“His arrogance. Come, wash, dress, and join me for supper. It could be fun, don’t you think?”
No, Sigrid didn’t think so.
“Please don’t use your magic on us to make your escape. I wouldn’t think of turning you over to the prince, and I couldn’t even if I wished it.”
“What do you get out of this?” Sigrid asked, certain the queen had asked for something just to bring Sigrid to see the prince.
“A hundred chests of gold. I wonder if the golden fae queen received as many. Or more.”
“You sold my services also?” Sigrid couldn’t believe it, and yet she shouldn’t have been surprised.
“No. It’s up to you if you want to aid your people.”
“They’re not my people. No one helped my grandmother when she had to flee. I didn’t even know any more of my kind existed.”
“That was Prince Owen’s grandfather’s doing,” the queen said, “not the prince’s.”
“Yes, but it didn’t change with Prince Owen’s dad’s rule. In all that time, no one asked me to live with them. Not even after my parents died. Not until these people needed me.”
“I understand. Now is the time to change your destiny.”
Sigrid frowned at the queen. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Finish what your grandfather started. Only this time, you’ll do it with Prince Owen’s help.”
“You mean by taking over the rule of the kingdom? Oust his own father?”
The queen smiled. “If you rule your own kingdom, you can decide when you will use your abilities, and no one else will decide this for you. If you accept, I will be your staunchest ally. I’ve only had one ally in the falcon fae. Your grandfather, when I was a young girl. Do this and I will back you with my kingdom.”
“You were friends with him?” Sigrid couldn’t have been more shocked to hear it.
“Yes. I was devastated when King Caracal killed him. Your grandfather went to speak with him, to get him to change his mind about the way he was ruling the kingdom, the tyrant that Caracal was. Instead of instituting any of those changes, Caracal murdered your grandfather, branding him a traitor, and swearing that any kin of his would be silenced forever. I didn’t know he had a surviving granddaughter. Your grandfather came through here once, when I was a child, and showed me some of his ‘magic tricks.’ I would normally side with the royals in a case like his, but I believed he was justified in speaking out against Caracal’s tyranny. It was not a matter my father wished to do anything about, though.”
“But, I would have to wed the prince?” Sigrid could just imagine how distasteful the notion would be to Owen. As much as it was to her.
“Aye. It is your destiny. Finish what your grandfather started. Take over the kingdom.” Queen Irenis gave her a decisively wicked smile.
7
Owen felt underdressed. He wasn’t wearing his finest clothing to a state dinner. He’d only planned to travel and didn’t believe he’d be attending a royal supper. He still couldn’t believe he would have to propose to Sigrid. Though he wasn’t sure if the woman would even show up.
He was standing at the head table with his cousins where the queen’s advisor had given them respective seats, watching the entryway, just like everyone else was, waiting for the queen to appear. Except he and his cousins were more interested in seeing Sigrid’s arrival.
Then he saw the queen entering with two ladies. No sign of Sigrid or Tanya. She must have refused to see him!
“Come,” the queen said, motioning to Owen to take a seat. “She and her friend will be here momentarily.”
“She’s coming? And she knows I’m here?” Owen asked, unable to imagine the queen could convince Sigrid to even see him.
“Yes, and she’s eager to hear your proposal.” The dark fae queen seemed quite amused to say so.
Dark fae humor. He still couldn’t believe it.
Two ladies appeared, not them, as he watched the entryway with heightened anticipation. Then two more women followed. And right behind them, Sigrid and Tanya entered the great hall. Looking proud, head held high, Sigrid was stunning in a royal blue gown, her wings on full display as she walked beside the dream-weaver fae, her lavender gown billowing around her, a crown of flowers accenting her red-gold hair.
Both were beautiful, but he had to admit Sigrid had his full attention—her wings fluttering slightly as she walked, her expression regal. She caught Owen gaping at her and she frowned.
He smiled. She didn’t look eager to hear his proposal. Not that Owen was surprised, but he suddenly found himself eager to propose. He told himself it was only because they needed her help to win this war.
Sigrid curtseyed to the queen, and then to the prince.
“You’re beautiful,” Owen said, quite honestly, as she was seated between him and one of his cousins. Tanya took a seat between Tarrant and Connelly.
“I understand you want to marry me.”
“I will do anything I can to convince you to come home with me and help save our people.”
“How will your father feel about you taking a wife, not of his choosing?”
“He will agree to anything if you help us defeat our enemies.”
“And what do I get out of it?”
“Well,” Owen said, seeing the look of surprise on both his cousins’ faces, “will you marry me? And fight our mutual enemies?” He hadn’t believed it would come to this either. But now he would try to make the most of it. If she agreed. “You would rule beside me when my father abdicates the throne, in time.”
Smiling, she began eating the quail on her plate while the conversation filled the great hall. Except for at their table where the queen, Tanya, Owen, and his cousins were quiet, all of them waiting to hear Sigrid’s answer. She seemed to like the idea of ruling beside him, though he didn’t truly intend to allow her to rule, just to be a pretty queen for pomp and ceremony, nothing more. She wouldn’t know how to rule a kingdom, not when she’d been living in a cottage alone in the woods and didn’t even attend royal functions. He’d learned that from Shane, the golden fae royal guard.
