Poor woman. She must have been miserable with such a sweaty pig heaving atop her in bed. “Have you ever been unfaithful to your wife?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Liar.”
The queen stifled a tittering laugh with her pale hand. The king snorted but quickly concealed the unkingly noise behind a cough. “While I appreciate the entertainment,” he said once he’d regained composure, “there is no way for me to know if you’re telling the truth or if a man I’ve known my entire life is secretly plotting my demise.”
The man in the robes dropped to his hands and knees at the foot of the throne. “Sire, I would never—”
The king held up a hand, silencing his advisor, then looked to me.“Ask me a question.”
He asked for it… “How old are you?”
The heavy gold chain across his mantle glinted when he shifted on his throne. “Twenty.”
“Lie.”
“Very good. I am twenty-two. But that’s a detail anyone would know. Ask me something else.”
Let me see… “Are you glad your father is dead?”
His jaw pulsed. “He suffered in his final days. It is a blessing to no longer see him in pain.”
A careful truth spoken like a true politician. I couldn’t have done it better myself. “Are you happily married?”
He glanced at his wife, the barest hint of a smile gracing the corner of his mouth. “Yes. Blissfully so.”
Well, weren’t they feckin’ adorable? Somehow I managed not to roll my eyes. Time to strike at the heart of the matter, the entire reason I’d allowed myself to be brought to this castle. “Have you ordered attacks on the Danú in Airren?”
His head whipped back to me. “Leave us.” The others in the room traded startled looks. “I said leave us,” he bellowed.
“Sire, you cannot be serious. This man is a beast,” Sir Robes said from the ground. “He will kill you.”
“I won’t kill you.” I jangled the chain connecting me to my dear friend Mitchell. “I already gave this lad my word, but you can have it as well.” I held out my hand.
The king pushed from his throne and started down the dais stairs, his black and white mantle dragging along behind him. I liked fashion as much as the next man but this young man wore far too many layers. Just looking at him made me sweat.
The chatter grew louder as men and women shuffled toward the entryway, casting wary glances back toward where I waited. A few of the guards left their posts to get them moving along.
“Think of your wife and unborn child. Sire, you cannot bargain with a fae.”
“Enough, Reuben. The prince has given his word.”The king took my hand in his. With a gentleman’s agreement between us, the king dismissed the guards. The men traded worried glances before following the crowd into the hallway.
Escorted by the captain himself, Sir Robes tried once more. “Sire, please! Take away the guards and he will kill you.”
“If I wanted the king dead, he’d be lying in a pool of his own blood by now.”
“Says the one chained in iron, surrounded by guards,” he shot back. “Even if you did manage to escape, our castle wards neutralize magic and haven’t been breached in centuries.”
Wards my arse. Whoever created them must’ve been lying about their strength. Aveen’s cottage was safer than this castle.
I could’ve told them that straight out, but where was the fun in that?
I stuffed my hand into Mitchell’s pocket and stole back the key before the poor lad knew what had happened. By the time his hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, I’d unfastened the manacle and shifted the advisor’s robes right off his back, leaving him in a thin white shirt and silky breeches that left nothing to the imagination. “You were saying?”
The king nodded once more, and the doors closed with a resounding shudder. Only four of us remained—five if you counted the prince or princess inside the queen’s womb.
The king’s expression turned harsh, and his eyes narrowed. “What attacks do you speak of?”