“It was an accident,” I insisted. The woman on the ground started shaking, either in gratitude that I attempted to save her life, or she couldn’t cope with this dragging out for much longer.

“Are you saying you do not condemn Elisia’s actions and vote to overrule my punishment of death?”

The king’s question brought Karmuth out of his stoic stance and he finally looked at me with a warning in his eyes.

My mother shifted on the seat next to Grath as if the whole situation made her uncomfortable. Well, get used to it. This is what comes with marrying a fae king, dark or not.

This was what she chose over a quiet life in Elverstone.

Seeing this part of the death fae court must’ve been a first for her, because her eyes begged me to tread carefully. She loved Grath and would not interfere on my behalf.

It was up to me to make the choice, submission or sticking to my beliefs. And I would remain true to myself.

“Elisia,” I repeated the name King Grath had said, “did nothing wrong.”

The woman was openly weeping now. One of the warriors, the bald one—Sinister—had his hands in fists and didn’t look far from silencing the maid with a proper hit to just the right place for knockout.

Karmuth looked like he wanted to silence me in a similar fashion. Regar raised an eyebrow and studied me with renewed interest as if he’d pegged me wrong the first time we’d met. I bet he also wondered if I would have stood up for him had I accepted his handshake and he’d ‘accidentally’ drawn on my ecos.

“Is that what you want me to tell to the rest of the court when I let her walk free? That she didn’t do anything wrong?” the king spoke to me with a quietness, as if trying to guide a stubborn horse into agreeing to be saddled. “Many of the fae under me would take it the wrong way, Isay, and make an attempt on your life. If a simple servant could get away with stealing part of your life force, what could a higher fae do? You see now why I couldn’t let this go.”

He wanted me to choose for Elisia’s death, wanted me to understand his reasoning. My connection to living things was too strong for me to agree with him. However, I knew I wouldn’t win this argument, so I stayed quiet.

“Isay, do you see why Elisia has to die?” King Grath asked again, and I gritted my teeth to stop an unacceptable outburst.

Instead of answering I stared at my feet, and he continued to explain as if to a child.

“I cannot protect you if the fae under me see I don’t take my own rules seriously. Punishment of death is the only thing keeping them from feeding on your life. Do you understand why I cannot let this happen?”

Reluctantly, I nodded my head, and my mother let out a sigh of relief. My own breath felt like fire burning through my lungs as I huffed.

She knew our obligation to protect life. She knew how hard it was for me to stand down from this argument. How could she just sit there and look relieved by me choosing death over life? How could she approve of murdering this innocent woman?

“I need you to say it out loud, Isay.”

I raised my eyes to the king’s dark ones. I would not be calling him my stepfather again. Not happening. From now, on he would be the Evil One, the One That Killed a Maid, the One That Made Me Agree to it.

“Yes,” I gritted out through my teeth, “I understand perfectly.”

“Good.” The Evil One smiled at me, and I hated him even more. “Now I’ve got something for you that’ll help you avoid what happened with the servant. Come on, let me show you.”

He had something to avoid meaningless death? He had something that would have kept Elisia alive and he was only now telling me about this? Now that the kitchen maid was already condemned?

From the corner of my eye I saw two guards dragging Elisia away, straight to her death. Yet here was a solution to my problem? The one that made the whole fae court look at me as nourishment. There was a different way other than simply avoiding contact with every single one of them and the One That Killed a Maid told me that now, after I’d agreed to the execution.

My blood was boiling as I walked even closer to him to see what he was holding in his hands.

It was a small velvet case, and when he opened it, I saw a plain ring sat on a miniature pillow inside. “Don’t tell me this is a marriage proposal. You’ve already got my mother. My answer is no.”

He chuckled. I hated the sound of it. I hated how his eyes shone with joy as he looked at my mother next to him on the other throne. The gentle brush of his fingers on her arm that made her shiver with pleasure.

“Oh, I have no intention of polygamy, Isay. I had this ring made for you to prevent the touch of death. As long as you’re wearing it, your ecos is safe from my fae, but it does not offer protection infinitely, so do not go touching death fae for entertainment.”

For some reason the king—I’m sorry, the One That Made Me Agree to it—looked straight at Karmuth when he said it. Not the rest of the warriors, Regar for example, who’d found it entertaining to try and shake my hand. I had no idea what sort of entertainment Karmuth and I could possibly find in each other. I wouldn’t touch him if my life depended on it.

“When it’s about to run out, it will turn cold. That’s when it needs to get replenished,” King Grath said, handing the box to my mother who then gave it to me. “Wear it at all times, Isay.”

“Put it on,” she said gently, tucking a stray hair of mine behind my ear before she retreated her hand.

Her smile spread over her whole face and radiated from her in a wave of ecos I felt spreading around through the fae gathered in the room, her way of reinforcing life. I couldn’t stay mad at her when she looked like that, when she gave life force to the fae in this court.

As if reading my dilemma, my mother said, “Sometimes you’ve got to choose your battles, dear.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. Then I took the ring out of its box and slid it onto my finger. The metal warmed upon making contact with my skin, and a soft thrum vibrated through it, a constant reminder that I wore it, but it wasn’t irritating.

“How do I know if this works?” I asked, staring at the ring on my finger.

It really did look plain. A simple metal band without any recognisable markings. No design to it whatsoever. It would go unnoticed by anyone unaware of what to look for.

The king grinned. “We can test it out this once.”

He stood up from his throne and pulled me into a hearty hug. I yelped before I realised nothing else happened.

I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but it felt good to be hugged. I’d missed this kind of contact, but I squirmed out of his embrace the first chance I got.

He didn’t linger. “Welcome to the family, Isay,” he said before sitting back on his throne. “I hope that in time you’ll feel at home here.”

“Thanks,” I muttered under my breath. I doubted it.

Chapter 6

KARMUTH

A REGION IN MY GUT ITCHED AGAIN. IT WAS TOO SOON, AS I’D JUST taken care of it three nights ago, but the itch was unmistakable.

It wasn’t that I had to feed again, because god knows I didn’t. The life force I’d gotten from Sela and through the servant afterwards took care of that. The regular bursts Queen Siya sent through the whole court maintained my ecos level at a steady high even as I let most of it pass me by.

This itch was something else, and it started the moment Isay walked into the throne room.

Now it had been totally bearable, if a little inconvenient, but the same place started throbbing painfully when the king pulled Isay into a hug. I’m not talking about my dick. That was a completely different sensation, when unwanted thoughts filled my brain now that Isay wasn’t completely untouchable any longer.

The king’s warning of not using this new development for my specific entertainment rang clear, but my body refused to get with the program.

I could easily take care of the discomfort below my belt, but I had no clue how to scratch the prickle in my gut. As far as I knew, it always went away after my sessions with Sela and didn’t come back for several weeks, often together with the need to feed. I’d assumed it was another way for my body to let me know I was running low and needed replenishments. I wasn’t running low now, and my gut twisted like a motherfucker anyway.

Isay stepped away from the king and some of my tension eased, but the original itch remained. What the actual f—

“—family, Isay. I hope that in time you’ll feel at home here.”