Married by Treachery Read online

  The Bear Prince shoved the claw back into his belt. The cloth, however, spontaneously combusted in his grip. He regarded it calmly—almost in boredom—as he watched it dissolve into ash and be stolen away by an errant breeze.

  Raquel had never seen magik before. She’d heard mention of it from Hamor and her father and Lee, and she knew well that a supernatural force had protected their little village all these years, but that force had been invisible. She’d never seen such a tangible display, and it left her momentarily awestruck.

  The Bear Prince caught her watching, Raquel looked abruptly away, and he strode straight for her and his steed.

  But he did not mount.

  Instead, he reached beneath her skirts.

  On reflex, Raquel grabbed his arm and twisted, but he was shockingly faster. Within seconds, he’d trapped her arm, and her leg, and withdrawn the dagger she’d strapped high against her thigh. The one that Lee had fashioned for her.

  Raquel would have felt violated if she weren’t currently furious at being ousted.

  The Bear Prince observed the dagger, then her. “And what, pray, would a fair maiden such as yourself be doing in possession of an item such as this? One might assume you intended your betrothed harm.”

  His voice dripped with condescension, and a few of his kith snickered.

  Raquel’s returning smile was mirthless. “One might also recall the abrupt manner in which this fair maiden was stripped from her family, hardly affording her any parting opportunities, like ridding herself of an item such as this. A hasty oversight on your part, I’m sure.”

  Tension charged the quiet, and one of the Bear Prince’s kith sidled closer, clearly not appreciating the tone she had taken with his prince.

  In a lightning-quick motion, the Bear Prince had Lee’s dagger at her throat.

  Raquel stiffened, head raised and neck stretched, all of her senses focused on the cold metal edge pressed to her skin.

  The Bear Prince’s eyes narrowed. “Your other leg.”

  Raquel ground her teeth.

  He leaned closer. “If you did not wish for them to be found, my bride, you should not have fastened them where they would snag upon your skirts. A hasty oversight on your part, I am sure.”

  Raquel’s cheeks burned hot.

  “Well? Do not make me wait, mortal, or I shall scandalize you further.” Mischief danced in his eyes. “Or perhaps that is what my bride prefers…”

  A few of his kith chuckled at this.

  Raquel fumed, still glaring at him as she lifted her skirts to withdraw the dagger she’d strapped to her other leg. One kith cleared his throat, but the Bear Prince’s eyes remained fixed on hers. Even as she begrudgingly set the second dagger into his massive paw.

  “And your boot.”

  At this, Raquel gasped, now feeling truly scandalized, but before she could do a thing about the blade in her sole, a piercing cry echoed through the forest. It sounded like a great bird, but there had been an eerie quality to it that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

  Because it had sounded marginally human.

  Suddenly, the Bear Prince was grabbing her boot and pulling free the tiny blade she’d hidden in the heel. Before she could comment on this strange and irritating ability of his, he tucked the blade inside his coat alongside her other two, jumped onto the saddle behind her, and kicked their shared steed into a full gallop.

  Thunder erupted as his kith followed behind at a pace Raquel was not comfortable with, especially in such low visibility.

  On second thought, if they collided with a tree, perhaps it would solve a lot of her problems.

  That strange screeching sounded again—closer this time—and she was suddenly grateful for the Bear Prince’s haste, for whatever had him running was not something she felt particularly keen to engage.

  “What is making that sound?” she asked.

  Again, he gave no answer, but the mist grew thicker, the forest darker, and she could have sworn the branches were slowly twisting and reaching for them, like serpents. The Bear Prince muttered a word—a word she felt with her soul more than heard with her ears—and the mist around them thinned, and the branches stopped reaching.

  That otherworldly screeching sounded again, farther away this time, and then they were galloping through the narrow gate of a tall palisade wall and into what appeared to be a large outpost.

  Not a magnificent palace as Raquel had expected.

