A Throne of Fangs

10 - Bare Truths

I shook my head, almost stumbling back, but I righted myself. He didn’t even make a move to help me. “No, there is no way. You don’t know me.” But I saw the seriousness on his face. “Why?” I croaked.

He shrugged. “I saw you a while back, last year, at someone's wedding or something.” He waved his hand. “We never spoke, but I watched you. I had to admit I was intrigued. I coveted you for your beauty and your sharp mouth, the way you commanded attention in a room full of people, the power that you held over them.” He looked at me again like I was some sort of prize.

I should have felt that there was a compliment in there, but he said it in a way that made me feel like he owned me already, that he was entitled to me because he saw me.

His eyes turned to slits, and his face changed into something akin to dominant rage before he leaned down to whisper, “Let me make it clear, I will tolerate that behavior when you are with the ladies, servants, or Omegas. Maybe even in public, to your lessers, once you can prove you can hold back. But you will not act that way with me.” The command in his voice seemed to ripple through me.

I understood. I would not be myself unless I was with people he deemed less important.

“But why?” I asked, trying to find the words to make this make sense. “That was so long ago, why now?”

“I asked for you before. I told you it would have been too complicated politically.” He scowled at me. “Then my parents decided to choose for me.” A slow, wicked smile spread across his face. “I ensured they would never try that again.”

“You knew she wasn’t pure,” I whispered.

He laughed, and it skittered down my skin, clanging through me. To anyone else, it looked like a warm genuine laugh, but it felt, it felt like nothing. “I made sure of that.” He smiled without showing teeth. I raised a brow hoping he would go on, hoping for a moment to process this. “She liked me, she wanted me.” He shook his head as if that were obvious.

“You?” I breathed. “You were the one that… that...”

He nodded. “Yes, I took her v.irginity.” He seemed genuinely pleased with himself. “Wasn’t hard to convince her.”

“And you sent her away.” At least she was free, but I couldn’t be too happy about that because it was at the cost of my future. “She is living in shame,” I seethed.

How could he be so cavalier? Bethany talked about it this morning in the carriage. Her family and her reputation had taken a huge hit because it was assumed they lied to the crown.

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to marry her. I was debating a few others, but then your situation changed.” He slid his eyes down my body. I had never felt so unclean.

“You chose me from afar for reasons that you seem not to like. Why not choose someone who will always be what you want all of the time?” I was almost begging.

“You will do what I want all of the time,” he said matter-of-factly. “It will be more fun t.aming you.”

I swallowed. “You knew what you were taking me from, you knew I was supposed to lead…and you didn’t even…” I held my stomach as my inner fears started to tip out.

He didn’t ask me, didn’t know me. He just chose me. I could have lived with something more political, but this was so selfish, so callous, so ignorant. My dress felt too tight, the fabric too hot.

He tilted my chin to meet his eyes, forcing me to stand up straight. “I wanted you, so I got you,” he said, enunciating each word. “You are mine now, and you will do as I say.”

________

I managed to make my way down the stage without stumbling. After he released me, I backed away with a stumbling curtsy.

I paused by my father and Bethany at the foot of the steps and mumbled something about fresh air. The ballroom that moments ago seemed huge, filled with warmth and splendor just felt crushing and hot.

I searched for any exit, keeping my eyes down so people wouldn’t stop me. A pair of silver shoes and a swish of light blue fabric stopped directly in my path. I looked up, nodding, trying to move past her, but she moved with me.

“Can I help you?” I almost croaked, looking up into emerald eyes under hair that looked like the sun leaned down to kiss it. She had a regal, poised air about her. I immediately knew she was important here somehow, but I couldn’t find it in me even to pretend to care. “I apologize. I am stepping out for a few moments. I will find you when I’m back,” I added in a voice that sounded too quiet.

“My name is Margaret,” she said as if she didn’t hear me, and she might not have. “You are an interesting thing,” she noted tilting her head, her perfect updo stayed in place.

I nodded, trying to scoot past her again. She grabbed my elbow with a gloved arm. “I was speaking to you,” she spat.

It broke some of my haze for a moment. I took a step back, yanking my arm away from her. “I do not know who you are or who you think you are,” I told her, raising my head. “But you will never do that again. After tomorrow, I will be your Princess,” I said with cool confidence. The prince had a younger sister and brother, and she looked to be our age, so I knew no matter what, I would outrank her.

“You might have a crown, but you will have no sway,” she responded. I already knew that, but the fact that a stranger was repeating that to me made it ten times worse. I thought I would at least have a temporary illusion of power to cling to until I could somehow scrape some for myself.

