A Kingdom of Lies (Realm of Fey #2)

CHAPTER 1

Blood dried between my fingers as I held a hand over the fresh wound. It was a strange feeling, to heal without medicine or prolonged time. The smaller the cut, the quicker the flesh knitted back together. Large wounds took longer to heal, but still faster than it would have been before .

Before I claimed the Icethorn Court and became its king.

“Careful, little bird,” Erix said, bending his knees with his blade raised before him. The dawn light caught its tip with a wink.

There wasn’t a cloud in the clear blue sky, but even with the rising sun, there was still the chill of new winter in the air.

“Are you distracted, or will you blame your clumsiness on your lack of sleep?”

Erix knew exactly what to say to get a reaction out of me. And his words created a burning warmth that flooded my cheeks and made them stand out like twin red cherries.

“If you’re concerned with my missing hours of sleep, then perhaps you should find another bed to stay in,” I replied, fighting the sly grin that wanted to spread across my face.

Erix pouted, straightening his posture until every one of his eight mounds of muscle across his abdomen flexed. Yes, eight. I counted a few times to make sure I wasn’t wrong.

To answer his question, it was actually the rolling bead of sweat that ran a course down his chest and across his lower stomach until it was absorbed in the hem of his training trousers that distracted me.

“Now why would I do that?” he said, one dark brow raised above his silver stare which was full to the brim with mischief. And danger . “It is more… exciting sleeping beside you.”

“Except we don’t sleep,” I replied. “That’s the problem.” I shrugged, twisting the golden dagger in my hand without thought. It’d become an extension of my body in the past weeks. Training daily on rotation with Erix, Althea and Gyah meant that the dagger never strayed far from my hand.

Erix’s brow peaked, his lip caught between his teeth.

“Careful,” I repeated his initial warning. “Or you might find yourself distracted.”

It was a thrill to see his mind catch up with my own unseen action. I sprang forward, the cut on my upper arm now a faded scratch, and ran towards my guard. Erix shifted his footing, but failed to take a complete step before I was on him.

The grass at his feet mutated to blades of frozen glass. Erix hadn’t spied the creeping ice that I forced across the ground towards him during our conversation. It encased his feet, all the way up to his ankle, preventing him from moving a step.

“You tricky little–”

I was behind him in moments, reaching up on tiptoes until I wrapped my forearm around his neck and squeezed. With my free hand I held the golden dagger, the very one he had given me as a gift, directly before his face.

We waited like that for moments of silence until the low rumble of his laugh interrupted the stillness. “Very good, little bird. I must say I am impressed.”

“Ah, ah, stop right there. Can’t you just leave me with praise and not have to point out a flaw? I mean, come on, Erix, admit that I bested you and be done with it.”

“All I was going to say is you should never stop until your enemy has truly been dealt with. Have I not made that completely clear in all our training?”

There was something about his bossy nature that turned me on. I was sure he knew it too because it seemed to only intensify during our morning training sessions in the private gardens within Farrador Castle’s grounds.

“Do you speak to all your initiates like this?” I squeezed tighter, flirting the edge of the blade across his throat. “Or am I just getting special treatment?”

“You, little bird, are the only one who I would let get close enough.”

I felt the pinch of something sharp at the soft part of my inner thigh, through the form-fitting trousers Eroan had crafted for me. I looked down to see Erix’s own weapon turned on me, all without me realising.

“Fuck’s sake.” My eyes rolled as I released my hold on Erix.

“You were close this time. Closer than you have been before.”

“But…” I added for him.

“ But , as I said before, never leave an enemy breathing long enough for them to take the precious moment they require to end you. End them first.”

I sheathed the dagger into the strap at my hip, admiring the calluses across my palm. Proof I’d worked hard to train since the Passing. Not that I knew who I was trying to prove anything to. Was it myself, or those who still refused to acknowledge my status as an Icethorn? Many fey still looked at me as the very reason for failed plans of domination over Durmain, the realm of humans.

To many, that was still all they could see when they looked at me.

“Then I should get in my practice, since my list of enemies seems longer than it needs to be,” I said, drawing a picture of a man in my mind’s eye.

King Doran Oakstorm – the man who used my father like a pawn to keep me in line.

