Escaping Destiny (9 page)

After the debacle of the bath, I was pulled
from the water and stood naked in front of a mirror. I growled at
this, and shook my head. I was shoved into a chair someone had
brought out, or maybe glamoured (I was too busy watching them
hustle and fuss over my appearance to pay attention), and my hair
was braided after it had been slicked in some kind of cherry
scented gel by Faelyn, and styled into a beautiful updo. Meriel
busied herself on my hands with a manicure while Keeley was working
pedicure magic. Now, more than ever, I was missing my OPI
collection.

Make-up was applied by Darynda, who winked at
me mischievously as she told me this was her magical talent. She
was the equivalent to a make-up artist. When she was done, I had
black kohl on my eyes, which made the blue and purple of them pop
brightly. She’d applied a light blue shadow, and a touch of violet
to my eyes which was subtle and yet beautiful.

The women all ignored my continual silence or
lack of opinion and continued prepping me; Meriel smiled and
wrinkled her nose as she glamoured on a light blue top that left my
sides exposed. Darynda glamoured on a skirt that closely matched
the top, but covered me to my ankles, minus the slits down the
side.

“Jewelry; she’s going to need armbands,” said
the Pixie, who looked like she couldn’t be more than sixteen. I
watched as they all chatted happily and argued like old friends
over which arm pieces would suit me better.

The necklace that Ryder had my mother put on
me when I was presented to him wasn’t coming off anytime soon, and
I now knew that it bore a medallion that was the same as Ristan’s.
To compliment it, the necklace they chose was simple and slipped
under the other like an extension; the metal of the chain was old
and looked almost vintage, or antique. Diamonds the size of almonds
hung at the tip, which accentuated my breasts.

Platinum bands were slipped onto my biceps
that held the head of a dragon with rubies for the eye. I watched
as yet another cuff was placed above it, these ones were gold and
the dragon’s eye was a brilliant diamond.

They stood back when that was finished and I
waited for them to discover I was still missing shoes. Eventually,
Darynda smiled and said it.

“She needs something on her feet. Something
simple but beautiful,” she mused as she tilted her head and her
lips lifted in the corners. “She also needs to learn how to smile
more.”

“Darynda,” Zara said as she walked into the
room.

“Well, she does,” Darynda said, smiling
triumphantly as she fluffed her shoulder length auburn curls.

“Does she have a name? Maybe you should use
it,” Zara said with an authoritative tone.

“You can all call me Synthia, and yes, I’d
very much like something to cover my feet,” I said, stopping the
argument in its tracks if that was where it was heading. I was
nervous enough, and having them bickering would only make my nerves
get worse.

Darynda clapped her hands and a gold box
appeared. She smiled triumphantly and dug through the box instead
of just glamouring on shoes. She held up jeweled sandals that
looked anything but comfortable. I held out my hand and accepted
them anyway. I had other things to do today besides playing dress
up.

The shoes were surprisingly comfortable, and
the jewels, even though they looked rough, didn’t scratch my skin
at all. They’d been smoothed until they were soft on the tender
skin of the foot. I turned and gave myself a quick once-over in the
mirror. Holy freaking Fairy buckets, these girls were good.

I looked like a princess!

I mean, I was a princess…which was weird to
say, (Not that I had out loud very much), but still, I actually
looked the part now.

“Is it true that you hate Fae?” Keely asked,
and got a stern shushing from Meriel.

“Who told you that?” I asked, ignoring
Mariel’s shushes.

“Claire said that you hated Fae, and made a
living off killing us.”

“Did she now? I used to hate everything Fae,
but only because I watched the people who raised me slaughtered by
them. They killed my family, and yes, I have killed Fae before. In
fact, I killed a few just last week. I was raised by humans. I
actually thought I was a human until Ryder brought me to Faery for
the Wild Hunt.”

“Do you still hate us?” Darynda asked, coming
into the conversation.

“I’d have to hate myself in order to do that.
No, I now understand that not all Fae are bad, just like all humans
are not good. I can’t blame an entire species for what happened to
my parents. But, I also think you shouldn’t listen to rumors.”

