Free Web NovelChapter 38: Chapter 38: Her Move
Ryophlira POV
The blinding flash of the teleportation portal shattered into millions of dissolving blue fragments, and the sheer majesty of the Northern realm hit me all at once. The rumors whispered wasteland filled with the dead but what lay before my eyes was entirely nothing like the rumors had said.
We stood overlooking a breathtaking, valley cradled by towering, mountain peaks that pierced the heavily frosted sky. A dense, endless sea of snow-laden pine trees carpeted the valley floor, parting only for a winding, icy river that snaked its way toward a sprawling, ethereal stone fortress. The air itself felt dense, untamed frost magic.
And yet, I didn’t feel cold. How could I, when my own blood ran so incredibly hot, a furnace of dragon fire beneath my skin?
Yue-Senn kept me securely against his chest as he walked over a grand, arched stone bridge. The architecture was beautiful, with intricate stone spires, delicate frozen vines climbing the pillars, and sprawling balconies dusted in pristine white snow.
Lined up in perfect, unyielding rows right in front of the grand palace doors stood ten maids and ten male servants, in immaculate dark uniforms. Behind them, fifty heavily armored foot soldiers stood like an impenetrable wall of steel.
It was only then, staring at the sheer scale of his domain, that the reality of the cold truly pricked at the edges of my senses.
"Greetings, Your Majesty. Welcome, Queen of the North," they chanted in a flawless, eerie unison. Without a single beat of delay, every soul dropped to their knees, bowing their heads deeply to the stone ground.
Yue-Senn smoothly moved his arm, gently placing me down on my own feet. The heavy white bridal train pooled around his boots.
"Thank you all for your warm greetings. Please rise," I said, my voice carrying the crisp, authoritative tone. free𝑤ebnovel.com
They rose instantly, but they kept their heads strictly bowed, refusing to meet my eyes out of absolute reverence—or fear. I turned slightly, gesturing toward the Ari who had emerged behind me with Ki-ri through the portal. "This is Ari, my lady-in-waiting and my personal maid. Please take excellent care of her."
"Yes, ma’am," the head servant responded with a deep nod. Ari reached out, her fingers trembling slightly as she squeezed my hand. I immediately squeezed back, offering her what little comfort I could manage.
Despite the grand welcome, a heavy weight pressed against my chest. Everything about this place felt deeply unsafe. Every survival instinct wired into my body was screaming at me, telling me to run, to escape, to get as far away from this fortress.
Yue-Senn brought his hands up, casually unbuttoning the front of his black suit jacket. His eyes flicked to his commander. "Please show my wife to our room," he ordered, his voice dripping with an icy detachment. "And prepare for me to take a visit to an old family member."
A sharp spark of anger flared within me. He was trying to leave. He wanted to handle his secret agendas and leave me isolated in a foreign cage on day one.
Oh, absolutely not.
I forced a brilliant, adoring smile onto my face. Turning on my heel, I walked over to him, deliberately closing every inch of distance between us until my dress rubbed against his trousers. Standing directly in front of him, I boldly wrapped my arms tightly around his waist pulling him close.
Yue-Senn stiffened for a fraction of a second, his eyes narrowing in sharp suspicion. "What are you doing, honey? Are you cold?" he asked, his tone a bizarre, mix of distant and warm all at once.
"Yes, darling," I pouted, tilting my head back to look up at him through my eyelashes has I bat them tightening my grip around his waist so he couldn’t back away. "I want you to keep me warm. Can you?"
I let my bottom lip quiver slightly, putting on a masterful performance for everyone watching. "How could you possibly leave your new wife on our wedding night? I was expecting you to do... all those things you whispered into my ear earlier."
To drive the nail in, I slowly drew my teeth over my bottom lip, biting it in a visual invitation that made his gaze darken instantly.
Behind us, Ki-ri let out a dry, forced cough, clearing his throat as he stepped forward. "The Queen is entirely right, my Lord," he intermitted, his face a mask of professional neutrality. "You need to attend to her needs. After all, that is exactly what is expected on the wedding night."
A smirk played on the inside of my cheeks. I pulled one of my hands away from his waist, slowly running my fingers up the exposed shirt of his unbuttoned jacket, my touch lingering over his chest. "Can you be gentle tonight, please?" I murmured, keeping my voice loud enough to carry. "I don’t want you to hurt our baby."
Yue-Senn’s lips twitched into a dangerous, Knowing smile. You want to play games? his eyes seemed to say. Fine. I will play along with your dumb little games.
Without a single word of warning, he wrapped one massive arm under my thighs and the other behind my back, snatching me completely off my feet. He moved with a terrifying speed, charging straight into the palace. He kicked the massive iron-reinforced doors open with a resounding bang, climbing the grand marble staircase like my weight was absolutely nothing to him.
The entire time, we held unbroken, suffocating eye contact. My arms were locked securely around his neck, my fingers digging into his hair as he carried me through the twisting, cavernous hallways of the fortress.
