A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdoms Book 1) Read online

  His snarl was raspy. “You’re the one teasing now.”

  “Find me tonight,” I whispered against his mouth and shook myself out of his grip, not sparing another glance as I left him standing there, suddenly forgetting all about Cade.

  ☽༓☾

  Devastating, I was. I admired my outfit in the mirror and turned sideways to study my profile, my long hair cascading down my back. My dress was a floor-length gown, made of deep blue velvet that molded to my body. A slit cut up to my thigh and showed off my leg any time I swayed. The bodice criss-crossed over my chest and formed a deep-V that was met with a matching velvet belt that tied into a bow on my hip.

  The sleeves were short and my wrists were adorned with delicate gold bracelets. I chose a white-gold diadem for this evening, admiring the simplicity of it. My shoe choice was a pair of silver, strappy heels that would give me more of a height advantage against the tower Zeke chose to be.

  Typically, I would wait for Cade to pick me up and we would walk to the banquet together, but since our friendship was currently fucked up, I knew I didn’t have to wait for him.

  Checking myself once more in my floor-length mirror, I smiled widely, giddy about seeing Zeke again. He had probably attended banquets and events at his own kingdom, but there was nothing I was more proud of than my own people — even if maybe some of them wanted me gone. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. Since my night at the Festival of Dreams had ended so upsettingly, I was determined to not let this night end the same.

  ☽༓☾

  I stood at the entrance to one of the ballrooms, trying to contain my mixture of excitement and anxiety. It was making me jittery. When the doors were pulled back by two guards, I put on my biggest smile and glided into the room. I was greeted by gasps and murmurs from guests as they smiled and curtsied to me.

  I beamed at them, meeting the eyes of ones brave enough to look at me as I passed by. Traditions were loosely followed in my kingdom, but I still commanded respect and I was always quick to give it back. Even though I felt the farthest thing from it on a daily basis, I was still royalty.

  My gaze fell to Zeke and I gasped quietly at the sight of him.

  He was in a bow at the back of the room. He smiled at me, his eyes moving down my body and back up to meet mine. I was held captive by his stare. As he straightened, I felt a tug somewhere deep in my bones. I placed my palm against my stomach, the air seeming to lessen around me. He watched me intently, his eyes narrowing — but from curiosity. He seemed to understand what I was experiencing.

  Suddenly, I heard a ghost of a whisper from the recesses of my mind. It sounded like his voice.

  Breathe.

  It was only one word, but it nearly took me down. The sounds of the room became too loud, like I had been standing all alone with him until that word. Until I took a breath. The tug disappeared as I averted my eyes from his. Only seconds had passed, but it seemed like time had stood still.

  Gods almighty, what was happening to me?

  I made a sudden turn on the heel of my shoe and waved my hands until the voices surrounding me died down and all eyes had returned to me. I fidgeted at the attention.

  “Thank you all so much for being here and letting our palace serve you. It is an honor to be your queen and a responsibility that I do not take lightly.” I looked around the room, meeting the eyes of my people as I spoke. “Please enjoy this evening and I hope some of you will be brave enough to ask me to dance.”

  Laughs from the crowd warmed me. I motioned for the musicians in the room to begin playing.

  The room looked beautiful. I turned in a slow circle in adoration at the hard work my servants put into setting this banquet up. Tables lined the wall, full of meats, cheeses and fruits. The same paper confetti from the Festival of Dreams was scattered along the tablecloths and floor. Larger cutouts of moons and stars hung from the windows and ceiling of the grand room. I looked up, spinning around to take all of them in.

  Arthur approached me first, snapping me out of my daze. He bowed and I dipped my chin in a nod, my smile radiating. “May I have this dance, Raven?

  I nodded enthusiastically. “It’d be my honor.”

  He placed a hand gently on my waist and grabbed one of my hands, straightening our arms out. I responded by putting my hand on his shoulder and motioned with my head for him to take the lead. I had learned a great deal about my kingdom, but some of the dances still hadn’t been memorized.

