A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 4)

“So everything you tell me, you’ll be telling him?”

Arleth cleared her throat. I was not behaving in line with her strictures. But dammit, I wanted to know. I liked Calia. I needed to understand how all this worked. I needed to know if we could ever be friends. How I could ever trust her if we were.

Calia studied me for a moment as we walked. Her gaze flicked to Arleth behind us and then back, turning intense. She didn’t want to answer with an audience.

“He’s a busy man,” Arleth said, sounding bored and relaxed at the same time. “All royals are. They need only the pertinent information with which to do their jobs.”

“Very true, Arleth,” Calia said, clasping her hands behind her back.

“Has Eris been warned that she is not dealing with a faerie?” Arleth asked. “Has anyone mentioned that alpha dragons, even the females, do not shy away from unpleasantness? I understand that my son was on his best behavior when he was here. As Finley will be, of course, but I worry Eris thinks she knows more about dragons than she really does.”

That was the most gracious, seemingly innocuous threat I’d ever heard. And it was akin to giving me the go-ahead to handle Eris however I saw fit. Hopefully I wouldn’t need to bother. After seeing Nyfain again, all scarred up and proud of it, the woman must know that he would be way more than she could ever handle, comfortably or otherwise. I bet they hadn’t rage-fucked once. How boring.

“She has not been warned, no.” Calia squinted a little. “I thought I might broach the subject with Finley first to gauge her reaction. I can certainly pass that on.”

“I don’t think there is a need, do you, Finley?” Arleth said. “I’m sure it was a shock to see a past acquaintance again, especially since he has moved on. She may lament her misfortune at losing the status he might’ve brought, and rage at another woman for gaining it. But soon enough she will realize that a dragon was never a good mate for her, and she will remember her place. Don’t you think?”

“Yes, of course,” Calia said. “I don’t doubt it.”

In other words: Don’t interfere. Let Finley handle it. Except I was crazy and violent and tended to make a scene. That wasn’t how things were supposed to go in courts, Arleth had been very clear on that when she was training me.

I turned to look back at her, an obvious question in my eyes.

“Oh, Finley, look at this.” Arleth grabbed my arm and moved me to the side, pointing at nothing.

Calia continued walking for a spell before slowing, waiting patiently for us. She didn’t ask what Arleth had seen. She was clearly giving my mate’s mother a chance to coach me.

“The way you taught me to handle jealous squabbles in court doesn’t seem to apply here,” I whispered as Arleth pointed at something else.

Delaney pushed in close, pretending to look too.

“It’s a risk, letting Finley handle this her way,” Delaney murmured. “Not just because of how taken aback everyone will probably be, but because of the baby.”

“The baby is not a concern in this situation,” Arleth replied. “Eris is…a gardener.”

“I’m a gardener,” I said.

Delaney scoffed. “You’re good at gardening; you’re not a gardener. You’re an alpha dragon.”

“Yes, exactly,” Arleth said. “Finley, this is not like handling someone from our court. Most of the faeries, unless specifically trained to be fierce, are a softer sort of people. This isn’t a regular court issue, either. This woman didn’t have a dowry when Nyfain knew her. She obviously still doesn’t, which is why she is unmarried and will never rise in the ranks. She has a legacy of status from her father, and that is all. It will die with her. It was a terrible match for him, way below his level, but he was desperate. She took advantage of that.”

I nodded because I remembered Arleth teaching me that unmarried people were looked upon unfavorably in this court. It meant they would either have children out of wedlock, something their society frowned upon, or they would never have children at all, which was not good for the court. A good bloodline was expected to be continued.

Eris had to be bumping up against the end of her childbearing years at this point. She wouldn’t be kicked out of the court for not producing, but her position might be encroached upon by someone more powerful rising in the ranks.

“I mean…did anyone mention to her that dragons have a hard time impregnating?” I asked. “Or is it easier with—”

I gritted my teeth, not able to finish that thought.

“I doubt he did,” Arleth said. “He was desperate, as I said. I was pushing him to get out, and not a lot of people would be willing to take on a refugee dragon prince of a mad king. He had the Syflora magic, though, and they wanted that bloodline.”