Page 27 of Fated to the Wicked King

“Well?” A shadow of a smirk hung around the corner of his mouth.

I shook my head swiftly. “No. It tastes… It’s absolutely fine. It’s not chalky at all.” Before I knew it, I’d eaten the entire apple. “The trees are fine. You must tell the farmer.”

“Good.” He stood up, dusting off his trousers, moving to leave.

“Wait.”

He turned a sideways glance at me but didn’t stop walking.

Springing to catch up, I bit my lip. “Your Majesty⁠—”

That flinch on his face again, almost unnoticeable.

I took a deep breath and rushed on, “I wanted to ask whether there has been any progress with our interrogations. Have you found any further proof of the rogues who have been targeting you? I hope I have been able to find sources that you have found useful among the droves of people we have questioned so far.”

He gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head. “We have caught wind of a powerful new weapon that a rogue kingdom may have built. We ought to focus on finding out more about this from now on.”

“I see.” I nodded, my eyes darting toward the couple of guards who passed us along the entry hall.

I was hoping the king would give an indication of how many more prisoners he had captured, how much longer he intended for me to vet all these people. No such luck. I would have to devise a way to speed up this whole process myself.

“Not that I’ve not been grateful for your leniency in certain matters, but I was curious…”

His eyebrows rose. “Tell me, what are you curious about now?”

I hesitated. “You mentioned that there is dormant magic in the heart that I wear. You mentioned it hasn’t dissipated yet, unlike what you had expected. I was curious if I… if I might be able to access this magic for myself.”

“To try to escape?”

My eyes bulged. “No, no.” I shook my head. “I was merely wondering if I could tap into any greater magic to help with my task, to help you.”

He waved his hand for a door to open before we walked through another dim hallway. “Much like anything, magic is a skill. Perhaps you can, if you practice.”

“Even though I am not originally from this world? I’m not a sorceress. I might not have the native ability to develop this type of skill.”

“You might be right.” His agreement carried a hint of aggravation in it. “Although you have learned many ways of this world, you may not be capable of fully embracing its gifts since you are truly not one of us.”

I tried not to let his statement sting more than it already did.

“The only reason you have any use at all is that you wear my mystical heart.”

Okay, ouch.

I wrinkled my nose. “Then why don’t you just take it back? Here.” I put my hand to my chest. “I am sure we were never meant to have these hearts swapped for this long. I suspect it’s transforming us more than we realize.” My gaze was drawn to his hair.

He took a deep breath. “I did guess that the change in our appearance had something to do with the link between us. However—” The corner of his mouth twitched in displeasure. “There is…a prevailing difficulty in switching them back right now.”

“Hmm.”

Extracting the hearts had been a violent enough process to begin with. In truth, I had long given up hope on the return of my heart. Since there hadn’t been any other adverse side effects, it had been of little consequence.

Then again, I had never expected to be this close to finding a way home before.

There was always a certain level of acceptable risk when it came to any experiment. But if my own heart could be restored along the course of our bargain, if somehow the king could make it possible, there would be even less of a danger for me to carry out my plans.

“Do you suppose we could ask the Duchess for help?” A fresh surge of motivation bolstered my question. “Hearts had been her trade for thousands of years.”

“I had already considered that.”