  Arthur, despite his age, moved quickly and I giggled as he twirled me around the room. “I’m glad to see he kept his word and brought you back in one piece,” he shouted over the song.

  I laughed, squeezing his shoulder. “Did you stock up on rum? I think he may have a problem.”

  He laughed in his deep rumbly one that made everything seem lighter, happier. Arthur had seen me enter his pub many times at night, always donning a different shift, never two in a row. I couldn’t be certain, but now that rumors were circulating about me, he may be putting together that it was me the entire time. But, I trusted him to keep my secret. The thought of having a friend of my own outside of the castle made me hopeful that maybe others would accept me, too.

  We were soon interrupted by another man, asking if he could cut in and steal me away. Arthur’s eyes rolled playfully as he handed me off. I parted from Arthur with a quick curtsy of gratitude and linked with the next man, who was younger.

  “You look radiant tonight, Queen Raven.”

  I smiled at the compliment and asked his name.

  “My name is Theodore, m’lady. I’m one of the loaders down at the docks.”

  “Thank you for your service, Theodore. I am sure that is no easy job.”

  “Happy to do it. I’m the third generation of men to do it in my family. And I’m sure my son after me will, too.”

  “How old is your son?”

  “Teddy is seven. I have a girl, too. Eva. She’s five.”

  I remembered meeting Eva at the festival and letting her adorn my hair with the flowers she made. “I know your little girl. She told me I looked like a butterfly.” I smiled at the memory and glanced around, looking for Theodore’s wife. “Is your wife here tonight? I’d love to see her again.”

  “She’s not, m’lady. She’s home with Eva and her brother. Eva has talked nonstop about the butterfly from the festival.”

  Shit. I had given myself away.

  Theodore gave me a small grin. “It’s true then. I hear things at the docks. Things I don’t always believe. But I have to tell ya, the rumor of you having some sort of magic didn’t seem far-fetched. She said her butterfly had eyes of gold. Yours are green.”

  “I…” I began, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I wouldn't lie.

  “Your secret is safe with me. I won’t say anything, but someone is telling everyone about it. I don’t know what their reason is, m’lady, but you would be surprised how many folks are on your side, even with the rumors. I’ve been here my entire life and have never seen so many happy with being here. So many are moving here so quickly that we’ve had to take on more workers at the dock. That’s a testament to you, Queen Raven.”

  Hot tears pushed at my eyelids. “Thank you,” I breathed.

  Theodore stopped our dance when the song ended and bowed to me, taking my hand and kissed it lightly as a sign of respect. When he straightened, he looked directly into my eyes and leaned forward slightly. “But, watch yourself. There’s still a few who believe that magic can’t be used for anything other than bad.” He spoke quietly to me, as if he didn’t want anyone to hear him with the sudden lack of song around us.

  My mouth went dry. I didn’t watch him walk away before I turned to find Cade, stopping short when I saw him deeply immersed in conversation with the same stunning blonde from the other night. He threw his head back in a laugh and envy pooled in my gut. He hadn’t laughed like that with me in days.

  He looked good, too, in a black jacket and pants, his chest peeking out under his white s
hirt that was unbuttoned at the top. He must have felt my eyes on him, because he was suddenly staring at me. I felt my ears heat from being caught staring at him. Again.

  He took a half-step toward me, but stopped abruptly, his face hardening. His change of demeanor baffled me but then I knew why. I could feel him. Zeke came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. My gaze remained on Cade’s, pleading with him silently to stay with me. But he didn’t and fixed his attention on the blonde again. I really needed to talk to him, and his constant rejection was annoying me.

  “You kept your promise,” Zeke whispered against my ear.

  I ignored the sudden drop in my stomach from Cade’s snub and spun to face Zeke, putting the palms of my hands against his chest. “And which promise was that?”

  He leaned down to me, which wasn’t as far as he usually needed to with my added height for the evening. “You look incredibly devastating.”