Reaching the end of a secluded corridor, he kicked open the double doors leading into the master royal suite. The bedroom was an absolute masterpiece of marble. Massive, towering arched windows stood wide open, draped in sheer, billowing white curtains that danced lazily in the arctic night wind.
Outside, a full moon hung high in the sky, casting a brilliant, silvery glow across the polished marble floors, illuminating the dark, distant lights of the kingdom below. In the center of the room sat a massive, ornate wooden bed.
Yue-Senn walked over to the bed, placing me down on the sheets with an unexpected, deceptive gentleness. He loomed over me, leaning down until his shadow entirely swallowed me whole, his eyes slowly roaming over every single exposed inch of my skin.
"Can’t decide where to taste first?" I teased him, my voice a low, sultry purr.
Slowly, deliberately, I hooked my fingers into the hem of my gown, lifting one side of the white dress up past all the way to my thigh. At the exact same time, I used my other hand to slowly, slide the off-the-shoulder sleeve of the dress completely down my arm, exposing the bare curve of my shoulder and upper part of my breast that formed a cleavage to the moonlight.
Yue-Senn’s jaw clenched, a muscle leaping in his cheek as a dark, dangerous heat flared in his eyes. "Be careful, my Queen," he warned, his voice dropping to a gravelly, tone. "It is highly unwise to tempt me."
I didn’t back down. Instead, I wrapped both of my legs firmly around his waist, using every ounce of my physical strength to pull him down into my space. With a sudden, explosive twist of my hips, I caught him off guard, flipping our positions entirely.
Within the blink of an eye, Yue-Senn was flat on his back against the mattress, and I was sitting triumphantly on top of him, straddling his hips.
Reaching up, I aggressively tore the heavy gold-embroidered wedding veil from my head, letting it flutter carelessly to the marble floor like garbage.
"You always find a way to absolutely amaze me," Yue-Senn murmured, a dark chuckle vibrating through his chest. He reached up, his hand coming up to gently trace the curve of my cheek.
"You told the entire kingdom that we are madly in love and expecting a baby" I leaned in whispered against his skin. I could feel him slowly harding against my inner thighs. eyes
"The show doesn’t simply end just because you are inside your own domain. There are rats everywhere."
"You’re right, my Queen," Yue-Senn agreed, his fingers sliding from my cheek down to my neck, cuffing the back of my nape firmly to tilt my head down a fraction of an inch. His thumb moved up, tracing the contour of my bottom lip where I had bitten him earlier.
"The rats don’t disappear behind palace walls." Said smiling.
I leaned in closer again with his hand still around my neck. my chest brushing against his. "You are staying right here with me tonight, right?"
I pull back so I can look down at him. To drive the point home, I slowly rocked my hips forward and back, a gentle, slow friction against his bugling hardness.
Yue-Senn let out a low, ragged breath, his grip on my neck tightening just enough to assert his dominance.
"Riding a big stallion horse isn’t for the weak darling ," he growled, a smirk touching his lips.
"It’s a good thing I am strong then." I winked at him.
"I thoroughly enjoy a woman who knows exactly what she is doing."
We didn’t break eye contact. The tension between us was a physical, entity, a dangerous game where neither of us wanted to blink first.
I let out a sudden, melodic laugh that echoed through the quiet bedroom.
"Answer me."
"You have my word, my Queen," Yue-Senn whispered, his eyes completely consumed by a dark, heavy lust. "I will stay right here. Just for you."
The very second the words left his mouth, the flirty, seductive gaze in my eyes vanished completely, turning to pure, ice.
I sharply clapped my hands together. Without a second thought, I slid off his lap and stood up to my feet on the floor.
In one swift, fluid motion, I gathered my long hair, throwing it up into a tight, practical knot away from my face.
Yue-Senn remained sprawled on the bed, momentarily frozen in a daze. His hand remained suspended in the empty air, exactly where my body had been just a few seconds prior.
He swallowed hard has he forced himself up on his elbows, staring up at me with a mixture of sheer shock and frustration.
I turned around, looking at him with zero emotion left on my face.
"Now, partner," I said, my voice completely deadpan, dropping the fake terms of endearment. "There are a few things I am going to need to start putting my plans into motion. And you are going to do them tonight."
I took a step closer to the edge of the bed, my eyes glowing. "You can choose to help me... or you can choose to burn with every single soul in your kingdom. You choose."
Before he could even process the threat, I reached down to the neckline of my wedding gown. With a sharp, violent tear, I ripped the expensive dress open down the front. I casually let the ruined, heavy dress slip off my hips, stepping out of the pile of white fabric as it crumpled onto the floor.
I stood before him illuminated by the moonlight, wearing nothing but a white lacei beaded bra, laced white underwear, and my heels.
Without breaking eye contact, I casually pulled an ornate wooden chair out from the side of the room, spinning it around and sitting down completely unfazed. I crossed my legs, resting my chin on my hand as my eyes blazed in the dark.
"What shall your answer be?" I asked coldly.
I was officially done playing.
