Page 34 of Throne of Ice and Blood
“You made me your slave, Draven! When push came to shove, you still locked that iron collar around my throat and sucked my magic out of my body.”
“Look, I get that you feel betrayed.”
“Do you? How could you possibly know what it feels like to be so thoroughly deceived?”
“You wanna talk about being deceived?” Pain flickers in his eyes. It’s followed by something deeper. Something more like hurt. “How do you think I felt back in that underground forest? How do you think I felt when I realized that you didn’t fuck me because you genuinely wanted to? That it was all an act. That you didn’t really want me. That you only fucked me as a distraction to steal the ring from me.”
His words hit me like a stab right through the chest.
I hadn’t even realized what that must have looked like from his perspective. After what I did, of course he believes that it was all just a cunning deception.
But fucking him by that river had never been part of the plan. The plan had always just been to soak him with that slimy plant goo and get him to take his clothes off in the river so that I could steal the ring from the pouch. Nothing else.
I slept with him because I wanted to. Solely because I wanted to, even though doing so risked my plan.
My chest rises and falls as I stare up at Draven. The words are right there on my tongue, but for some reason, I can’t make myself say them. Him knowing the truth won’t change anything. We’re still enemies. I’m still his slave. And I’m still plotting to ruin him by helping the human resistance pull off a devastating heist against the Iceheart Dynasty.
Our already far too complicated feelings for each other will only make everything worse. So in the end, I just close my mouth again.
Draven drags in a deep breath as if to compose himself. Then he takes another half step back, putting even more distance between us. And when he speaks again, there is no trace of those intense emotions in his voice or on his face.
“Listen to me. This court is brutal. In ways that you don’t even know. So you need to follow my rules and stay inside our rooms. And when we’re out in public, you need to behave.” Reaching up, he takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilts my head back so that all I can see are his serious eyes as he holds my gaze. “I don’t care if you despise me behind closed doors, but out here, where people can see, you need to act as if you’re my slave.”
Slapping his hand away, I glare up at him so that he will understand that I truly mean every single word that I’m about to say. “I will never be your slave.”
A frustrated breath rips from his lungs. For a few seconds, he looks to be debating something internally. Then he heaves another sigh, this one sounding more tired than angry. Grabbing me by the arm, he pushes the door open and then pulls me with him as he walks back out into the corridor.
“Come with me.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
At first, I think he’s going to just haul me back to his rooms and lock me in there. But instead, he escorts me down to the ground floor. I glance at him in confusion as we weave through narrow servants’ corridors instead of moving through the main halls. But he says nothing, and his expression betrays nothing either.
I can’t seem to figure him out. I expected him to be furious when he caught me trying to escape. And yes, to an extent, he was angry. But it seemed to be more out of concern for my safety than anything else. Which is what I don’t understand. If he actually cares about me in some way, why not justlet meescape?
It’s like there are two completely separate sides of him. The ruthless Commander of the Dread Legion who obeys the Icehearts’ every word. And the person who, in his very convoluted way, tried to save me from this fate. He apparently cares about me enough to do that. I just wish I knew why.
“Listen to me carefully,” Draven says as he comes to a halt in front of a plain door at the end of the servants’ corridor we’ve been traveling through. His eyes are serious as he locks them on me. “What you’re about to see is going to be hard, but you can’t gasp or make any sound at all that will draw their attention. Ifyou do, they’re going to make us stay. And you really don’t want that. Especially since you’re not wearing the collar right now.”
His words, combined with the gravity of his tone, send a flare of alarm through me. Whatever is on the other side of that door must be truly awful.
“Do you understand?” Draven demands.
Dread washes through me again, but I hold his gaze as I nod. “Yes.”
He keeps his eyes locked on me for another few seconds, as if to make sure that I truly understand the importance of his warning, before he gives me a nod back. Then he reaches for the handle. With careful movements, he slowly pushes it down and edges the door open a tiny crack. Then he motions for me to step forward so that I can look through the small gap.
Anxious worry snakes through my chest as I move closer. After positioning myself at an angle, I peer through the crack in the door.
At first, I don’t understand what it is that I’m supposed to be looking at. Draven made it sound like there was something horrible here, but it’s just a… banquet.
The room on the other side of the door is made of white ice, just like the rest of the castle, and faelight gems cover the ceiling like stars. Tables draped with white tablecloths are positioned in structured patterns across the floor, and silver candelabras line the walls. They, along with the silver candle holders on the tables, paint the room with warm light.
I sweep my gaze over the people seated at the tables. Dragon shifters dressed in beautiful garments in various colors are eating and talking with smiles on their faces.
Confusion swirls inside my skull. What is supposed to be so awful about this that Draven had to warn me not to gasp?
The tables have been placed in a pattern that points towards the high table. I shift my gaze towards it.