“We will see what the prince thinks of that,” I responded.

She laughed. It was warm and tinkling, but her face was cruel. “I have more sway with Christian than you do.”

“Prince Christian,” I corrected her.

Her lips pulled back over brilliantly white teeth. “To you, maybe.”

“I assume you are a courtier that either wants to or has dug your nails into the prince. I am truly sorry that you were not chosen to marry him, you do not know how sorry I am,” I told her honestly. Her nose wrinkled. “I’m sure that must be painful for you.”

“I did not understand why he chose you, and I still don’t.”

“I do not either,” I admitted. “If you have sway with him, please ask him to reconsider.” Her cheeks reddened. Did she like him? I seemed to be offending her.

She took a step closer to me, but there was a buffer as the skirts of our dresses touched. “Just know that when he is not in your bed, he will be in mine.” She gave me a satisfied, cruel smile.

I nodded deeply to her. “I thank you for taking that chore off my hands.”

I turned before she could say anything else. At least that took some of my focus off my crushing emotions. For a moment, at least. I saw a door and rushed towards it, grabbing two glasses of champagne from the servant standing to the side. He tried to awkwardly help me open the door, but I put my finger over my lip, imploring him to keep my secret, and slipped out myself.

Thankfully, I found myself in a dark hallway. It was significantly cooler than the ballroom, but I was still too close. I needed to distance myself from the revelry I could still hear through the doors.

I wandered until I found a balcony. I pushed through the unmanned glass doors and half-ran to the edge of the long white stone. With shaky hands, I set the glasses down, placed my palms on the cool stone, and took deep, heaving breaths.

But still, I felt as if I were choking - drowning.

A muffled, choked sob left me. I had never felt so alone, been so alone. I couldn’t figure out what part of this was worse. My father agreeing to it, Bethany’s schemes that led me here, the person I was going to be tied to being utterly horrible, or the loss of any modicum of free will and power.

I grasped a glass and downed it, anything to settle some of my thoughts or feelings. I pushed past the sting of bubbles and kept drinking as tears slipped down my face. I threw the glass off the balcony, the only small rebellion I had left in me, but I knew I was only making more work for the servants and felt bad immediately.

I leaned forward and placed my head on the cool stone of the balcony railing, pretending I was anywhere else but here.

“Hello, Princess.” A voice that sounded of the space between stars rumbled.

I stood up slowly, brushing off my dress and reaching for my other glass for something to hold before I turned to him.

“I have to admit, I was surprised.” He took a few steps forward before stopping. “Do you want to be alone?”

“How did you find me?” I asked, worried others had noted my absence.

“I wasn’t looking,” he admitted. “I came here to be alone. And if that is the case for you, it defeats the purpose if I join you in your solitude.”

I was unsure of why I extended an invitation. I did want to be alone, but maybe I needed a distraction to pull me out of myself. Maybe I truly did not want to be as alone as I felt, so I motioned to the space next to me.

He strolled up, his black boots clicking off the stone, seeming as if he owned this place more than I did. He set his glass on the balcony, and I turned to do the same.

“The stars are pretty out here, are they not?” he asked.

“Don’t do that.” I shook my head. “I hate when people do that.”

I could sense his eyes on me. “You’re going to have to be more specific; I tend to do many things that people hate.”

I turned to him, directing a slight bit of the annoyance I felt at him. “I hate when people set you up with a question. You just made a statement, and instead of asking if I agree, you asked if I disagreed. It’s a set-up,” I responded.

A slow, bright smile spread across his face that lit up his dark features. He was beautiful in a way the gold prince wasn’t. He had sharp planes and steely confidence. He was darkness instead of light, but I thought I understood him more.

“It has become a bad habit, but not one I will shake,” he admitted, his smile dropping into a smirk that was no less breathtaking.

What was wrong with me?

“I started doing it intentionally,” he admitted. H; he looked back up, and I was released from his trance. I snapped my head forward and took another sip for something to do. “I did it so people would be inclined to agree with me, and it has stuck. But, since you are the first to call me out on it, I will do my best not to do that around you.”

I nodded, looking away when he turned back to me. “That is all I ask.” I was hyper aware of his presence next to me; it was as real as a touch.

“So. I find the stars to be quite remarkable this evening. What do you think about them?” he asked. “Or better yet, let me get your opinion first.” I could hear the mirth in the undertone of his rich voice. “What is your opinion of the sky this evening, Your Highness?”

I scowled at him. “I have not looked.” I tilted my chin up and was annoyed to find the night sky dancing with stars. “I do not like it.” I took a sip of my drink and frowned at the sky.

“May I ask you to elaborate?”

