Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,72
over the situation. It didn’t feel fixed to me, not completely.
“If I come up with a solution, your problem is solved, but I’m not sure Trixie’s has been. Say you conceive with your consort. What happens to your husband?” I asked.
Arianna frowned a little. “He will remain king, but his line within the royal family will end. My consort’s family will rise in standing.”
“Would he be free to pursue a consort?”
“Yes.”
“So you would have a child, and he would be able to chase Trixie.” I shook my head. “I need a better fix.”
Trixie sighed. “Short of his death, I don’t see how we are going to get him to stop.” Her head then snapped up and she glared at me. “Not an option.”
I threw up my hands. “I didn’t even consider it.” Her frown deepened and I dropped my head back. “Okay, I didn’t consider it for long. I’m trying not to destroy the Summer Court.”
“There is one way,” Arianna said softly, drawing my eyes back to her face. She hesitated as if she didn’t want to say the words out loud. “If he was the father of the child, then he couldn’t have a consort. We would be bound to each other again.”
“You would take him back?” Trixie asked before I could.
“I would if I could be given some kind of assurance that his gaze won’t wander. I know he doesn’t love me and I can accept that, but I need the assurance that he will remain faithful to me.”
Trixie looked expectantly over at me and I shrugged. “We could tattoo them with the infinity heart, binding them to each other.” I looked over at the queen, whose delicate eyebrows had drawn together in question. “I’ve only ever used it on goblins, but it’s a type of binding tattoo. It doesn’t create feelings of love, but more of a deeper sense of connection and a need for unity. You’d both have to be tattooed for it to work. Just a small one on the interior of your left wrist.”
“And he won’t stray?”
“The thought would never cross his mind. Of course, you couldn’t either.”
“Very good. You will make it so that we can conceive and then you will tattoo us so that he will no longer pursue Rowena,” the queen said with her regal tone as if she was handing down a royal decree.
“And when all this is accomplished, Trixie can come back to her people without fear? She can stay with the Summer Court and then would be free to return to her other life if she wanted?”
Arianna nodded with a small smile. “She would be welcomed back. She should have no fear of being harassed or fear reprisals for all that has happened.”
Sitting up, I sighed with relief as I reached across and squeezed Trixie’s hand. That was what I was hoping for. I wanted her to no longer feel like she had to hide when she was in Low Town, but I also wanted her to be able to return to her people if there was trouble in my world. I looked up to find Trixie smiling at me, but there was something in her eyes, a question that made me wonder if she saw the direction of my thoughts as well.
I looked back at the queen, who appeared to be relieved by all this as well. “We need to be going. I’ve got a lot to work on. But before I go, I would like to pass along this warning.” I paused, licking my lips as I sorted through the information that I had. Arianna needed to know something, but I didn’t want to start a panic. “I’m sure you’re aware of yesterday’s destruction of Indianapolis.” Arianna had gone completely still to the point that I doubted that she breathed. “There is much I don’t know, and what I do know I am not comfortable talking about yet. There is a belief within the Towers that secret information has been stolen and the Towers feel threatened. There is also a belief that an elf is the culprit.”
Arianna became deathly pale before my eyes and I heard Trixie gasp as her hand tightened around my fingers.
“We’ve done nothing—” Arianna started, but I held up my hand, stopping her.
“I know that. But we both know that the Towers aren’t going to concern themselves with details like finding the identity of the true culprits, whether they are members of the Winter or Summer Courts, or if this is a