A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 2)

“There’s no way we’re all sitting on this horse. Hannon is too big. It is Hannon, right? We weren’t properly introduced. I’d say that was because Finley was raised in a barn, but that would disrespect both of you. You’re too big to disrespect, and she’s too mean.”

Hannon and I started walking at a brisk pace. Hadriel followed along behind us on the horse.

“How has it been?” Hannon asked me.

“Busy. I’ve been supplying the starter to make the potion—dang it, now they have me doing it—the elixir and demon-sex-magic-be-gone draught, and trying to get a garden sorted… I’m not allowed to go out at night, so I only have the daylight hours.”

“You’re not allowed?”

“Yeah, that sounds bad. I mean, it’s true, I am not allowed to go out at night. The other night I did anyway, but it turned into this whole thing, and it’s not worth the annoyance, honestly.”

“Saving my ass is an annoyance, is it?” Hadriel said. “And here I thought I was the light of your world.”

I rolled my eyes and continued. “Plus…the castle is pretty crazy at night. I don’t really want to get caught up in it.”

“Wow.” Hannon’s lips turned down. “I would not have thought anyone could tell you what you were and were not allowed to do.”

“Just so we’re clear,” Hadriel said, “she doesn’t typically do as she’s told. This is more of an instance of her knowing what’s good for her.”

“If you were there, Hannon, you’d get it,” I said. “The demons there are a lot more powerful. A few of them nearly threw Hadriel out of a window. Nyfain doesn’t rein me in otherwise, though, not even when dealing with the village earlier. It’s literally just at night that he gets crazy protective.”

“Just so we’re also clear, he is always crazy protective of her,” Hadriel said. “She just hasn’t tested him. If anyone touched her the wrong way, that person would soon be missing a throat. But no, he doesn’t seem concerned about reining her in.” Hadriel huffed. “Dragons. They are always asking for trouble.”

“If he wants trouble, he found it,” Hannon muttered with a grin.

“I haven’t had time for trouble. The kingdom is in a bad way and, come to find out, they aren’t even properly using all my hard work.” I pulled my ponytail in irritation.

“Yes, about that. What are we walking into?” Hannon asked.

I talked Hannon through the situation as we made our way. I clearly didn’t do a good job of describing the houses in the richer area, though, because he gaped at them as we arrived.

“These are enormous,” he said as we trod along the cobblestone.

“These are, yeah.”

“This place is way richer than our village.” Hannon looked off in the direction of their village center as I led us around the outskirts.

“Overall, yes, probably. But their poor people have it really bad, and our poor people—us—have all we need.”

“Barely, and that’s because we all work our butts off.”

“You’ll see.”

And he did see. His expression darkened, and his fists started to clench.

“It sounds like they get hassled a lot,” I murmured as we found Dabnye’s lane, Hadriel still following us on the horse, drawing plenty of attention. Horses clearly weren’t usually in this area of the village. “Maryanne, the woman we’ll see now, acted cowed over a bunch of stuff that I’ve always taken for granted. I could’ve pulled the everlass out of the ground and she would’ve let me. Can you imagine if someone from our village tried to do that to my plants?”

“No, I cannot,” Hannon said.

“No. Because I would rip that bastard’s face off. A lot of the wealth here is kept with a select group of people who are deemed important, and the rest just…die slowly, I guess. I don’t know.”

I rapped on Maryanne’s door. Her lovely face appeared in the window, her hair escaping her bun and frizzing on top of her head. She opened the door a moment later, a sheen of sweat coating her face.

“You came back,” she said. Her eyes took in Hannon, lingering for a moment, and then darted to Hadriel behind us, sliding off the horse. “And you brought a clown.”

A crooked smile worked up Hannon’s face.

“Of course we came back.” I walked into the house and went straight through to the backyard. “Why such a big house—in the scheme of things—for just you?”

“How do you know it is just me?”

“Because there is only one scent in it, and it belongs to you.”

She’d set up another little station nearer the back door, wood burning within a ring of rocks under a pot on a hook. A little table sat beside it, holding a mortar and pestle. It was perfect for smaller batches, which was exactly what she was readying.

“I lived with my gran and granddad when the curse hit,” she said. “They did okay for themselves. My cousin lived here with us, as well. But the sickness got my gran and granddad, and my cousin…” She smoothed the hair on her head. “He went into the royal wood to help disband one of the demon’s creatures…and didn’t come back. The prince wasn’t actively patrolling in those days. I’ve tried to house the orphaned children, but the council puts them in the workhouse. I have this big space, and no one will help me use it.”