Page 136 of Dhampira

“We must be united as one family as quickly as possible. The two of you will wed tonight. I’ve already summoned the court.”

Knowing it was coming didn’t make it any less of a shock. But my life depended on me playing a role, so I bowed my head as Rasimir turned to me.

“As you wish, Father,” I said.

“Does this please you?” he asked.

“If it pleases you, Majesty.”

He made a sound that might have been a laugh. With my eyes downcast, it was impossible to know for certain.

“It will please me to see my lineage secured.” His footsteps rang out. Peering through my lashes, I watched him move to the door. “Attend me, Prince Lorcan,” he said over his shoulder.

Lorcan left the table. “Of course, Majesty.”

Rasimir paused next to Vander. “Escort the princess to her chamber so she can prepare for the ceremony.”

“Yes, Majesty.”

Rasimir and Lorcan left. Vander’s eyes held a warning as he looked at me.

“Let’s go, Princess.”

Ten minutes later, Vander pulled me into my room and shut the door behind us.

Don’t speak, he mouthed, his freckles stark against his pale skin. Hustling me to a corner, he produced feygeld and a knife. I bit my lip, my insides quivering as chunks of crystal hit the floor.

“This is fucking stupid,” he rasped a second later, the blue light of his magic gleaming in his wide pupils. Gripping my arms, he pulled me close. “Do you want this marriage?”

I blinked. “I don’t have a choice.”

“You heard Ruvien. We almost always have a choice.” Vander swallowed, his thick throat working. “I won’t lie to you, Corinthe. Running will be next to impossible. But if you’re truly opposed to the wedding, I’ll help you.”

“You will?”

He nodded. Then he lowered his gaze, his thick auburn lashes spiky against his cheeks. “I, um…” He cleared his throat. “I know what it means to be pressured into being with someone you don’t want.”

My stomach plummeted to my feet. “What are you saying?” I breathed.

Color stained his cheeks. He lifted his head, and the vulnerability in his eyes tore my heart in two.

“I’ve kept just one other thing from you,” he said in a low voice. “After I tell you this, know that I’ve told you everything. I swear it, Corinthe.”

“I believe you,” I whispered.

Vander drew a shuddering breath. “You know I’m a changeling. What you don’t know is that the elven king’s daughter took me as a babe. She raised me in her court, treating me like a favored son. But I got older, and things changed. I grew tall…and big. Even as a young man, I was more muscular than any elven warrior.”

A sinking feeling spread through me, horrible suspicions forming.

“I won’t burden you with the details,” he said. “The elves aren’t like us, Corinthe. They can live tens of thousands of years in Veradorn before they fade. The way they think…” Frowning, he lowered his eyes. “She fancied me,” he rasped. “She made me fancy her. But after…”

Biting back a sob, I took his face in my hands. “You don’t have to tell me, Vander. You don’t have to say anything else.”

He captured one of my hands and held it against his chest. “Ruvien got wind of it. Sometimes I think he let himself get shot with that arrow. It gave him an excuse to gift me the claws, and I used them to rip open a door to the Everless.”

“Is that why the Everless is a ruin?” I asked, Ruvien’s words about broken doors ringing in my head.

Vander nodded. “I won my freedom. Otherwise, I’m not sure the princess would have ever let me go.”