A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(10)

“She has requested you in the throne room within thirty minutes’ time.” She ignored my question altogether, and I let my anger with her seethe.

“I can bathe myself.” I took a bite of the bread before dipping my spoon into the stew and taking a large bite.

Eletta looked around the room as if she was unsure what to do, and for a moment, I felt sorry for her. Had I not just been the girl who knew nothing but the lies I was told? How could I expect her to know the things that I did when she had spent her lifetime under the king and queen’s rule?

“If you’ll fill the tub, I will be ready in time.”

She let out a sigh and clasped her hands together before quickly moving into the washroom.

I ate every bite as I listened to the tub filling then Eletta leaving the room. She hesitated by the door before she slowly closed it behind her, but I would not allow her to help me. I would not lean on anyone in this kingdom.

I bathed quickly and pulled on the dress Eletta had set out for me. When I stared in the mirror, it was almost comical how different I looked. This variation of Adara was so different from the version I was with Evren.

I looked like the lost girl that first came to the fae kingdom. As I stared at myself in the mirror, I reminded myself of who I was. I was the Starblessed that was promised. Not to Gavril. I was promised to Evren, the crowned prince of the Blood kingdom, and I would not cower in front of these people.

I would not let them see my weaknesses, and I refused to break regardless of what they did to me. I would not break.

I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, my hair was still wet and pulled back in a simple braid, something that I knew the queen would hate, and Eletta barely met my eyes as I started down the hallway toward the throne room. I didn’t let her see the way I shuddered as I passed Gavril’s bedroom, the place he first took from me, and I clasped my hands together to stop the trembling as we finally stepped in front of the double doors of the throne room.

Raising my chin as the guards opened the doors, I stepped inside without being beckoned. The queen’s eyes tracked me immediately, and there was a grimace on her face that made me both fearful and smug at the same time.

Gavril sat at her side on the thrones, but the king was nowhere to be found.

It didn’t matter. The queen was the one who truly ruled this kingdom, it was her wrath that I would face. Hers and her cruel son’s.

I stopped in front of them, but I didn’t dare bow before them. They both waited expectantly, and after a moment when neither of them spoke, I opened my mouth before they could. “I was told you summoned me.” I dipped into a small curtsy dramatically and lifted my skirt. “And what can I do to serve my captors?”

“Captors?” The queen spat out the word. “The bastard prince stole you from our side. He was sworn to protect you, and instead, he betrayed his kingdom. He is a traitor. He was your captor.”

Even though I knew I had given Evren every ounce of my power, I could feel a trickle of it warming inside me with my anger. Deep in my gut, it called to me, and I wished I could call it forth now to destroy the queen and everything she stood for.

“You will not speak of my mate in such a way again. He is the crowned prince of the Blood kingdom. He is the rightful heir to the throne at which your son now sits, and you will address him as such.” There was so much venom in my words, and an audible breath left the queen’s mouth. Her eyes widened as she tried to hold her ground and hide her fear.

“I will speak of him how I wish to.” The queen glared at me, and I knew that she was unaccustomed to being challenged. Gavril was his mother’s puppet, and I had no doubt that he and his father likely never went against her. No one did. “It would appear the bastard prince did more than just use you as his whore. He gave you a backbone as well.”

My jaw tightened at her words, but she wasn’t finished.

“That was dangerous of him. You would think Evren would have told you what happened to traitorous people in my kingdom who think they are above our rule.”

My stomach hardened, and I searched her face. “He is above your rule.”

She grinned, the look terrifying, and stood from her throne. “Yet when the traitor returned without you and thought me foolish, his skin bled as easily as yours will.”

I jerked backward and her grin widened. I knew that Evren had been harmed when he returned to the Blood kingdom, but I hadn’t thought… I hadn’t even considered that it was by the queen’s hand.

“What did you do to my mate?”

“Cling to that word, Starblessed.” She moved closer to me until the overpowering smell of roses hit my nose. “You will need every bit of power you think it gives you while I remind you where you belong.”

She circled around me, and I jumped when her fingers trailed over my braid. She tsked, clearly unhappy with my appearance, but she continued around me, and her gaze met her son’s for the first time since I entered the room.

“Do you think you can handle the Starblessed on your own, or should I accompany you while you feed from her?”

“No.” That same tendril of power stirred inside me, and I shook my head as I took a step back.

“It isn’t a choice, Starblessed.” The queen looked back to me. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting for you and Gavril to be wed any longer.”

I choked out a laugh. “I’m not marrying him, and he’s not feeding from me.”