“She became the first wife when Alazander’s first wife died,” Faelyn supplied helpfully. I could only guess at that, based on the stories I had heard about him, he probably killed her.
I felt my heart sink to my toes. Ryder never said he’d marry me; he did say that if I hadn’t been the Light Heir, he’d keep me. I searched my memory for anything that he’d said that could have hinted at more between us then just being his concubine. I knew there wasn’t. Just that he’d keep me. Ryder had probably known all along that he wouldn’t marry me, or had things changed now that he knew that I was the Blood Princess, and that I was supposed to be Danu’s Heir. Didn’t that change things?
One thing was fore sure; I wouldn’t stand around and watch the man I love marry someone else. I’d have to make him love me, or leave him and hope he let me go.
Chapter Nine
Dristan, Sevrin, and Savlian arrived, dressed in the form fitting uniforms of the Elite Guard—sans headgear, and escorted us as a group to the crowded hall that was already filled with the waiting Horde. The room was unlike any other I’d seen so far in the palace, and had been decorated in crimson and black. A gigantic tapestry with the same design of the two Celtic dragons that had once adorned my hip and Ristan’s medallion covered one wall, only the dragons on the tapestry looked more fierce, and deadly.
My eyes wandered over to the back of the hall where the dais was and saw Ryder. His eyes watched me as I approached with the others. He was once again in king mode, his huge wings eclipsing the sun’s light that shined through the enormous stained glass window behind him. If it hadn’t been for the light coming in from the other windows, he would have been swallowed in the shadows they created.
The throne, on which Ryder sat, looked wickedly cool. The immense seat was created of black oak with skulls, and bones embedded in it. I narrowed my eyes, and with a sinking in the pit of my stomach, I realized that the bones were real. The arms of the throne were each finished with a skull on which his hands rested. Ewww…
To his right and slightly behind the throne, stood Ristan; Zahruk stood to his left, both wearing the black body armor of the Elite Guard. It was looking like all of Ryder’s men that had accompanied him in the human world were part of the unit as I was spotting them standing at attention at strategic posts behind Ryder.
Ryder looked to be in full control of the entire Horde; a proud beast, destined to rule them all. I shook myself from my inner thoughts as the group around me came to a full stop. We stood there until Ryder nodded, and all of the women in the room dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. Like sheep. Every male remained standing, which I thought was odd. I was the last to kneel, and only when I’d held Ryder’s eyes for a few moments before I silently and effortlessly dropped to the floor.
I felt like a stupid sheep, as if by going down, I was somehow admitting that I was his. As if! I only did it because I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of the entire Horde. Ristan had mentioned why we were here, and Darynda had assured me that I couldn’t just skip it. It wasn’t until Ryder stood, and held his hand out that I got the first inkling of what was going to happen.
“Synthia, stand and come to me,” Ryder said in his multi-layered voice.
I shook my head, but even as I did so, I was working on standing up.
“This is the Blood Princess, and also the mother to my first born child. She holds the key to Faery in her womb. Ristan has seen our child, the one who will begin the healing of our world,” Ryder said, and the room exploded with cheering Horde creatures. “I’ll have a vow from my kingdom to protect her from harm, and your protection of my child, Danu’s heir.”
The entire assembly said, “Aye,” as one. When I reached where Ryder was standing, we were joined by most of his men, and some I hadn’t seen before, as they moved into protective positions. When Ryder held out his hand, I hesitated, but placed mine in his much larger one. He pulled me close, and crushed his mouth against mine. The room once again broke into loud cheers.
“Bow to your people, Synthia,” he whispered, and I quickly gave a clumsy curtsey to those gawking as I turned to face them. Yes, I was hopelessly fucked.
I watched as they bowed back, and then I was pulled back around, and tucked beneath Ryder’s arm as he once again took the throne, with me in his lap. Cheers erupted as Ryder held up my hand, but I pulled it from him and glared openly at him which seemed to impress the Horde all the more.
“She is off limits to every male here; she is mine.”