"Ah ... now darling, why do you think it's only your power I want?"
"You might be slightly interested in my body. But you're half-djinn. Power means more to you than anything." I met his eyes head on.
He raised his eyebrows. "You're such a smart little thing. So, I have to ask myself, why would such a smart girl allow her knight to do something as stupid as put my chain around his neck?"
I ground my teeth together. This was the part of the negotiation I didn’t want to go through. The part where I put everything on the line. My nerves turned my insides into a bubbling tar pit. I smiled wider to hide what I felt. “I asked you here tonight to offer you a choice. Clearly, my power needs to remain secret. You may have my mind-talker, as a gift, given your written guarantee you’ll never breathe a word about what Wyle told you. Or … you can have the engagement you seem to desire so much.”
“Beautiful girl, why would I want your husband when I could have you?”
“I highly doubt your sincere interest. And I like to hedge my bets,” I gave Abbas a cold look.
“And is this how you treat your husbands?”
“Their duty is to Evaness first,” I spit out the words Declan had coached me through, trying to sound as cold and calculating as I could, instead of like the quivering little girl I felt like inside.
Abbas reached for my hand. “I want to work with you for our mutual benefit,” Abbas raised his lips to my hand and gave it a gentle kiss. “And I will give you your mind-talker back in exchange for our official engagement."
My insides collapsed in fear and relief. Fear for what I might be taking on with Abbas and relief for Quinn. A brief flash of gratitude toward Declan also passed through my head. Everything had worked out exactly as he’d said it would. And so I stuck to the script, continuing to act reticent and cautious. "I don't like going into this blindly. Without knowing your end game."
Abbas leaned forward and brushed my forehead with a kiss. "My end game is the same as anyone else's."
“I highly doubt that.”
"Well, what do you think I want?"
"To escape your father's control?" I guessed. "To be the only one of your brothers to have a claim on Evaness. To--"
"To fall in love?" Abbas asked.
"No," I scoffed. "World domination is more likely."
He bit his lip and grinned. "You see right through me. I like that."
I sighed. "You can stop with the compliments. Release Quinn and you'll get your way."
“You gave me Quinn. You want this alliance as much as I do. You’re desperate for it, even.”
I grabbed Abbas’ hand and raised our entwined fingers. That was the signal. The herald trumpeted beside us, blasting my ears. And then he took up his bullhorn and announced our engagement as a sign of peace and treaty between the kingdoms of Cheryn and Evaness.
Below, Meeker looked furious. He cut a path through the crowd, no doubt to send a pigeon carrying an angry message to Sedara.
Everyone else cheered.
Abbas waved at the thronging masses below and turned to me with a bright smile.
“So eager, love,” he grinned at me. “You must feel backed into quite a corner.”
I gave a false look of worry after Meeker, who was just a speck in the distance at this point.
Abbas followed my glance, calm resolution settling over his features as he saw what he thought I perceived as my biggest threat.
“The chains,” I reminded him. “I don’t even know how you got an enchanted object through the gates.”
Abbas shook his head. “A man can’t reveal all his secrets. Where’s the magic in that?” He raised his hand and mouthed a few words.
The blue glow around Quinn’s neck ceased, and Connor pulled the evil thing off of Quinn, tossing it onto the ground. It skittered across the stone, landing near my feet.
I stared at Quinn long and hard as he rubbed his chest and then shook the feeling back into his hands, as though they’d been asleep.
Are you okay? I asked.
Yes. And I think I got what you wanted when you went into the world domination bit. Abbas has memories of the dragon. He’s the one who met with the rebels.
I turned to Abbas and smiled, taking in the how the torches lining the balcony offset the rich golden embroidery of his undershirt. I met his deep brown eyes dead on. “Would you please place my crown on my head, darling?” I asked in an annoyingly saccharine voice as a servant brought up the crown of Evaness on a pillow. The crown was tall, studded with seashells and diamonds and turquoise.
“Of course,” Abbas grinned darkly.
I tried not to smirk at his superiority. I dipped into my curtsy and allowed him to fit the crown to my head.
