Ryder snapped his fingers and servants came running to remove it and place it further down the long table. “Better?”
“Thank you,” I said, removing my hand.
“My king, I was under the impression in the contract your father agreed to, that Abiageal would be the one to birth the heir. She will be the first wife, as was your mother,” Cornelius said with a glare that could have melted the iceberg that sank the Titanic. It was leveled at me.
“The contract stated that I should take your daughter as my first wife. Danu designates the Heirs, so this is an assumption on your part,” Ryder said, leveling the dark haired man with an equal deadly glare. “I’ve been reading over the contract between you and my father. You wanted to ensure that it was unbreakable.”
Cornelius narrowed his green and yellow eyes crudely. “Are you trying to find a way out of it? I assure you, there isn’t one.”
“I didn’t say that now, did I?” Ryder growled from deep in his chest.
“My daughter was to be the queen, and with the title comes the opportunity of the Heir. The previous three generations of Heirs were born from the first wife.”
“That was an assumption on your part rather than being in the contract, as Alazander did not think he would ever die. Synthia wasn’t planned. She is, however, my choice. Have a care how you proceed, Cornelius.”
“Are you threatening me?” he sputtered.
“No, I’m warning you. If I was threatening you, you’d know it. I don’t plan on ruling as my father has, and that means there will be a lot of changes. I took Synthia, Princess of a Royal Caste. She may not be from the Horde, but she is my choice as the mother to my children, Cornelius. That was not addressed in the contract, nor was it my father’s right to give. It is my choice alone, and she is my choice.”
Okay, so dinner was awkward!
“She is lovely,” Abiageal said sweetly, her big brown and lilac eyes still plastered to the table.
“Thank you, Abiageal. She is exquisite,” Ryder said as his hand slid down my leg beneath the table.
I almost jumped as his fingers fluttered over the silk dress and his heat sank into my skin, setting it ablaze. This wasn’t the place to set me on fire, considering how unbalanced my sex drive was. I couldn’t get enough of him as it was.
“Still, the first pregnancy should go to my daughter! I was promised it!” Cornelius slammed his hands on the table, forcing more eyes from around the room to look at us.
“There was no promise of it,” Ryder said in that voice that brooked no argument.
“It’s irrelevant, as I’m in the second trimester of my pregnancy,” I pointed out.
“There are herbs to take care of unwanted bairns!” Cornelius said in a high pitched nasal voice.
Ryder moved so fast that no one saw him until Cornelius screeched in terror from across the room. Ryder had him pinned to the wall with his hands around the guy’s neck. “That child will not be harmed. If anyone so much as attempts it, I will kill them in a way that makes my father look weak!” Ryder roared in his multi-layered voice.
“Ristan, I think dinner is done,” I said, looking at poor Abiageal, who looked about as tan as a ghost. “He won’t hurt him,” I assured her. I hoped he didn’t, since every Royal of the Horde was watching him.
“My father had no right to say that to you. It was meant as a barb, and shouldn’t have been even whispered out loud. There are too few children in Faery now, and to even say that in jest was cruel,” Abiageal murmured softly.
Well shit. She was sweet. So much for hating her. She was the opposite of Claire.
Chapter Thirty-Four
We entered the grand hall and came face to face with the last people on earth, or Faery, that I ever wanted to see again. Dresden and Tatiana both glared at me as they blocked my way.
“Well, aren’t you just full of surprises,” Dresden spewed harshly as his eyes roamed from my breasts to my abdomen.
“Such a joy pregnancy is,” Tatiana said as her husband’s eyes got stuck on my breasts.
“I guess I am,” I replied, feeling a little bold, considering who was behind me guarding my back. “And this pregnancy has been a joy,” I said, making sure I had replied to them both. The pregnancy had been a surprise that had both shocked and joyed me.
“Had I known you were so fertile, I would have kept you around,” Dresden pressed.
“That wasn’t one of your options,” I indulged him, but only because I wanted to see his face when Ryder joined us.
I didn’t have long to wait as Ryder rounded the corner and stood beside me. His eyes went from my stiff posture, to Dresden who had yet to look up. Sensing Ryder’s presence, he finally did, thankfully.
“You!” he growled as recognition dawned on him that the new Horde King named Ryder was the very same Ryder he had thought was one of Kier’s sons. It also didn’t help that Ryder was no longer disguising how much power he had when he was in his Fae form.