  Even more curious was that the mist did not touch this place. This outpost appeared encapsulated within a dome of clear air. Within the wall, Raquel counted a handful of wooden structures, including a watchtower with armed Forest kith standing guard, while more Forest kith emerged from the lower structures to see who had arrived.

  The Bear Prince slowed their steed and dismounted even before the horse halted completely, and a male Forest kith approached. This kith wore his soft brown hair long and woven into dozens of tiny braids, the subtle taper of his ears just visible, and his clothing looked as though it’d been fine once, a very long time ago.

  The Bear Prince acknowledge him with a clipped, “Marix.”

  Marix bowed low before his prince, though not before glancing at Raquel with marked interest. “Your Grace. We were beginning to worry. The colony is moving north of—”

  “We heard,” the Bear Prince cut in sharply. “Did you not place the bark as I said?”

  “We did, Your Grace; however, it does not seem to be having any effect on them. Not without you.”

  The Bear Prince glanced toward the gate, his thoughts far away, but then his focus sharply returned. “Hopefully you managed to ready my bride’s bedchamber without me…?”

  The reprimand was duly received, and a muscle twitched in Marix’s face. “It is ready.”

  “And Abecka?”

  A few of those standing nearby shifted on their feet, and Marix’s gaze faltered. “She is not here, Your Grace.”

  Something dark moved within the Bear Prince’s eyes. He took a step closer to his kith, who gathered himself as if to receive punishment. The Bear Prince completely dwarfed him. “What do you mean, she is not—” The Bear Prince glanced at Raquel and instead said, “Never mind. We will discuss this after you’ve escorted my beloved bride to her bedchamber, for the journey has surely exhausted her.”

  But Raquel had no interest in being left out of what would undoubtedly be a fascinating discussion, and she dismounted with gusto. “Oh, I assure you, the journey has left me quite invigorated. I could not possibly rest now.” Seeing that the Bear Prince was entirely unmoved and bristling to object, she changed tactics, flashing him a coquettish smile as she took a small step closer to him. “And…if I am being perfectly honest, Your Grace, I find my betrothed wholly captivating, and I do not wish to be parted from His Highness for a single moment.”

  Truth be told, it had nauseated her to say those words, but she was here for a purpose, and she wasn’t above feigning the simpering maiden if it helped her fulfill that purpose. And thus far, that simpering seemed to have a positive effect: no one moved to escort her away, and everyone looked astonished.

  Except the Bear Prince.

  He stared at her as if he saw right through her little display, then grabbed her hand and held it firmly—almost painfully. A display of his own. Tit for tat. “And you shall have me,” he said lowly. “Tonight, in our marriage bed. Until then, you will rest and save this…delicious vigor for the night.”

  He drew her fingertips to his beard and kissed them firmly, but not with any genuine affection. He was asserting his dominance. Rather than pull away from her, he slid his massive paw to one of the wide leather cuffs that she’d fastened around the end of her sleeves, flipped a clasp, and caught the needle-sized blade that dropped out of it. He winked at her as she gasped, and then he slid this, too, inside of his pocket as he turned and stalked away.

  3

  Raquel took inventory of her prison. It was a decent room, if she were being complet
ely objective. The bed was full and soft and buried in thick woolen blankets, and the fur of an actual bear warmed the wooden floor. A fire burned in a stove, which kept the chill from settling deep, and dim daylight shone through the window opposite. In fact, she might never have guessed she was about to be led to the slaughter, but then again, neither did the pigs in her neighbor’s pen.

  After sifting through the furniture and finding proper places to hide the weapons the Bear Prince had not found, Raquel made her way to the window and peered outside. It was difficult to gauge time in this place. Daylight never drew to fullness, as if the sun hadn’t crawled out of bed completely. Her view captured the very top of the watchtower, as well as two squat wooden structures and the dirt path squashed between them. A few Forest kith ambled, laughing merrily, while beyond, the mist swirled and churned like a cauldron, contained by forces Raquel could not see.

