“Before you get any ideas,prince,” Rhylan accentuated his title mockingly, “remember our deal. One misstep and you go back to that quaint little cell you like decorating in crimson so much. This time, your mate will stay with me, however,” the old fae grinned wickedly, enjoying the torture he was putting us under. And we had no choice but to play his game, like senseless little puppets he manoeuvred to his own whim.
Ansgar swallowed deeply and retook his seat without saying another word. He didn't even look at me, hands shaking with ire.
“We will have to organise a suitable trousseau for the new princess,” the Queen said excitedly. “Though I hope you will not be too busy with your new toy that you’ll forget your previous arrangements,” she purred and traced a finger along his arm playfully. My gaze automatically switched to the king, who kept himself occupied with a steak and threw a question from time to time in Marreth’s direction.
“Of course, my queen. Plus, I don't want to take my betrothed’s pet just yet,” he grinned at her and they started engaging in a hushed conversation, giggling from time to time.
Only Ansgar and I remained unmoving, looking at each other helplessly. We were left without an option, the royals wanted nothing to do with us, considering us ‘Rhylan’s toy and her pet,’ as the Queen so delicately put it when talking about us.
Throughout the rest of the dinner, we hardly spoke, only answering some yes or no questions that either of the royals addressed from time to time, out of cordiality more than anything. I couldn’t eat, only focusing on the wine, which I had three glasses of already and planned to get some more, while Ansgar’s jaw remained so tight I thought his teeth would shatter and fall out of his mouth.
“Well, my dear,” the queen turned to me for what was about the fourth time in the entire evening, “I shall have my best seamstress prepared for a fitting tomorrow, we need to get you measured and organised as soon as possible,” she smiled and I recognised the same wickedness pouring through Rhylan. These two deserved each other and I hoped they would both burn in hell.
“As for the prince, he would do well in training the new members. Under constant supervision, of course,” the King spoke, with Marreth nodding at his every word. “After all, we do not want his talents gone to waste, now that we managed to tighten the leash.”
Ansgar didn’t even turn to acknowledge the king, his eyes gazing forward somewhere into the wall, probably focusing on keeping that anger in place.
It was the commander who replied, “I’ll see to it, my king.”
“Shall we, dear?” King Drahden announced his intention and the Queen nodded and rose, forcing us all to do the same. We kept our heads bowed, tracking each step they took and nodding when they acknowledged each of us by name, then departed through the doors the soldiers opened for them.
In the following moment, everything that Ansgar had kept in place for what seemed to be the longest hour of my life expelled wrath from him, erupting towards Rhylan. His fists slammed into the fire faerie’s face, smashing hard and deep, with sharp and repeated movements until Rhylan’s features became a blur of blood and crimson shades.
I screamed for him, begging him to stop, but my reaction caused deeper ire, so much that Marreth had to take me further away from the scene. To my surprise, the commander placed himself in front of me, ready to receive the blow of their fight, should it reach us.
Rhylan did not take long to defend himself, allowing Ansgar a few more fists before tapping into his energy, making dark swirls of smoke appear and push my mate away, slamming him into the nearby wall with a thumping sound.
“That is enough,” Rhylan yelled, a sound that penetrated my bones, sending another wave of power into Ansgar, making him growl in pain.
“Stop it!” I jumped from behind Marreth, ready to throw myself in between them. The commander caught me in a brisk movement and grabbed both my arms, tightening them to my chest and keeping me locked in what could have been called a bear hug. No matter how hard I tried to wiggle away, to escape him, his grip proved effective, so I appealed to the next best thing I had. Shouting and pleading at Rhylan to stop hurting my prince.
“You are a miserable bastard,” Ansgar’s voice barely pierced through the wave of energy slamming into him, sounding raspy. “Can’t even fight like a male.” Blood started pouring down his nose and was slowly making its way to his lips, ready to cover the delicate softness I had kissed so many times.
“Rhylan, please!” I cried out. I didn’t know if my words or my desperation proved effective to his ears, but it made him turn to me, if only for a moment. Enough to take my presence in, to see Marreth struggling to hold me.
“Why would I do that, prince?” the general spat. “You may be stronger, but my power has no limits. Why would I waste my time being honourable in a situation where you attacked me?” he grinned wickedly and slammed another wave of that darkness into Ansgar, forcing his muscles into a tremble.
I went mad, terrified of what would come if another ripple pushed more of his power, colliding into Marreth as hard as I could and forcing my entire body to push out of his grasp. Maybe I managed to do it, maybe he let me go of his own volition, carrying the same concern for my mate’s life as me. Either way, I found myself jumping on Rhylan’s back and clawing at his face, knees squeezing his waist while my fingers tried to grab at his cheeks, scraping skin underneath my fingernails.
“God damn it sprout, get away from me,” he screeched, waving his hands in an attempt to catch my own and make my attack stop. With the corner of my eye, I spotted Ansgar, falling to the ground, his wide back heaving with deep pants.
“For fuck’s sake,” Rhylan growled again and threw himself into a wall, taking me along with him. As soon as my back bumped into the hard surface, my body jerked in self-defence, forcing me to push against the wall to lessen the impact. It only took a second, enough for Rhylan to recover and escape me.
The fire fae stood and looked at me in disbelief, blood pouring from the two deep scratches I had managed to forge, one across his cheek and one on his forehead, cutting his brow. Rhylan’s eyes confessed disbelief at the sight of me, and surprise at the realisation that I was preparing to jump him again.
“This is ridiculous,” he exclaimed, taking a step back, looking at my battled self and then at Ansgar, both of us panting against opposite walls, with Rhylan in the middle of the mess. Marreth only stood to the side and watched us all, an amused look on his face.
“Commander, take the prince back to their room,” our captor ordered with a long sigh, but before Marreth could move, Ansgar shifted, trying to stand up for another round of attacks. Tried, and failed.
“I will not leave her with you, you disgusting piece of —”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve said it already,” Rhylan looked unphased, but he crouched next to my prince and gripped something from his belt. I hadn’t even noticed he wore one during dinner.A small silvery dagger appeared in his hand and with no effort at all, he gripped Ansgar’s neck, raising him in the air as if he were a puppet.
“One cut is all you need, prince. Piss me off some more and I’ll end that pathetic miserable life of yours.” Hatred rippled through him, exhaustion from the entire situation and I knew we had pushed Rhylan to the limit of his indulgence.
“Please, no! Oh gods, please,” I shook and started begging. I did not know if I was on my knees or still a fallen pile of mess by the wall, but I sensed my hands joining together, like in a prayer. I was shaking and crying, snot mixing with tears across my face.
“Shut the fuck up and sit at the table,” he addressed me with a look that lasted less than a second, enough to bark the order at me, so I forced my body to obey and crawled to the table, struggling to take my seat with shaking limbs.