“Claire said you took Ryder from her, she
also said that you think you are above us. I personally like to
give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m not one to judge a book
by its cover, or listen to idle gossip from jealous women
either.”

“Well, I think you should stop while you are
ahead. Claire doesn’t like me, I get it. She obviously went above
and beyond to feed the rumor mills with crap. I’m not going to
indulge her in a battle of wits, because to me is seems she is
missing hers and that wouldn’t be a fair fight, now would it?” I
asked, meeting Darynda’s blue and green eyes with a grin.

“Wow, she wasn’t kidding when she said you
didn’t play with words.”

“Probably the only thing she told you that
was the truth. I hate word games, and I could care less who hates
me over some lame ass rumor started by a bitter ex. So you were
right to ask me, and I have nothing against the Fae in
this
world. ”

“Claire isn’t bitter. She’s enraged and
rightly so since you have been moved into what is supposed to be
reserved for the Queen of the Horde. Her sister is contracted to
marry Ryder, this would traditionally be her room,” Zara
blurted.

My head snapped around to stare at her.
“Ryder plans on marrying?” I felt my blood pressure spike and my
anger rise as I waited for the answer.

“He’s the King of the Horde; of course he
will marry,” Darynda said carefully as if she wasn’t sure she
should be discussing it with me.

“Claire’s sister?”

“Well, her half-sister. Ryder’s father made
the contract, but he signed it. He has been engaged to her for
years, but it’s uncertain how long before Cornelius demands they
marry. Claire says it should be soon.”

“I thought the Fae married for gain.”

“And Claire’s family is one of the largest
and most powerful in the realm, minus Ryder’s own family. He
accepted Claire into the pavilion because she was gifted, but
Abiageal is the oldest. The Horde normally stays within the Horde
for the first marriage.”

“So Ryder will marry within the Horde?” I
felt sick to my stomach.

“Well, yes. It’s been the custom of the Horde
for as long as history has been recorded.”

“I thought that Ryder’s mother was the first
wife, and she was a Dark Fae,” I said softly, trying to rein in my
emotions at this sucker punch.

“She became the first wife when Alazander’s
first wife died,” Faelyn supplied helpfully. I could only guess at
that, based on the stories I had heard about him, he probably
killed her.

I felt my heart sink to my toes. Ryder never
said he’d marry me; he did say that if I hadn’t been the Light
Heir, he’d keep me. I searched my memory for anything that he’d
said that could have hinted at more between us then just being his
concubine. I knew there wasn’t. Just that he’d keep me. Ryder had
probably known all along that he wouldn’t marry me, or had things
changed now that he knew that I was the Blood Princess, and that I
was supposed to be Danu’s Heir. Didn’t that change things?

One thing was fore sure; I wouldn’t stand
around and watch the man I love marry someone else. I’d have to
make him love me, or leave him and hope he let me go.

Dristan, Sevrin, and Savlian arrived, dressed
in the form fitting uniforms of the Elite Guard—sans headgear, and
escorted us as a group to the crowded hall that was already filled
with the waiting Horde. The room was unlike any other I’d seen so
far in the palace, and had been decorated in crimson and black. A
gigantic tapestry with the same design of the two Celtic dragons
that had once adorned my hip and Ristan’s medallion covered one
wall, only the dragons on the tapestry looked more fierce, and
deadly.

My eyes wandered over to the back of the hall
where the dais was and saw Ryder. His eyes watched me as I
approached with the others. He was once again in king mode, his
huge wings eclipsing the sun’s light that shined through the
enormous stained glass window behind him. If it hadn’t been for the
light coming in from the other windows, he would have been
swallowed in the shadows they created.

The throne, on which Ryder sat, looked
wickedly cool. The immense seat was created of black oak with
skulls, and bones embedded in it. I narrowed my eyes, and with a
sinking in the pit of my stomach, I realized that the bones were
real. The arms of the throne were each finished with a skull on
which his hands rested. Ewww…

To his right and slightly behind the throne,
stood Ristan; Zahruk stood to his left, both wearing the black body
armor of the Elite Guard. It was looking like all of Ryder’s men
that had accompanied him in the human world were part of the unit
as I was spotting them standing at attention at strategic posts
behind Ryder.

