Page 35 of Fated to the Wicked King

My heart pounded in my chest as the visceral panic from those around me crammed into my awareness.

“You were followed! You idiot, you’ve led him straight to⁠—”

Another bright flash of light.

Retching groans punched the air, and heavy thuds slapped against the grass. That regrettably familiar putrid stench once again made my stomach churn.

The eerie silence that followed was just as unnerving.

Whatever chaos had ensued left only the rushing of the water and the low crackling of fire.

I tried to catch my breath. I knew they were dead—Oleg and Sal. What I didn’t know was what other horrors abounded in this forest. The last time I was here, I had been captured and almost eaten by a terrifying rainbow monster.

A presence lowered to sit somewhere to my left, where either Oleg or Sam had been sitting. A chill wrapped around my ankles. But strangely, it brought me instant comfort.

I knew what they were.

I knew who it was.

I took a deep cleansing breath. Despite my relief, I couldn’t help the wryness in my question. “You didn’t just send your puppet soldiers to come and get me?”

The blindfold fabric was whipped off my head—I assumed by his shadows, since it didn’t look like he’d moved from where he sat on a log across the way.

Firelight danced across his striking features, turning his tousled brown hair to burnished bronze and setting his blue eyes aglow like sapphires lit from within. The king met my gaze. “I thought I would even the score again.”

“What score? Oh. Is this you returning me the favor for saving your life at the ball?”

I didn’t expect him to acknowledge my question.

“Why did you run?” he asked instead.

I bit my lip. “I was…”

“Scared?”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat.

Heartbroken.

Again.

When he’d killed that man right before my eyes, I’d felt my own blood drain from my face. Any remnants of optimism I had been desperately holding onto instantly dissipated. It was a visceral stab in the chest. It was too late for me to restore the man I once knew. All of my efforts had been in vain. It was a sign. My Rabb was truly lost.

But I couldn’t say that.

I was all too aware that I shouldn’t be relieved either. This man, who had come to my rescue, was significantly more dangerous than the rebellious rogues who had kidnapped me.

I lowered my gaze. “Yes. I was scared.”

“I found this on him.”

A little vial of powder dropped onto my lap. I frowned at it in recognition. I’d brought it from my own lab that morning I came to the castle. “That’s…mine.”

Shifting in his seat, the king nodded. “That man, he was spying on you. He was trying to kill you.”

My mouth went dry again. “What?” That vial could only have been stolen directly from my chambers at the castle. Someone would have been rummaging through my clothes, all my personal items.

Looking away, he let out a bored sigh. “It seems the entire kingdom has heard that I’d found a sorceress with the power to identify traitors and expose them. And these rogues are sending in their best to get rid of you.”