“It’s either that, or I scream my head off. You can pick.”
He rolled his eyes and started walking. I smiled and threw a triumphant look over my shoulder to Darynda who had been silent through the argument. Her eyes were wide, as if she feared Sinjinn would have been angry at me for arguing with him. She totally needed to get out more.
“How did you do that?” she hissed quietly when she caught up to me.
I looked at her and grinned. “Easy; this isn’t my first rodeo ride with the King and his band of merry men.”
“Rodeo?” she questioned.
I rolled my eyes again. “I’ve been around Ryder for over two months now, and he wasn’t the Horde King yet. Obviously, because if I’d known, I wouldn’t be expecting his child…”
We retraced our journey of yesterday to the throne room. The castle was huge, and had been built of white stone. It was old, but it had been updated so that it didn’t look like something out of the middle ages…or older.
Chandeliers dotted the high ceilings of the walkways, and get this! Candles, yes, actual candles, and flaming torches in the wall scones lit the way. I had to almost run to keep up with Sinjinn’s long strides, but then Darynda did, too. It made it hard to take anything in while running behind him.
The room that was ahead of us was filled with creatures of the Horde. The one currently speaking…err…screaming was a Shape Shifter, if his inability to hold human form while screaming was anything to go off of.
“They are inside of Faery. What is it you plan to do about it, King?” he sneered.
“I plan to find them and bleed them out…slowly. I have scouts out scouring our borders. If you have an issue with this Silan, say it,” Ryder growled as his wings grew wide behind him, even though he was seated on his wicked throne.
Ryder looked good upon the throne. He looked like he belonged on it. The Shifter continued to argue, and Ryder seemed to grow bored with his rant. It wasn’t until another man who looked close in looks to the other Shifter stood up and interrupted, that it ended.
“My King, Silan is only worried because his mate is heavy with child. He does not wish to throw down a challenge,” the male said.
I took him in. His vivid blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair made him look almost human. He was Fae, but instead of being beautiful, he was rugged and handsome, like Ryder in his regular Fae form. I swung my eyes back to Ryder to find him staring at me. I exhaled a shaky breath as the fight and the reason I’d been angry evaporated with the wicked little smirk he gave me.
“I, too, understand the fear of having the Mages inside Faery during this time. Synthia, please, come to me,” Ryder said standing, his attention now on me.
I narrowed my eyes, but did as he asked. I was taking the stairs up to the throne when a silver throne with a comfortable looking white square pillow in the center appeared from thin air to the left of his badass throne. I let the electric hum of his presence flow through me as I accepted his hand. It wasn’t until I felt his magic flow over my skin that I realized I was now dressed in a red ball gown, with a huge balloon skirt. I raised an irritated brow at Ryder. “Seriously?”
“I like you in red,” was his answer to me. To the Shifter he said, “This is Synthia, she is the Blood Princess. She’s also pregnant with my first child. So yes, I understand the need to eradicate the threat to our people more than most. Unlike my father,” his eyes never left mine, “I do not plan on breeding an army of sons. She will likely be the only women to carry my child.”
“Right,” I ground out, sarcastically.
“Do not argue with me in front of the Horde. In my bedroom, in my room, or sitting on my cock you can argue. Not here. Here, I am the Horde King. Here, I have to kill people for less.” His voice traveled across my mind, startling me. I knew he did this all the time with his men, but this was a first for me. I gave him a saucy smirk.
“Then leave me out of it, King.”
“Never.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”
“Change this damn dress to something that doesn’t look like Cinderella took acid and met Alice in Wonderland for a trip, and even though I don’t want to be your damn dinner, I will have dinner with you.”
His laugh fluttered through my mind before he tilted his head slightly to the side. “I wasn’t asking to eat you. Tempting as it is, I was asking if you would have dinner with me tonight, Pet.”
“Dinner?” I raised a brow as I threw the answer at him. He was joking, right? He was holding court, and we were neck deep in a private conversation, and he was asking me out on a date? Since I was pregnant, you would think we would have been past the dating stage.