  What a strange place this was! Not at all what she’d envisioned or what her people believed it to be. What would the elders think now, sending off brides to sate the prince of a rotting kingdom?

  She recalled the speed with which the Bear Prince had disarmed her. Utterly humiliating and unacceptable! Lee was right: patience would be her greatest ally. Raquel inhaled deeply and wrung her hands. She and patience were not on the best of terms.

  Light footsteps pattered just beyond her door and stopped. Raquel’s heart pounded, expecting the Bear Prince, though logic suggested his footsteps were not so delicate, and while being near the Bear Prince was precisely the path toward her objective, she wasn’t quite prepared to kill him now.

  Planning and executing vengeance were two very different things.

  Raquel inhaled deep, readying herself as she tiptoed across the room to the stand where she’d hidden the smallest blade. Her palms sweat as metal jangled and one of her six locks disengaged. Then another, and another, until all six had been unlocked, and she’d just slipped the dagger into her skirts when the door pushed in.

  It was not the Bear Prince after all. It was an elegant woman with slightly pointed ears, and she carried a tray of nuts and fruits.

  Raquel nearly sighed with relief.

  The kith woman regarded her curiously with eyes like Harran’s blue-tinged pines, then set the tray upon a table and started to go.

  “When shall I expect my betrothed?” Raquel asked. Thankfully, her voice did not betray the nerves tangling inside of her.

  “I will bring you to His Grace in the morning, and you will break fast with him.”

  Raquel could not hide her surprise. “Morning? But he said—”

  “Those are his orders, my lady. Good evening.”

  “So am I to just stay—”

  The woman shut the door, and one by one, each of her six locks clicked into place.

  Raquel let out a puff of air and stared at the locks, feeling conflicted about this news. Tomorrow morning! She hated prolonging inevitabilities. Better to rip off the bandage and be done with it! Even more startling was that for all the Bear Prince’s scandalizing comments, he didn’t actually intend to share her bedchamber tonight.

  Well.

  Raquel pressed her fists to her hips. Now how was she to kill him? Her plan depended on him being alone with her, in their shared bedchamber, which should have been easy, given her position as his bride.

  That was it. She would have to sneak into his bedchamber, no doubt about it. But where was he sleeping?

  Raquel snatched a handful of walnuts off the tray, then moved back to the window, where she ate, watching the comings and goings of the Forest kith and searching for the Bear Prince while trying to make sense of this strange place.

  Not that it mattered. She would probably be dead tomorrow, and the Forest kith would be left to suffer from whatever ailed them, but every future generation of Harran would finally be safe from Prince Edom’s murderous—and hairy—clutches.

  Still.

  She hadn’t expected to be thrown into an intriguing mystery right before death, and she never liked leaving things unresolved.

  Round and round the questions rolled within her mind as the hours passed. Eventually, the guards upon the watchtower dwindled from five to three to two, the daylight faded completely, and all the windows within the outpost slowly winked out. It was then that Raquel finally spotted the Bear Prince, flanked by Marix and another who held a lantern to light their path. She sat up straight but ducked back so that she wasn’t easily seen and watched them as they approached her building. They passed through a door, out of sight, and then deep and muffled voices echoed within.

  Her heart picked up pace again.

  Had the woman lied? Did the Bear Prince intend to share her bedchamber after all?

  The building creaked and shifted around these three new occupants, and heavy tread stomped up the nearby stair. Raquel quickly blew out her lantern, lest they notice the slip of light beneath her door, and none too soon, either. The voices crescendoed just outside her door, where they abruptly dropped to whispers.

  One of those voices belonged unmistakably to the Bear Prince.

  Raquel didn’t move. Her hand rested over her pocket, where she’d slipped the dagger, and she strained to make sense of the voices that had dropped too low for her hearing.

  This was it, the moment Lee had trained her for—for seven long years. But no matter her preparation, Raquel’s nerves hummed. Training allowed margin for failure. She would have one chance with this. She could not fail.