I waited while the herald said the words that made me queen. I didn’t listen to a single one, all of my attention focused on what came next.
“And now,” the herald cried out, “your Queen and the Prince of Cheryn will sign their engagement documents.”
A quill and a scroll were brought forward. The same document each of my other suitors had signed. With one special addition from Cerena.
I signed on the line indicated and handed the quill to Abbas, letting nervous worry cross my features for a single second before I smothered it.
Abbas caught the look and grinned. “You should be nervous.” He signed his name with flourish. “For all the things I plan to do.”
I put a hand to my chest in mock worry.
“Oh no, Prince Abbas. You don’t plan to mislead or desert me, do you? You are aware you just signed a magically binding document?”
“What?”
“Oh yes. This particular engagement document ensures you’ll never find release with another woman again.”
Abbas’ face turned puce. “I’m nearly immortal.”
“Yes. Oh dear. That could be problematic. Unless of course, you’re into corpses?” I held up my hands and gave a suggestive shrug. “It also does one other thing.”
“What?” Abbas snapped.
I leaned forward, my voice a hoarse, angry growl. “If you ever betray me, you’ll end up just like Wyle.”
I let Abbas stew in his anger for a minute before I added to it.
I turned to wave happily to the crowd. Through my fake smile, I said, “You wondered why I made this so easy for you. Your brother flying around my lands, eating cattle and poisoning the crops with his breath, being led toward my little sister, is rather a nuisance. And since I’m going to kill him, I don’t want your father declaring war on me.”
Abbas jaw dropped. Just minutely. But enough for me to read the shock in his gaze.
I turned pressed a kiss against his furious face.
The crowd went wild.
Chapter Thirty-Two
To my shock, Abbas transformed the kiss. He slid his hand around the back of my neck and pulled my face closer. His tongue snaked in between my lips and tangled with mine. He sucked my tongue into his mouth and tugged on it. Then he released it and bit down on my lower lip. He feathered his lips over mine as he pulled back and met my eyes.
He left me panting.
“Like I said before, Bloss, it’s adorable when you bring out your little claws.” He let go of me then, took a step backward, and held up the blue ring he wore. He stroked it once with his finger.
A terrible roar filled the sky.
And there, in the distance, backed by the setting sun, appeared a black-winged nightmare. A dragon.
“Shite.”
I whirled to see my knights, their jaws gaping, their expressions shocked.
“Get Avia below! NOW!” I screeched at the servants. They all scrambled to get inside, dragging my sister with them.
I grabbed up the bullhorn the herald had dropped. The crowd below could not see the monster yet. I had to get them out of the courtyard but avoid mass panic. “Everyone please form orderly lines and proceed into the palace, immediately. My first action as Queen of Evaness is to invite you all to share a feast with me. Noble and common alike. Tonight, we celebrate Evaness.”
A cheer went up through the crowd.
Ryan stepped to the edge of the balcony and gave a hand signal to his soldiers, who immediately helped everyone into orderly lines. At a second hand signal, his troops even started diverting people to side entrances and servant entrances.
I turned to find Jorad facing me.
I stared sternly at him. “Fire War protocol, Jorad. Get everyone to ballroom, get the food. Then make the announcement that they need to relocate to the fireproof dungeons. Only make that announcement once Ryan’s men have the ballroom secured.”
Jorad gave a brisk nod and left.
I turned back to spy the beast flapping its wings, coming closer. The last of the sun’s rays glinted off its iridescent blue scales. The beast released a jet of black flame.
It was as though I had tunnel vision. The dragon was the only thing I could see as my heart thrummed like a war drum in my chest. Nothing else existed.
This was why I’d come back. To save my sister from this beast. To save Evaness.
I took a deep, bracing breath. I ignored the tremors that shot through my limbs.
“I need a gargoyle,” I whispered.
“No,” my husbands’ chorused. Even Connor.
“I can’t fight it here.”
“Darling,” a deadly purr sounded in my ear. “Why ever not?”