Sigrid pointed her fork at Owen. “Aren’t you already betrothed to a…princess?”
Sigrid only assumed the prince would already be betrothed so that his father could make an alliance with another kingdom. She didn’t know anything for sure. Owen could have been betrothed since they were small children even. His cousins could be also.
The prince didn’t answer her right away and she knew the truth then.
“Who is she?” Sigrid didn’t bother looking at the prince. Did he really think she was beautiful, or did he feel he needed to say so to convince her to marry him?
She still couldn’t believe this whole devious plan—cooked up by the dark fae queen herself. Then again, those of royal blood among the fae were notorious for planning cunning schemes.
“She is a hawk fae.”
“They don’t shift like us.” Sigrid couldn’t imagine being married to a fae that couldn’t soar high above in the clouds.
“No. But she’s eager to wed me, to know that someday she could rule by my side.”
“My, my. Whatever will you tell her? You’ll break the poor thing’s heart.” Sigrid didn’t believe it for an instant. She was certain it was an arranged marriage and neither of them loved one another. Though she might be angered that she had a crown prince to wed, and suddenly she didn’t.
“I’m certain she’ll be disappointed. Her brother wished her wed to a prince, a crown prince, even better. I doubt it will break her heart to hear the news. But you haven’t answered my question.”
“As much as I’m not fond of the idea, I will marry you, but only on the condition that if I do, your father will step down from the throne.”
Owen’s jaw gaped.
She smiled. “If you need me that badly, and I have to risk my own life to do this for a people who were a threat to my family, then I will have to have something in return.”
“You’ll have me.”
She laughed.
Owen growled at her, “You will be a princess, when you are nothing but a—”
“Witch? You don’t need a princess, you need someone like me, a person of great power.” Sigrid smiled darkly at him.
“I’ve never even seen you demonstrate your abilities. Except to put Connelly to sleep. Maybe you can’t fight our enemies. Unless you could put all of them to sleep at once on the battlefield.”
“Maybe I can’t. But if I can, it would be well worth it, wouldn’t it? If you have to save the kingdom by marrying me, then it seems only fair that you rule with me by your side, king and queen together, and your father, who did not save the kingdom, step down. Then you and I will be falcon fae living happily ever after. Or not. We can have separate chambers on either side of the castle, if we really do not suit. And I will leave whenever I want to get away from you and the situation I’m stuck in.”
Connelly chuckled. Owen gave him a sharp look.
“My father won’t go along with it. He will die on his deathbed before he gives up his power.”
“Fine. Then you have your answer. Why should I risk my life to save your people if I’m only to be a princess, married to a prince who has to do his father’s bidding? Then what would I have to do? The same? I won’t do it.”
“I would have to ask this of him first. I was authorized to do—”
“Anything,” the queen interjected.
“Not abdicate his throne. What would you do in his place?” Owen asked the queen.
“If it were me in his situation, I would not ask a magic user to save my kingdom. They are way too unpredictable.”
Sigrid smiled at Queen Irenis. She was unpredictable.
“I will have to take this up with the king. I can’t make a decision of this magnitude. If I were to agree with you for now, I would not have his word and would be falsely making a claim.”
“Then for now, I say no.” For Sigrid, that was the end of the matter. The queen said nothing more either.
Sigrid could see Owen was thinking about it though, pushing his food from side to side on his plate. “I will return to my kingdom then, and see what my father has to say. If he agrees, I will return tomorrow evening. We will be wed at my castle, and you will do your duty for the kingdom.”
“As its queen. You see, then I have much more of a stake in the outcome.”
“But you’ll return with my gold, and you’ll be wed here before she leaves,” the queen said.
“Agreed, but I don’t believe my father will go along with the business of abdicating his throne.”
Once they’d finished the meals and the servants took away the dishes, Queen Irenis said, “Now you two lovebirds will dance.” She clapped her hands, and musicians began to play music. “I will dance with one of your cousins.” She waited for one of them to escort her to the center of the great hall where the servants had quickly removed the tables. Tarrant hurried to escort the queen before she was offended. And once they were dancing, she again looked at Owen to tell him to do his duty.
“Would you care to dance, Sigrid?” Owen asked, holding his hand out to her.
“How much is this killing you?” Sigrid asked sweetly. She wanted the truth. She might have to play at being his wife, but she didn’t have to pretend she liked it, if he didn’t really care to be married to her.
He smiled. Genuinely smiled at her! She couldn’t figure him out. “I am forced to dance at these balls on a regular basis, and I’ve always found it a chore. If you do not step on my feet too awfully much, I think I can manage.”
What she hadn’t expected was for him to sweep her across the stone floor in a way that said he truly enjoyed dancing with her. Close. Smiling at her. Warmly.
She kept reminding herself this was just a show. Get her consensus to marry him and… She frowned up at him. “What if you were to wed me and your father only agreed to abdicate the throne, but reneged when I helped stop his enemies? What if he decided to eliminate me for making him give up the throne?”
