I hissed.

“What does it matter, if they are happy and content?”

“Because it’s wrong.”

“Is it? Let me ask you: If your father can abandon his own people so cruelly, what must he do to the thralls who look like us?”

My chest and stomach knotted together. Bile burned at the back of my throat. Everything I was raised to believe as far as how we treated the northern thralls was justified, was countered with, They do far worse to us. We rationalized our actions, only to become far worse than what we accused the other side of doing. I was told the Night King filled his castle with Day Ravens, all beaten and forced into labor. The five Day Ravens dancing above were the first thralls of my kind I had even seen here. Not that I agreed with King Helvig’s treatment, but I could no longer validate what we did, either.

“Let’s not quarrel, my dove.” He snapped his fingers, and a gorgeous half-naked male flock member rushed to his side with wine. The king picked one up and dropped a second goblet in my hand, clicking his with mine. “We are here to celebrate . . . tonight is our wedding night, after all.”

CHAPTER 24

Wedding night.

His words swirled around my head along with the music, slithering and coiling like a snake. My body buzzed with fear, yet nothing fully sank in at his declaration, my panic attack resting underneath the surface like a sleeping monster.

“What?” A whisper floated off my tongue. With every breath the world was becoming hazier, like someone was scrubbing at the harsh edges and making it soft and palatable.

“Since Morrigan is here, I decided there was no need to wait.” He drank down some of his wine. “Why not turn this celebration into our official union?”

The buzzing of panic was there, but it felt far away, something that stayed just out of my grasp. I blinked at him, the drive to run or fight melting away once it reached the surface. I peered down at the cup of wine in my hand. I hadn’t even taken a sip. What was happening to me?

Figures moved around the huge ballroom, everyone with the same blissful expression. Their dancing had become a little more erotic, the laughter and talking more robust as sparkles simmered at the edges of my vision.

“What did you do to me?”

“Do to you?” King Helvig took another goblet of wine from his tray. “I did nothing to you, my dove.”

My body tingled, my mind empty, unable to respond to the alarm somewhere in my gut.

“But if you are wondering why you feel so incredible? Take a deep breath.” He sucked in exuberantly, his eyes closing in pure bliss. “That is the scent of jasmine and moonflowers.” He lifted his lids, his pupils expanding wider. “They are both known to be toxic if ingested but inhaled in small doses can alter your mind. Moonflowers especially are known hallucinogens.”

With every breath I was being drugged.

My attention rolled over every surface where the plants appeared, aware of every intake of air, which prickled more numbness through me. Moonflowers were threaded through my hair and around my face, the jasmine dripping over my head on the dais. My chest fluttered with the need to react, cover my mouth and tear the blossoms from my head. My body did not respond. Terror slipped away like raindrops from feathers, and I enjoyed the sensations of panic not controlling me for once.