Erix had a way of seeing the inkling of emotions I fought hard to hide from him. A frown creased his sweat-glistened forehead as he closed the space between us. His frame was so broad that he blocked the sunlight out entirely, bathing me in cool shade.

He pressed his hand to my cheek, holding it carefully in a cupped palm. My skin was clammy and wet, but it did not matter; I enjoyed his touch in whatever variety it presented itself to me.

“Must I remind you, little bird, that you are one of the most powerful creatures on both this side of Wychwood and beyond? Do not worry yourself with the likes of scum who wish to cause you harm. Your enemies are my enemies, remember that.”

Erix wasn’t wrong. My enemies certainly were his. King Doran’s petition for Erix’s head had only intensified in the past weeks. It was part of the reason we’d not yet left the safety of Farrador’s boundary walls. Doran’s soldiers waited beyond for the moment Erix stepped free of his sanctuary of blessed protection by the Cedarfall Court.

I dropped Erix’s stare, unable to hold it as flashes of my father cursed my mind. It had been weeks since I last saw him, suffering from a sickness brought on by poison, a stab wound that had been inflicted by one of the Children of the Asp as they had tried to take my life under Tarron’s orders.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Erix asked quietly.

I shook my head as his finger found the base of my chin and held it softly.

“There is nothing to say,” I replied. “No words that will get my father back. Only action.”

Father’s abduction by the Oakstorm Court was the sole reason why I filled my days with training and my nights with Erix.

Distraction.

Distraction was the only remedy to stop me thinking about him. Not the promises from Althea, who’d taken it upon herself to counterpetition for my father’s return. Nor her mother, Queen Lyra, who swore to see him back in her lands even with his past as a Hunter common knowledge across the Courts. Only a distraction, whether training in combat and magic, or spending those mindful moments before sleep, entangled in Erix’s strong limbs.

“He will be okay,” Erix said, his tone almost promising. “Doran would truly be a fool to kill someone important to you. Your father would have been dead long ago if that was the case. But he is not, and that will be for a reason. That has to stand for something.”

I gripped Erix’s hand and squeezed as my mind suddenly raced, making me dizzy. “Erix, please. I – I can’t think about this right now.”

He moved swiftly until the tips of his boots pressed into my own. Taking my face in both hands, Erix pressed a kiss to my lips.

Like butter over an open flame, I melted. Melted into him as his tongue parted my lips and enticed my own to join its dance. This was what I required, and he knew it. Part of me felt guilty for using him when I knew it clearly meant more to him, more than just a way of taking one’s mind off another matter.

But I couldn’t burden myself with such worries. I gave in to the tidal wave of calm that always greeted me when Erix and I became intimate. Like a leaf down a stream, I allowed his tidal force to draw me away from my thoughts.

I wrapped my arms around his back, feeling his muscles tense in reaction. He released a groan as I gently scraped my nails across his skin, something that had him purring with pleasure during our nightly entanglements.

“Keep that up” – Erix broke away breathless with lips tainted pink – “and I will take you right here and now.”

“Here?” I giggled, pulling back to survey the castle’s outer wall and the many arched windows across it. Even now someone could be looking, watching, and that was likely since there was always a host of guards shadowing me, even if Erix commanded them to give us space. “What do you take me for, Erix?”

“Do you truly wish for me to answer that?” His mischievous grin flashed for a moment before he dove into the crook of my neck. I leaned back as his teeth grazed my skin, kissing and sucking until I couldn’t tell if it was pain or pleasure that I felt.

My fingers clawed across his head, holding him from escaping. His hair had grown slightly since I’d first seen him riding into the Hunters’ camp encased in silver armour. It no longer scratched against my skin but felt smooth. And I’d discovered that his hair was a warm brown with the faintest hint of amber.

“You will get us in trouble with those sinister thoughts you harbour,” I warned with a wink.

“Sinister?” Erix broke away, silver eyes glowing from within. “You do know that the fey are not bashful and shy when faced with the promise of sex. No one would care if I tore the clothes from your body and you sat atop me like I am your throne. In fact, they would celebrate it.”

“Well, believe it or not, but the humans hold some dignity when it comes to sex. I would prefer not to have an audience.” A tingling chill spread up my spine. My mouth grew wet and cheeks puckered as though he held a sour cherry before me, and I pouted.

“As you wish. Then, shall we retire to your chambers?”