“I would protect you.”
She scoffed. “You don’t have any powers any longer, Queen Irenis said, and who would back you after you forced your father to abdicate? The people? The army? Or would they support him?”
“Life is always a gamble. You know that. You must trust that I will do everything in my power to make this work. I don’t intend to give up the throne once it’s mine. And if you help us to stop our enemies from destroying us, when my father cannot, why would the people want anyone but you to be their queen?”
Sigrid didn’t trust them—the king, or, quite frankly, the prince, but she did have her abilities she could rely on. “What if I can’t help defeat your enemies?”
“Then the kingdom will be lost.”
She glanced at the floor where the queen was dancing with her advisor, and Prince Connelly was dancing with Tanya. “If Tanya wishes to go with me, would that be acceptable?”
“Of course. She’s welcome.”
“Get your father’s consensus in writing that he agrees to our being wed and that he will step down from the throne, and we have a deal.”
“All right.” Owen tilted his head down and she assumed he meant to kiss her.
She told herself if she was going to be married to him, she’d have to get used to this. At least for show. But when he kissed her, she felt her wings fluttering, and a warmth curled inside her belly. His lips on hers were soft and gentle, yet she felt the heat unfurling throughout her and even radiating outward to the tips of her feathers. For a moment, he wrapped her in his wings, and she’d never felt such a tender gesture from a falcon fae. He hesitated to pull his lips away from hers, maybe wanting to know if he was forcing the issue too soon, but if they were to be wed…
She pressed her mouth against his and kissed harder and then pulled away, her heart racing, her breath ragged. She’d never expected to feel anything for the prince. Not in a million years. She looked up at him, and he was smiling down at her, his hands on her arms, keeping her from melting into the floor.
“I believe we will suit,” he said.
She wanted to know if he kissed the hawk fae princess like that.
“I’ll escort you back to the table, and Connelly and I will leave to speak with the king. I need to speak with the dark fae queen for a moment before we leave.”
She was glad he escorted her back to the table and helped her to sit. Her legs were still wobbly and her stomach was doing flip-flops. She knew she couldn’t be in love. Not this fast. And not with the grandson of the king who’d murdered her grandfather.
Owen joined the queen, bowed to her, and though normally no one would leave an event when the queen hadn’t left first, she was eager for him to return home and settle this business.
Then he inclined his head to her from where he still stood with the queen, and he and Connelly stalked out of the great hall.
“Well,” Tanya said to Sigrid. Nothing more than that. Just “well,” and she wore a big smile.
Tarrant was dancing with another dark fae lady now and Sigrid was glad. She didn’t want the falcon fae to overhear her and Tanya and share what they said with Owen later, as they watched everyone dancing.
“You could have knocked me over with one of your feathers when I heard you were even considering marrying the prince. But then when the two of you kissed…” Tanya looked at Sigrid. “I think he really feels something for you and you for him.”
Sigrid folded her arms and looked back at the dancers. “I only agreed to it if I can be queen. No more being ordered about by other royals.”
“Do you think his father will go along with it?”
“What do you think?” Sigrid sighed. “He may agree to it, but not willingly. Why should he?”
“To save his kingdom, his people.”
“Most likely he would only care about that if he were still king. Fae are devious. All fae. Do you think that after I helped them to defeat their en
emies, he would leave well enough alone? That is if I can even do what they’re hoping I can do.”
“What can you do about it?”
“I would have to be there to plan my tactics. If I go up against a powerful mage, I may end up losing my own powers, or getting myself killed.”
“I want to go with you. Would that be okay with you?”
Sigrid smiled at her friend and gave her a hug. “You might be the only friend I will have there. So yes, I would love having you there with me.”
“I think, if the prince’s kissing you was any indication, you will have an ally in him.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt though,” Sigrid said, honestly. She hadn’t made friends with her, just to lose her in a battle that she would have to fight alone.
Tanya smiled and looked back at the dancers. “I have a little magic of my own.”
The queen met with Sigrid and Tanya in their chamber later that night to speak with them privately. “I must warn you that fae royalty are terribly deceitful, if you didn’t know that already. I would not put it past Owen’s father to give the order to have you killed once you save the kingdom.”
“Or Owen will,” Sigrid said. “Being that he’d be loyal to his father.”
“I may be wrong, but the way the two of you were dancing together tonight made me think you might just have a real chance at happiness. Unless, his father tries to divide you, or have you eliminated.”
“He would be making a grave mistake if he tried,” Sigrid said.
8
Owen arrived home, expecting chaos, a battle in progress, but only battle preparations were still ongoing. His father’s advisor, Lord Benton, met him right away as soon as he walked through the gates. The hawk fae Owen was betrothed to was standing in the courtyard, wringing her hands. She had nothing to worry about. His father had already told her she should return to her own people until this was over with.
Owen had never felt anything for her, just like she hadn’t him. They put on airs, but he knew her heart belonged to someone else. He didn’t know who, only that her brother, King Tiernan, didn’t want her to marry him.