Free Web NovelChapter 141: 141. Court II
Maisie
The thirteen hours long flight back to court was tense.
I sat with my arms wrapped around my knees and my gaze fixed out the window, but I didn’t need to look to know something was wrong. I felt it in the air, felt it down the bond, a restless energy that refused to abate.
And I knew it had something to do with the dead Lycan.
Violette’s goodbye had been filled with warm, perfumed hugs and several kisses, with her bullying me into promising I would visit again, even if I divorced them. I would always have a home with the Chastains.
Mr. Chastain had tried to share the same enthusiasm, but he was just as tense as the Lycans, worried about something.
It crawled like a bug into my chest, the urge to ask what was going on. Soren had said there would be a price to pay for the death of the Queen’s chosen sixth, but that was all I’d been able to get out of them. And I was way too upset about last night to break the silence and ask about it. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
They’d left me in the booth for four hours. Everytime my eyes fell shut, the vibrator intensified. I couldn’t move, couldn’t fall asleep. Couldn’t function. Could do anything but moan. Cry. Wait. And wait. And wait.
Before Mercer arrived with Charlene to put me out of my misery.
At which point, I had been too weak-kneed to protest against him shoving a shirt and a jacket over my head and lifting me out of there, while I sobbed from the sheer humiliation of it all.
I hadn’t spoken a word to either of them since then. Maybe it was childish deciding they were all dead to me, but fuck them.
But my silence came to an abrupt end the moment we stepped onto the familiar hallways of the castle.
Sweat broke out on my skin as I caught my reflection on the marbled floors. It was a little warm for the evening, but I began to shiver as I noted the red roofs, those gardens between the high, arched windows lush with flowers that should’ve been beautiful, the maids walking past with their heads lowered, whispering when they thought we were far out of reach, and the guards flanking us with hard expressions.
"May," Mercer said as I started to shiver and tremble.
Believe it or not, being back here was making me relive the trauma.
I could feel the binds around my wrists and the chain around my foot. I could feel the drag of the silky shift along my skin, and the eyes of thousands focused on my naked body, the insurmountable fear of being just a few hours from being gang raped by an entire race of men.
Bile rose up in my throat and I wanted to find the nearest potted plant to throw up in.
Calloused fingertips found my cheeks, forcing my gaze up to green ones. "Say the word and we’ll leave. Right now."
His thumb was drawing soothing circles around my temple, seducing me into taking in more deep breaths.
And think.
I knew enough from the Queen’s guards flanking us that this was no longer a regular visit to Court. It was a summons. They had to be here. And while I knew if I said I didn’t want to be here, they would put me back onto the first flight back to Ashbourne, I also knew whatever the summons was, I was going to need to recall my version of the events that lead up to a full bred’s death.
It was the least I could do for Quinlan. If rape was punishable by death, then my testimony mattered in ensuring he didn’t get punished unjustly.
I had to be here.
But it wasn’t just that.
Tucking tail and running right now would make me a coward. This wouldn’t be the last time I appeared before the Queen. I needed to get over my fear of her and I needed to do it now.
I pulled out of Mercer’s grip. "I-I’m fine."
Jericho shot me a worried look, but Mercer’s fingers slid down my arm, entwining our fingers, and I startled at the sight of them. How little mine was. How big and warm his were. For all his callouses, he had soft hands. "Hold on. It’ll be over faster than you can blink."
Hold on.
I close my fingers around his and let him pull me past hallway after hallway, past the fleeting courtiers who coo at us, lowering their heads in greetings to Soren, and muttering a brief "Your Highness," to the others, while staring at me like I’m some kind of specimen.
And then, we were being ushered through a set of double doors.
My heels screeched against the floors when I saw the riotous crowd hundreds already gathered in the hall, all of their hard gazes swinging to us, turning my insides cold.
The air of hostility shot up a notch, and there were fangs being bared at us.
Someone hissed at them, "Kin killer."
I flinched as another snarled viciously in my face. "Whore."
Jericho’s answering growl had her shuffling back into the shelter of a couple of men who cowered from the intensity of his stare.
My mates were so close, there wasn’t enough room to stare at the dais ahead, but I could feel her.
That power that stifled the entire room and felt like stepping onto coals of fire and needles. It lashed at us with rage, and my knees nearly gave out under me from the command that slapped right into my skull.
"Kneel."
We all tensed, and I knew they’d felt it, too. Were fighting it.
"My Adrian has gone missing," that cruel voice came from every direction, making my shoulders cave in. freewёbnoνel.com
"I’m sure you could find him between the legs of a maid or the cook if you looked hard enough," Soren drawled dryly. "He’s never kept his interest in them hidden."
Whispers echoed through the hall at the backhanded insult.
