Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,214

heat his body offered. His arm wrapped around me as he kissed my forehead, remaining silent. I searched his eyes, wondering if he was right or if one of the visions Taren and Karter had shown me would become my reality. Leaning forward, I gently claimed his lips before pulling away even though he chased my kiss.

“I can’t hide from the monsters anymore, Knox. I have to face the fact that I am one and that I like what I am becoming. Good night, husband.”

He’d stood in front of his family’s crypt, which meant he was fighting for the strength to enter it and had failed tonight. Knox was the strongest being within the Nine Realms. Eventually, he’d stop failing. I couldn’t be here when that happened. It was time to leave.

I had to finish what I’d come to do, get what I needed, and escape before Knox opened that damn tomb and discovered who lay within his wife’s grave. I’d done the math, figured out the equation, and I didn’t intend to be around to be the one he went after when he learned the ugly truth.

Chapter Fifty-Three

I woke to women staring down at me with unease burning in their eyes. Lifting from the bed, I stared up at them in curiosity. One stepped forward, or more to the point, the others opted for her by moving backward. The scent of roses caught me off guard as I turned, finding a large bath placed in the middle of the room.

“Uh—I…” she paused, trembling. “I don’t know how to address you properly.” The girl couldn’t have been any older than sixteen. Her wide green eyes rounded in horror as if she thought I’d smote her down or some shit.

“Aria. My name is Aria.”

“Queen Aria, we’re here to bathe you,” she whispered while watching me stretch out, still wearing the dress I’d fallen asleep in last night that was covered in blood droplets.

“Just Aria is fine,” I muttered, slowly standing to strip out of the dress. “You can leave. I can bathe myself,” I announced.

“They cannot leave,” Celia snorted, stepping from the shadows to glare at me with a coldness that sent a chill racing down my spine. “King Karnavious instructed them to bathe his whore queen. They will assist you, or the guards can come in and do it for them. Your choice, Aria Hecate,” she spat out, like my name on her tongue was vile, and hurt her to say it.

“It’s actually Aria Karnavious now,” I informed coolly. I dropped the dress, revealing the mating mark he’d placed on my shoulder and throat as she glared at me.

Settling into the water, I leaned back while my attendants poured water over my hair, preparing to use the soap Knox had created for me. Celia gradually moved around the tub until she was in front of me. Today, she had pinned her blonde hair back, and jewels adorned her head to appear as if she wore a crown. Her corset pushed too small breasts forward, making them seem a lot larger than they really were. Her blue eyes that matched Killian’s would have been pretty if they weren’t filled with hatred.

“The king will never love you. You will never be more than a body he takes at night to ease his needs. He hates everything that you are and will ever be. You will never hold more power than I do in this kingdom. Once the war is over, Knox will end your life, and I will sit on my sister’s throne, at his side.” Just like I’d seen in one of the potential futures that Karter had shown me, with the exception that it was I who would end their lives.

“Well, that explains your bitterness at him coming home with a bride. Although, to be honest, he doesn’t return your feelings,” I smirked, tilting my head as the girls washed my hair. “That must upset you greatly, him not returning the lust you feel for him. He’s a very generous lover.”

“I’m aware of Knox’s virility and his stamina, Aria. I have been with the king more than once to ease his grief. I am who he comes to when he misses Liliana. I alone remind him she lived. Do you think you’re the only one that carries his mark?” Celia asked, pushing her dress aside to reveal a similar pattern on her shoulder. “You’re nothing more than a whore who warms his bed, for now. You are what the people