“Fates,” the king cursed softly under his breath.
My gaze darted to his face, catching the twist of pain on his lips and the regret in his eyes.
“She’s frozen?” I phrased it like a question, though I knew the answer.
He jerked his head in a nod, glancing down at me. The hurt in his eyes vanished as they met mine, replaced by cold determination. It chilled me to the bone.
He really cared about his people. He was gruff and mean—to me, at least, given the whole sacrifice thing—but he really, really cared.
And they were definitely in trouble.
The air was so cold that I could see my breath. And that same magic was randomly freezing his people.
He didn’t even know me. He certainly didn’t care about me the way he cared about them. I thought I sensed the regret in his soul over what he had to do to me, but it wasn’t enough to stop him.
How the hell was I going to convince him to spare my life over theirs?
I wasn’t.
I needed a plan, and I needed one fast.
He made another call on his comms charm to report the frozen woman, then pulled me into his throne room, waving his free hand behind him so the doors slammed shut. The hearth was still dead and quiet, the room silent except for an array of food on a table that hadn’t been there earlier.
He dropped my arm and gestured toward it. “Eat.”
“No thanks. I don’t want to be stuck here.” Most Fae fruit could trap you in their realm. It was possible other food could as well.
“It’s not that kind of fruit. The ceremony must take place just outside of our kingdom, so I wouldn’t give you that.”
I eyed him suspiciously as my stomach grumbled.
Damn it.
I might as well check it out. I strode toward the food, unwillingly impressed by the massive array. The king didn’t join me.
“You’re not eating?” I asked him as my mind raced, trying to come up with a plan.
He shook his head, but he watched me closely as I inspected the food.
That meant this was all for me. He’d given me such a selection. Tantalizing salads, bowls of gleaming fruit that didn’t reek of magic, meats, cheeses, and breads.
My gaze snagged on the golden brown pastries shaped like halfmoons. Cornish pasties. My mouth watered. It wasn’t like he knew I loved them. They were literally from this region. It was just coincidence that my favorite food was here.
I turned back and eyed him suspiciously. “This is better treatment than I expected.”
“Just eat.”
I scowled at him. But he was right. I should eat. I’d need my strength. I went straight for one of the pasties, hoping it was cheese and onion. When the familiar flavor exploded on my tongue, I had to stop myself from scarfing it down.
As I ate, a servant delivered a cloak, which the king took. He approached and handed it to me.
I watched him warily as I took it. “Why are you being nice to me?”
“I’d hardly say I’m nice.”
I swung the cloak on, grateful for the warmth against the chill in this freezing place. “No, I suppose you’re not. But something is up. Why the food and cloak? Surely I don’t need it to play my part.”
His jaw tightened, and the word sounded torn from him. “You’re my mate.”
Ah. Of course. He felt compelled to take care of me. To protect me. It was the nature of the bond. I could use that against him.
It couldn’t be easy on him that fate had decreed he must sacrifice me to save his people. If he actually did the deed, it would kill him eventually. His soul, at least.
I steeled myself against feeling sorry for him. It was my life on the line. And the lives of all the people in my court, since I was supposed to save them one day.
It was all too much pressure—I had to die to save his people and live to save my own.
I wanted to run away from it all. Instead, I’d run at it.
A knock sounded at the door, and he commanded whoever it was to enter.
A small woman ran in, tears streaming down her wrinkled face. Her cloak was a thick, pale blue and trimmed in fur. “My lord! My lord! Voramir has frozen!”
Voramir was a male Fae name, which meant it was a second person in less than an hour.
Pain flashed across the king’s face before he turned to the woman. “Take him to the infirmary. We will have a solution before he turns fully. I promise.”
The intensity of his voice seemed to calm the woman, and she drew in a shuddering breath. “Thank you, my lord.”
Shit.
This was bad. “Turned fully” had to refer to Voramir becoming a monster. This was happening way too often. Way too fast.
These people were really at the end of the line.
I turned away from the food, my appetite totally gone.
The woman left, and the king looked at me. “We can fix all of this. You can fix all of this.”
That hardened me right up. “With my death.”
Pain flashed in his eyes, bright and distinct. His hands formed fists, white at the knuckles. Then, the signs were gone, almost as soon as they appeared. His blue eyes were icy once more and his fists no longer clenched.
But still, I’d seen it. “You hate this, but you’re doing it anyway.”
“I have to do it.” His voice was hard. “I do not know you, but I know these people. They are my people, and it is my responsibility to save them.”
“At the expense of my life.”
“One death to save thousands.”
“My death. And the deaths of my people, when I’m not around to save them as I’m fated to.”
He gaze darkened and he turned away. I walked around the table to stare up at him, my mind racing for a plan. “I’m your mate. Killing me will kill you, eventually.”
Somehow, his eyes turned even harder. But he couldn’t deny it. I was his mate—he’d feel the pain of my death like it was his own.
“My life is not actually mine.” He stepped closer to me, raising a hand as if to reach for me. But he made a fist and dropped it. “What I want is of no consequence.”
Frustration seethed within me.
“You are Fae but don’t act like it,” he said, changing the subject.
“I’m not Fae. Not really. Not anymore.” Not ever since I’d left my homeland.
“You are, even without wings.”
“You know I don’t have them?” Pain twisted inside me.
He nodded sharply.
“It’s your fault, you know. My Court removed them with magic to help me hide better. If I’d been able to stay on Dartmoor, I’d still have them. But I was forced to flee and hide. Because of you.” Anger rose in me. I felt a little bit bad for him, yes. And I definitely felt bad for his people. But still, the threat of him—the threat of this—had taken everything from me. “Because our seer foretold what you would do to me, my people forced me to leave. To hide from you. They knew you’d come for me on our land, so I had to leave everything I loved. All because of this prophecy.”
This prophecy.
An idea sparked to life.
“It must be done,” he said.
Anger sparked inside me. Fates, I hated him. No matter how tortured he was over this, he was still going to do it. “You stole my future from me. My home. My wings. And now you’ll kill me.”