  My skin tightened at his compliment. This gorgeous man believed I was beautiful. I took a small step back and looked him up and down, exhaling softly at the sight of him. Like Cade, he was also in a black jacket and pants, but his shirt was black and matched his hair perfectly. A tailored suit. His top two buttons were undone and I raised my hand to touch his exposed skin, tracing his collarbone with my fingertips. “Don't let anyone but me touch you tonight.”

  The corners of his mouth turned upward into a smirk and he palmed the small of my back, spreading his fingers. “And I’m just supposed to watch men dance with you all night?” He brushed his lips against mine. “Touch you where I have?”

  I nodded, still moving my fingertips across every inch of his exposed skin. “I want your eyes on me all night. I want to feel your jealousy.” Something about him made me want to push boundaries. I didn’t want his attention anywhere else but on me.

  I could be possessive, too.

  “Do I at least get to dance with you?” he asked, seemingly accepting my rules.

  I moved my arms to wrap around his neck and nodded, swishing my hips in his arms to get him to move. His small grin turned into a full blown smile as he tightened his arms around my waist and began to spin us to the fast-paced song.

  I threw my head back in a laugh when he dipped me down, kicking my foot out, the slit from my dress exposing my thigh. He noticed and grazed his hand across the inside of it, goose bumps trailing in his wake.

  He raised me until I stood on both feet again, moving his hands to my waist. “I love hearing you laugh,” he called out.

  I smiled and tugged at some of the hair on the back of his neck. “I would love to hear it from you more. You’re so serious. Unless there’s rum involved.”

  A shadow seemed to settle on him.

  My smile faltered a little, sensing his mind had gone somewhere else. I gently tugged his hair again. “Come back to me.”

  He tipped his head at that, his lips parting slightly in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  I gave him a small shrug. “I can tell when your mind goes somewhere else. I can feel your absence.”

  He had no response. He just stared at me for a moment before he leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine. It felt intimate. It felt right.

  One of my hands moved from his neck to rest lightly against his cheek, the tip of my nose rubbing against his. “Let your guard down a little. I promise I won't bite.”

  At that, he laughed softly. The sound made me feel alive, like I’d heard it before. “But what if I want you to bite?”

  I mock-gasped, clicking my tongue. “Excuse me, sir, is that how you talk to a queen?”

  He dropped his hands from around my waist and fell to one knee, propping his other up and dipped his chin to me in a dramatic bow. “I apologize, Your Majesty. What can I do to earn your forgiveness?”

  I placed my hands on my hips and walked in a circle around him, moving one hand to my chin like I was deep in thought. I was smiling, though, enjoying his playfulness. “I don't know. Are you good at anything?”

  He stood at my question and yanked me to him by my wrist, holding my hand against his chest. “I think you already know the answer to that.” He moved his mouth to my ear and whispered, “Would you like a reminder?” And nipped at my earlobe again.

  Warmth spread across me, lighting up everything inside of me until I felt sweat bead along my temple. He awakened something so deep inside of me that trying to control it was like trying to hold my breath underwater. It hurt my chest. “Yes,” I murmured.

  He put his hands on either side of my neck and tilted my head ever so slightly, pressing his mouth gently to mine. I didn’t care that we were surrounded by people. It was like every nerve in my body was firing at once and I didn’t want it to end.

  And then I felt the presence of someone beside us. My body went rigid at the voice saying my name. Zeke noticed as he broke our kiss, holding me tighter. He stared into my eyes, even as John spoke. “A dance, Your Majesty?”

  Slowly, Zeke turned his attention to John and the look between them piqued my interest. Zeke dropped my hand and took a step back, bending into a small bow as permission. I gave Zeke a small smile and he winked at me before turning to walk to one of the tables covered in food.

  I released an annoyed breath and took John’s extended hands. He led me into the pack of dancers, but I felt hesitant to follow him. He knew who I was, what I could do. Surely he wouldn’t be bold enough to try anything here in front of most of our village.

