“Don’t,” I say to him, putting my fingers up to his lips. “You know that I can’t.”
His look of sorrow rips through my heart. I know I am his only hope of ever having a child, but it’s not enough. It’s not enough for me to have my husband walk away from me.
“Let’s go,” he says, taking my hand and averting his eyes from mine.
We make our way out of the forest and onto the main road that leads to my father’s palace. Ergh! Drake’s palace.
The silence is a comfortable one despite the awkwardness from before.
“How do you think he will react?” I ask him after a few minutes.
“He will deny it, of course,” Vito replies.
“Hmm,” I murmur. I have no idea how to approach this subject. Do I blurt it out? Do I ask him about his daughter first and where that leaves me? Do I shout at him that I hate him and renounce my Fae side? I tried that once before and he just laughed at me. He is an impossible man to read and I am now starting to dread this conversation.
As we approach the foreboding palace, my hand tightens in Vito’s and he squeezes it reassuringly. I take comfort in it and sidle just that bit closer to him.
Jethro, the head of the Dark Fae Guard, is there to greet us, having been alerted to our presence through our walk down the main road.
“Princess,” he says shortly, looking scandalized at my high heels, jeans, and vest top. Screw him. Screw all of them. No way was I walking in here like Drake wants me to. It’s the ultimate “fuck you” as far as I am concerned.
“Your father is waiting for you,” Jethro continues, turning to lead us inside.
We both remain silent as the doors boom shut behind us and we are once again in the home of my father.
Drake is standing there glaring at us like he wants to commit murder. “Aeval,” he barks. “About time you showed up.”
I jerk back slightly at his response. “Me? What about you? You could quite as easily have come to me,” I spit back.
“I did,” he says stiffly. “I was told, repeatedly, that you would come to me in your own time. Took enough of the damn thing.”
Told by whom?
“Your lack of presence has been most noticeable seeing as your husband was murd
ered and you have been nowhere to be seen,” he continues.
I can’t help the low growl that escapes me.
Drake narrows his eyes at me and then gestures with his head that we should follow. He leads us into the big meeting hall and slams the door shut behind us. “You need to explain yourself right now, my girl. I cannot help you further until you do.”
“Help me?” I scream at him. “Help me? You have ruined my life!”
“Watch your tone,” he snarls at me. “I have kept you from being dragged to the Light Fae for questioning. As you may have noticed, Daughter, three of their Kings have been killed since you arrived here to claim your place as my daughter. You are not exactly above suspicion.”
“I did not kill Sebastian! Nor did I kill Thrace and if I recall it was you who killed Aelfric,” I point out at volume.
“With good reason,” he booms back at me.
I do have the grace to look abashed at that and lower my eyes.
“All that aside, I know that you conspired with Sebastian to kill my unborn child. A child that you may or may not know was all Dark Fae,” I say quietly, wanting to hit him where it hurts.
His eyes pinch and go swiftly to Vito. “I know it,” he says stiffly.
“Then why?” I scream at him. “How could you do that to me? To us? To you?”
“I did what I had to as King. The Fae–all of them–needed the blessed child. As much as it pained me to lose a grandchild, I did what I had to.” He crosses his arms to defend himself.