Her horrible hands left my skin, and she raised a brow. “You’re quite mouthy, aren’t you?”
I whispered, “It certainly appears that way, Your Majesty.”
I would not have considered myself mouthy two weeks ago, but apparently, that was what happened when I was forced into an arranged marriage with a vampire. I lost all common sense and said the first things that came into my mind. If I didn’t get a handle on this new situation, it was probably going to get me killed.
Luckily, tonight at least, my mouthiness seemed to amuse the queen.
She chuckled, stepping away from me. Her heels clicked on the floor as she stepped back, and I sagged against Sebastian. At this point, it didn’t matter that I had only known him for a fortnight. He was clearly the saner, safer option of the two vampires in the room. If only I had never left Ipotha.
Perching on the edge of her desk, Queen Marguerite raised a brow. “Son of my blood, have you not fed your wife this evening?” She tutted. “I know it’s been quite a time since you had a human beneath your care, but they do require some sustenance. Human females tend to become rather touchy when they’re hungry. Do I need to send one of my Favorites to assist you in caring for her?”
My brows raised. I was fairly certain that anything the queen deemed a “favorite” was probably something I would consider unpleasant.
“That won’t be necessary, Mother,” Sebastian ground out through clenched teeth, drawing me tighter against his side. “I know how to care for humans. Luna is my wife, and I am more than capable of keeping her alive.”
My stomach chose that moment to grumble, and blood rushed to my cheeks. Everyone in the room looked at me, and I wanted to disappear into the floor.
“Then explain your wife’s obvious hunger,” the queen demanded.
Sebastian said, “Something came up.”
“Oh? What, pray tell, could that be?” Queen Marguerite’s eyes were hard as they swept over us. “Don’t tell me the two of you were so busy playing between the sheets that you forgot to feed her.”
Now that blush deepened, but for an entirely different reason. Unbidden, my mind conjured up an image of Sebastian and me in that large bed with significantly fewer clothes between us. My core tightened, not appreciating the dangerous situation we currently found ourselves in.
“That’s not the problem,” Sebastian snarled.
The anger in his tone pulled me out of my daydream, and I shook my head.
“Oh?” She tilted her head. “Did you hear the news from Ithenmyr? Because things are getting worse, Sebastian, just like Itoldyou they would. In fact, yesterday that red king—”
“Mother, I’m not here for that.” Sebastian approached the queen, pulling me with him until we stood a few feet from her. He reached down, pulling up my left sleeve before he did the same to his right.
Holding up our joined hands, the prince snarled, “Look.”
Pursing her lips, the queen stared at our joined hands as her heeled foot tapped a steady beat on the ground. Her cold hands darted out and grabbed ours, and she ran her frozen fingers over the markings on our wrists.
“Oh my,” Queen Marguerite murmured. “This is interesting, isn’t it?”
Muttering to herself, the queen ran her nails over our skin as she turned our wrists.
This time, I did not have any inclination to speak. I tried to make myself as small as possible as I folded myself against Sebastian’s side. His wing wrapped more tightly around me, drawing me closer to him. I wasn’t even sure he was aware he was doing it.
At least ten minutes went by as the queen studied the markings on our hands. I’d taken dozens of tests before, and I had sat beneath the watchful gaze of multiple examiners as they drilled me about historical facts and scientific properties, but none of my academic experiences had prepared me for the wholly unpleasant experience of being scrutinized by the vampire queen.
Eventually, she clucked her tongue. “Well, it does seem like Ciro has been a rather naughty little elf.”
I stared at her. Naughty? I could think of a dozen words to describe how I felt about the Tethering, and none of them were “naughty.”
Sebastian snarled, “No, Mother.” Pure and utter violence dripped from his words as shadows curled around him. “This wasn’t ‘naughty’. The damned priestTetheredus. Naughty doesn’t even begin to cover it!”
“It is rather interesting,” the queen murmured, still touching me. “I haven’t seen a Tether in a very long time.”
Her nail ran around the red line that circled my wrist, and my skin crawled at her touch. I wanted to do nothing more than to yank my hand back. I felt dirty, and I knew it would take a dozen showers to rid myself of the feeling of the queen’s hands on my skin. There was nothing pleasant about this.
Eventually, Queen Marguerite dropped our hands. The moment her cool fingers were off my skin, I wanted to rub my fingers over my gown. Instead, I remained perfectly still.
“You’re definitely Tethered,” she said matter-of-factly, as if that wasn’t abundantly clear.