  “You look lovely tonight. Though, I am sure I am not the only one to tell you that,” he said, a curt smile plastered on his face.

  I studied him for a moment. He was bald and the wrinkles on his forehead seemed to start at his eyebrows and stretch across his skull. He was tall, though, taller than me. But most everyone was. To my knowledge, he had never been married or had any children of his own. Kind of reclusive. Much like the king he served for so many years. And now me. He obviously had a type.

  “Thank you, John. The real beauty is how well our servants decorated this room tonight.” I wanted to keep the conversation light.

  “What do you think of our traveler?”

  “Zeke? I think he's excellent company.” I tried to keep my face from flushing at the thought of him. Tried, and failed.

  “Doesn’t say much. Do we really know anything about him?”

  I glanced around the room at his question, spotting Zeke near a table. He was watching us, popping grapes into his mouth. Next to him, a woman gawked. My eyes narrowed.

  A grin spread across his mouth and he said something to the woman without even looking at her. She looked at me before dropping her eyes to the floor as she stepped away from Zeke. I couldn’t help but smile as his gaze never left me. I didn’t know what he said, but he was playing by my rules.

  I turned my focus back to John. “Do we need to? He’s from Reales. Do we know everything about everyone in other kingdoms?”

  “Fair question, Your Majesty. But just the timing of it, is all.”

  I didn’t say anything, imploring him to continue.

  “With the news of someone leaking your secret, we should be cautious about all of our visitors.”

  My eyes rolled at the not-so-subtle accusation. “You’re starting to sound like Cade.”

  “I am just looking out for my queen, like I promised.”

  “A promise you’ll keep. Right, John?”

  As the song ended, John dropped his arms and bowed to me, his stare never wavering from mine. “Of course, Queen Raven.” And then he was gone, and I had a hard time believing that.

  ☽༓☾

  I spent the next few songs dancing with more guests and making my rounds, talking to as many as I could. I asked questions about their families and what they did in the village. I knew a good lot of them, always making it a priority to go into the village every month to meet anyone new that had moved in from other countries. I wanted everyone to always feel welcome and at home in Seolia, especially when they were in my palace.
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  I felt a light touch on my hand and I turned my head to see who it was. My heart dropped at the sight of Cade.

  He was timid as he asked, “Dance with me?”

  I took his hand and followed him back to the dance floor. My feet hurt from the standing and twirling I had subjected myself to tonight. Instead of the traditional stance I took with others, I coiled my arms around his neck and rested my head upon his shoulder. We may have been standing too close for a queen and an adviser, but I didn’t care. I had missed him and wanted to savor the feel of his body against mine, comforted by his presence.

  “You look beautiful,” he whispered against my temple.

  Tears formed behind my eyelids. I couldn’t speak. Being at odds with him physically hurt me. “Where’s the pretty blonde?” was all I cared to ask, the earlier feeling of envy bubbling up again in my stomach.

  I felt his grin against my skin and it irritated me. What I felt wasn’t at all amusing. It was downright perplexing and it made me feel off-balance. He must have felt my body tense because he lowered his head in an attempt to get me to look at him, but I didn’t. He would have seen my tears welling up.

  His voice was soft as he answered, “I don’t know. Somewhere, I guess.”

  “I won’t interrupt you tonight.”

  “I’m not going to fuck her, Raven.”

  “I don’t care what you do.” I was being immature, and lying.

  “Yeah, I can tell.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

  “Do you think this is easy for me, Cade? I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “Then tell me about it.”

  “I can’t, because I don’t know. All I do know is that you’re being really weird around me, like I’m made of glass. And I’m not. You know I’m not.”

  “I know you’re not. But I am trying to protect you. And myself.”

  I lifted my head. “Protect yourself from what? Me?”

  He didn’t say anything, but held my gaze. The heavy air returned to encase us.

  “Cade, I’d never hurt you. How could you think that?”