So did the Queen’s.
“There’s no need to lie to me,girl.” She pressed just hard enough to bring tears to my eyes. A bead of blood welled from the tiny wound.
I refused to let the tears building behind my eyes fall.
“You wouldn’t be the first human he’s played with, and you certainly won’t be the last.” She pressed harder. “He insists on these childish rebellions, rutting with chattel and the like. I’ve come to remind my son that he cannot afford such distractions from his duties.”
Rían’s knuckles turned white where he gripped the glass. “Get out.”
The guards stepped away from the wall, hands falling to the pommels of their swords. They’d been so still and silent, blending with the shadows, that I’d forgotten about them entirely.
“You think you can throw me out?” she scoffed. “You have no authority here.”
Relief flooded my veins when she pulled away, until she gestured toward Rían with the dagger. “This isn’t your castle. You’re a lodger—a leech aligning himself with true power because you havenone.”
“You’ve made your point.”
“Oh, I don’t think I have.” Laughing, the Queen adjusted her grip on the hilt . . .
And buried the blade in Rían’s thigh.
Blackness exploded in his eyes. Not a speck of white or blue remained. Rían withdrew the dagger only to plunge it back into the gushing wound. Perspiration beaded on his brow. His teeth ground together as he pulled it out and stabbed himself again and again and again—
“You forget,son, that I have owned you since the day I tore the heart from your chest.”
The room began to spin.
That vicious scar . . .
Was she saying Rían had no bloody heart?
How was that possible? How was he alive?
I’m cold and dead inside. . .
Rían directed a vacant smile toward me, his face ghostly white.
Washe alive at all?
The slurping, grating sound of blade sinking into flesh and across bone echoed through the room.
“Thisis what youlove.” The Queen slapped his face, leaving a red handprint across his cheek. “An empty husk spelled to do my bidding whenever I choose to take control. If I wished him dead, he would cease to draw breath.”
The blood-drenched dagger clattered to the stones. Rian’s chest stopped rising and falling. His lips turned blue.
I lost the useless battle with my tears. “Why?” Why would she do that to her own son?
Rían’s body slumped in his chair, vacant black eyes staring toward the ceiling.
Oh god.He was dead. She’d killed him. She’d taken him from me.
He was dead. He was dead. He was dead.
“Have you not seen his pathetic brother? A slave to foolish emotions and carnal desires. The humans do notfearhim.” The Queen huffed a laugh, gesturing toward Tadhg’s empty chair. The pounding at the door grew louder. “It’s only a matter of time before the Danú tire of being slaughtered and rise up against his reign. Our people need a ruler who will protect them at all costs. Someone who will never let emotion rule him.”
A man like Rían.
The Queen rose to her feet, feathered skirts fluttering on a phantom breeze. “You have not broken the treaty, so your life is not yet mine to claim. But this life”—she caressed Rían’s pale cheek—“belongs to me.” Her hand fell. “You have my permission to cross the Forest once. Should you choose to remain in our land, I will have my son take care of you in my stead. Perhaps while you’re enjoying breakfast in bed. Or while you’re soaking in a nice, hot bath. Next week. A month from now. I’ll make it a fun game to keep you guessing.”