Ryder looked to be in full control of the
entire Horde; a proud beast, destined to rule them all. I shook
myself from my inner thoughts as the group around me came to a full
stop. We stood there until Ryder nodded, and all of the women in
the room dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. Like sheep.
Every male remained standing, which I thought was odd. I was the
last to kneel, and only when I’d held Ryder’s eyes for a few
moments before I silently and effortlessly dropped to the
floor.

I felt like a stupid sheep, as if by going
down, I was somehow admitting that I was his. As if! I only did it
because I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of the entire
Horde. Ristan had mentioned why we were here, and Darynda had
assured me that I couldn’t just skip it. It wasn’t until Ryder
stood, and held his hand out that I got the first inkling of what
was going to happen.

“Synthia, stand and come to me,” Ryder said
in his multi-layered voice.

I shook my head, but even as I did so, I was
working on standing up.

“This is the Blood Princess, and also the
mother to my first born child. She holds the key to Faery in her
womb. Ristan has seen our child, the one who will begin the healing
of our world,” Ryder said, and the room exploded with cheering
Horde creatures. “I’ll have a vow from my kingdom to protect her
from harm, and your protection of my child, Danu’s heir.”

The entire assembly said, “Aye,” as one. When
I reached where Ryder was standing, we were joined by most of his
men, and some I hadn’t seen before, as they moved into protective
positions. When Ryder held out his hand, I hesitated, but placed
mine in his much larger one. He pulled me close, and crushed his
mouth against mine. The room once again broke into loud cheers.

“Bow to your people, Synthia,” he whispered,
and I quickly gave a clumsy curtsey to those gawking as I turned to
face them. Yes, I was hopelessly fucked.

I watched as they bowed back, and then I was
pulled back around, and tucked beneath Ryder’s arm as he once again
took the throne, with me in his lap. Cheers erupted as Ryder held
up my hand, but I pulled it from him and glared openly at him which
seemed to impress the Horde all the more.

“She is off limits to every male here; she is
mine.”

His eyes scanned my face, and I realized with
perfect clarity that Ryder was the only thing keeping me protected
in this place of monsters. He could read my expression, if his eyes
softening were anything to go off. I watched as he lowered his gaze
to my midsection, which was perfectly flat. They came back up to
meet mine, filled with triumph and heat that I hadn’t expected to
see in them while standing in front of the entire assembly.

The women stood, and music filled the room.
Men moved about, bowing to females. It was as if I was watching an
ancient scene of nobility play out before my eyes. There were
wicked smiles on the faces of all of those present. I swallowed the
urge to run, as men’s eyes turned toward us, in lust. As if the
entire room expected Ryder to take me right in front of them. I
narrowed my eyes on them. That shit was so not happening.

“You feel good in my lap, Pet,” Ryder
whispered softly against my ear. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” I replied, turning to lean my
head against his cheek.

He jerked his face away from me and spoke low
and sharply in my ear. “I can’t afford to show a weakness, Synthia.
It might look safe here, but there are those who would use you to
get to me if they thought I was emotionally attached to you.” I
stared at him, stunned. Talk about sending mixed signals!

“Sometimes I wonder why you fight so hard to
save this place. Why fight for something that isn’t safe? You fight
to fix the world, but yet you can’t even trust those within your
own walls?”

“There are few I trust with my life. I fight
because I love Faery; it’s my home. If something was happening to
your world, Synthia, you would fight for it. You are a born
warrior; we are more alike than you know.”

I fell silent, considering his words. He was
right. I’d fight to save the earth, and everyone in it. I turned my
head to find Claire glaring at us from across the room. She hated
me, and it ran deep and ugly inside of her. She was a problem I
needed to fix before I got too fat to do so.

We were dismissed from the throne room just a
little while later, and Ryder went to a room just off to the side,
behind the dais where his throne was. It must have been an office
or meeting room as Zahruk and Ristan followed him. I was invited to
the pavilion by Claire, but I skipped it and walked back to the
room I’d been given. There was no way in hell that I was going to
sit with Ryder’s harem and have lunch. It didn’t even make sense
why they would have a lunch since Fae fed from emotions…not food.
Maybe she planned on trying to make me miserable and feed off
that.