  Her hand slipped into her pocket, and her sweaty fingers flexed around the blade’s hilt. However, those heavy footsteps retreated down the hall and silenced completely.

  Raquel let out a long breath.

  There was a knock.

  Raquel froze.

  “Are you awake, my bride?” the Bear Prince’s voice rumbled through the door.

  Raquel’s heart pounded anew, though she did not answer. Instead, she very carefully tiptoed to her bed, slipped into the covers, rolled onto her side, and slid her blade beneath her pillow.

  Waiting.

  But her door did not open.

  Wood creaked as the Bear Prince stepped away, then opened and closed the door across the hall.

  Quiet.

  Raquel frowned, threw back her covers, and sat up. She hadn’t expected him to knock, let alone ask if she was awake. He certainly hadn’t bothered asking her anything since he’d taken her from Harran.

  But her door did not open, and he did not come.

  However.

  He had given her an answer: the location of his bedchamber.

  Raquel’s lips curled. Perhaps this might work to her advantage after all.

  She waited an hour more, just to be sure, then gathered the rest of her blades, tiptoed across the room, and bent over to study the locks.

  All six of them.

  She pulled two pins from a rib in her corset, smirking as she did, then pressed her ear to the door once more just to be sure. It took her all of five minutes to open all six locks, and then she slid her pins just beneath her neckline, careful not to stab anything delicate, placed her hand upon the door, and pushed slowly.

  The corridor beyond lay empty.

  A single lantern burned at the end of the hall, but her gaze fastened on the door across from hers. The room Prince Edom had apparently taken.

  Unguarded. Ripe for the taking.

  Raquel licked her lips, cast one last glance toward the end of the hall, then gathered her skirts and tiptoed to Prince Edom’s door.

  She observed the lock, but instead of reaching for her pins, she tried the handle instead.

  The door opened with the softest creak.

  Either the Bear Prince was even more arrogant than she’d suspected, or he’d left the room without her hearing.

  Or.

  Perhaps—and she didn’t really want to consider the implications—he’d fortified his room with magik she could not see. Whatever the reason, this was her chance. Possibly her only chance.

  Raq
uel inhaled deep, pushed the door open just enough to slip inside, then closed it behind her.

  So far, so good.

  The room was definitely occupied. The sound of heavy breathing softened the silence, and sheets ruffled as someone turned. Raquel strained to look in the corner where the sound emanated, but she couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

  She crept forward, light on her toes, hands out and searching so that she didn’t unwittingly bump into anything and forfeit her one advantage.

  In three breaths, she’d reached the bedside.

  She still could not see, though the shadows had differentiated into shapes. There was an unmistakable mass atop the bed; however, it didn’t appear large enough to belong to the Bear Prince, or maybe he just didn’t seem as large when he wasn’t towering over her like a feral beast. Regardless, Raquel did not wish to die burdened with the knowledge that she’d murdered an innocent, and so she leaned closer to be sure.

  An edge of cool metal pressed against her throat.

  Raquel cursed inwardly.

  “Now, is this how one treats one’s betrothed?” asked the Bear Prince smoothly, his words lovingly incongruous with the situation.

  Because she also had her blade at his throat, but now her heart was pounding. “You promised to come to my bedchamber,” she replied, her words also contradictory to the vengeful fury in her voice. “I was beginning to worry.”

  A single breath passed between them. She thought she heard him chuckle, though the sound was too soft to be sure, and his blade still pressed to her neck as surely as her blade pressed to his.

  “And here I was so certain I’d removed all of your sharp little claws,” he continued in that space between them, wholly unconcerned. “Tell me, my beloved bride, where did you keep this?”

  “You can’t expect me to answer your question when you haven’t answered a single one of mine.”

  He leaned a fraction closer, which inadvertently pressed her blade a little deeper. She still couldn’t make out his face, but his warm breath brushed her nose, and his eyes glinted in the dark. “And what, pray, would my bride care to know?”