Heat unspooled in my belly like unravelling thread. Knotted and tangled around Erix. “I am beginning to believe you don’t ever tire or grow bored.”

“Bored?” He scoffed, pressing his crotch into me until I felt the outline of his very hard, very interested cock. “I have a storm within me, little bird, and I am ready to unleash it.”

My hand pressed between us and ran down the dampness of his stomach until it tickled across the bulge in his pants. I grabbed it, asserting my dominance for this moment before it truly got out of hand. “A storm? How poetic you are, Erix. But I think it’s wise we calm you down. All good things come to those who wait, after all. Anyway, I’d rather have something entertaining to look forward to this evening.”

A flickering of disappointment pinched his brow, but it was only fleeting. “What if I told you I could manage it twice?”

I released his cock and patted his hardened chest as though he was a puppy. “How very valiant of you, and how lucky I am to have you as my guard. Always looking out for my best interest… and your own.” I said the last part through the corner of my mouth. “Then again… we could give them a show–”

“Robin!” My name echoed loudly across the grounds. We both looked towards the visitor to see the bobbing of poppy-red hair atop the tall frame of the Cedarfall princess. She was dressed in similar clothing to me, material which hugged her body and was perfect for training, except hers was crafted from an ivory material that had her red hair standing out starkly against it.

“Bit early, isn’t it?” I raised a hand to shade my eyes as I called out to her. Mine and Althea’s magic training never began until after lunch had been served. She was usually tied up with courtly matters in the morning whilst I fooled around with Erix.

I expected a sharp-witted response from her, but she remained silent. That was when I noticed her pace was frantic and her cheeks were flushed as red as her hair.

Something was wrong. Erix shifted beside me as though he recognised it too.

“You are required in the throne room, Robin.” Althea reached us in seconds, her face pinched with turmoil. “Both of you.”

“What has happened?” Erix said, asking the question before I had gathered the courage to.

“I think it is best you both come and see.” She referred to both of us, but why did she not stop looking at me?

I stood my ground, fists clenching in trepidation. “Althea, tell me. Is it Doran?”

It was not a command, but more of a request. If she said nothing and expected me to follow her then she was truly deluded.

Althea nodded. Her curved brow pulled down into a frown as she nibbled on her lower lip. I waited, with bated breath, for her to say something to put my mind at ease. Yet I knew that my worst nightmare was a mere few words away from being revealed.

“We have received word from Oakstorm regarding your father,” she began, words careful as though she didn’t want to break me with them. “This morning another letter arrived, but this was not full of the usual demands others held. It had something… else alongside it. Something from Doran, for you.”

In a single moment the sun was covered by dense, grey clouds. I didn’t need to look skyward to know the storm brewed, conjured from nothing until hardly a spec of blue remained. Winds picked up around us, shifting the hairs around Althea’s face and blocking her worried expression from view. Our breaths fogged past our lips in puffs of silver smoke, greeting the sudden drop in temperature that enveloped us.

“Is he…” I couldn’t find the words to finish my question, nor did I need to. Althea read my silence and answered for me, although it didn’t award me any calm.

“Alive, we believe.”

Erix bristled at my side. “What do you mean you believe he is alive? The answer is rather simple to give, is it not?”

Pain echoed in my head as more of my magic spilled into the air, lowering the temperature to match that which ruled within me.

“Robin,” Althea said, reaching for my hand and taking it. Her thumb traced circles on the back of my hand, trying to console me. Why do I need consoling ? “You need to come and see for yourself.”

I drew back, leaving her hand outstretched before me, pale skin glowing in the darkened light of the storm. I watched intently as flakes of snow fell upon her skin, hissing out of existence from the flame hidden in her blood. Cedarfall power.

“Please,” she said, stealing my attention away from the falling snow. “I promise we will help.”

“Help?” I managed to repeat, echoing the word in a tone that suggested I didn’t recognise the definition of help. “Weeks have gone by already. I don’t think your help is doing much to get my father back.”

Althea refused to lower her hand as I snapped at her. Instead, she kept it raised, waiting for me to take it again. I might not have the ability to read minds, but I knew something had worried her. I read it in the lines across her face, in her hunched posture as if the pressure of secrets weighed heavy on her. “Together, Robin, we promised we would do this together. Now please… come. It is only right that you see this.”