“They are far away from here,” I explained. “They get to twinkle and dance and just exist.”

“So it is not dislike, then. It is envy.”

“Those two things tend to come as a pairing,” I pointed out.

He didn’t say anything for a moment as we stood looking at the dazzling sky. I frowned at them over my glass.

“You do not wish to be here?” he said more than asked. I shook my head. Thankfully, he didn’t ask anything further about that topic. After another long moment of silence, he asked, “Do you wish to return to the party?”

I openly glared at him. “I am enjoying my last few hours where I can pretend I have a choice. I never thought I was optimistic, but I keep clinging to fantasies, so just let me have that. For one last night,” I spat. I knew it was unfair, but I didn’t have anyone else to direct any sort of anger at.

“Why don’t you run?” he asked, his tone was serious, imploring.

“I thought about it,” I admitted, running a finger around the rim of the glass. “But I have nowhere to run to.” I couldn’t return to my pack, even in secrecy. It would put my father at risk. As much as we drifted apart, I did love him.

I knew no one else that I trusted enough to hide me. Everyone I knew was because of pack politics, and I was certain they would turn me back to the royals, cherishing that reward over my autonomy.

I had no money. Well, not on me, and I had never survived outside a pack being waited on hand and foot. I realized I was lucky for that, and being stuck in a castle with no freedom as opposed to possibly dying on the streets with a bit of freedom still seemed like the better option.

“You know I could not do that.”

“I know,” he almost whispered, and it tightened my stomach. The confirmation from this stranger somehow made it more final. He took a sip of his drink, and I was distracted by the way his tanned throat bobbed up and down in the moonlight.

“And you’ve made your displeasure known?” he asked.

“Um.” I shook my head as if I could remove these strange feelings. “Yes, to my father, and even to the prince tonight. I almost begged him to choose someone else.”

“That would only make him want you more.” He paused.

That made my stomach turn, and I wanted to change the conversation away from me. Well, from the prince, mostly. “You couldn’t sway him for your pick?” I asked, glancing up at him.

His lips curled up. “I didn’t have a pick, actually.”

“I don’t believe you,” I told him.

He shook his head. Some of his inky hair came loose and fell over his forehead. “I won’t say I didn’t have preferences, but there was not enough time for me to prepare my own horse for the running, so to speak.” The corners of his lips tugged up briefly.

“I hate that I believe you,” I murmured, surprised at how quickly my views had changed.

He lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug. “I’ll tell you an honest truth, a secret, if you share one of yours.”

“You first.” I tilted my glass to him.

His eyes locked on mine. In the darkness, they seemed as black as the night sky, but when the moon hit them, there were currents of dark blue. “I am honest. People don’t expect honesty around here, so they find a way to twist words, piecing them apart for some hidden meaning because there usually is one.” He shrugged. “But that’s their prerogative, what they do with the truth.”

I mulled that over, taking a sip of my drink and then another. It made more sense than I realized. I wondered if he was as truly honest as he thought he was, though. We all played a part; politics was a game. Surely, he wasn’t always honest with his thoughts.

“You use their own game against them,” I repeated. “By not playing into their games.”

He chuckled once; it was deep and low and danced through me. “I guess you could say it like that. Yes.” He moved ever so slightly closer to me. My breath caught as the air between us seemed to crackle.

“You are truly honest? Always?” I asked. My voice was breathless, and I almost laughed. My arm brushed his black tunic, and my cheeks heated. I didn’t understand my body's response; it was just a bit of fabric.

“I try to be,” he responded. “I’ll tell you another truth.” His voice sounded raw.

“Go on.”

“I wish I could help you,” he whispered. His voice carried off to the stars, and I wished they would hear our combined pleas, but fate did not play out wishing on stars.

I swallowed, hiding my face with my glass, realizing I was on the last sip. He raised a hand and wrapped it around my glass. “Allow me,” he said, taking it from me. His fingers barely brushed mine, but my heart accelerated, and I had to wipe my clammy hands on my dress, hiding them in the fabric so he wouldn’t see.

“Now you,” he rumbled.

A truth. I had a lot of them, but I didn’t want to wade back into the emotions this conversation helped suppress. I didn’t want to bring up Bethany, my father, or my position.

My anger clawed its way up, and I let it say whatever it wanted without a leash. “I wish I would have f.ucked someone sooner,” I seethed.

He stilled. I didn’t look at him, but I knew the expression that would be on his face.

“Now, Princess,” he drawled. I was sure he was about to admonish me, tell me I had gone too far with my mouth and my honesty.

But all he said was, “Now, that I can help you with.”

The end of this sample.

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