within my own Court. Oh well!” She flipped to a new packet. “Chase hasn’t been able to figure out what that weird shadow-creature-thing from the derby was. Myron won’t talk about it.” She paused. “Actually, Chase thinks he can’t talk about it.”
“He’s likely under a geas.”
She peered at me with more interest than she’d shown since she called me out. “A what?”
“A geas—a binding line in a contract. Likely, Myron agreed to a geas that would keep him from speaking.”
“Hmm. Did you ever have to have a geas when you were…um…working?”
I had, actually, on the contract I’d taken to try to kill her.
While the contract was canceled, the geas was still in place, which meant I could never speak a word or indicate who had hired me for the job.
I stared at her, unable to say anything.
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” Without a moment’s hesitation, she returned her attention to her papers.
I lingered awkwardly behind one of her couches.
“You know,” she abruptly said. “If my raw charm scares you that much, you can use the lock installed on the door between our rooms to lock me out.”
It occurred to me then I had married a feminine version of Dion in a far more attractive variety.
“Your sense of humor is not as witty as you think it is,” I flatly said.
“I’m not the one who disappeared for three days after we got married,” she laughed. Her eyes darted in my direction and she added, almost reluctantly, “I’m glad you’re back.”
I sighed and finally sat down in a chair. “Because you have the official ball that will recognize you as Queen of the Night Court in front of the other monarchs?”
“And I don’t want to host it alone—yeees.” She shuddered, then tossed her papers aside. “The Day King should be fun, but I’d rather go to the dentist and get some teeth pulled than invite the other monarchs to the party. The King of the Autumn Court I would especially love to avoid—though that does remind me, I have some thank you notes I need you to sign.”
I was so confused, my forehead actually wrinkled. “Thank you notes?”
“Yes. For all the wedding gifts we received?”
“You are the Queen of the Night Court. I’m your consort. We don’t have to thank anyone.”
“Yes, we do. It’s good manners. And I don’t want anyone holding a wedding gift over our heads.”
I stared at her, dumbstruck. Does she really not understand that she holds the ultimate power over everyone in our Court? Given that her marriage to me lacks any kind of political connection and that everyone has sworn themselves to her, they are at her mercy, not the other way around.
Leila misunderstood my silence. “Don’t worry—I have most of them written. The only one I’m going to make you write is for the Paragon—I think my insincerity would show through in that note. He got us a fancy tea maker, and I’m bitter because the chef has it put in a place of honor in the kitchen but still won’t let me get a coffee maker!”
As I observed my very unlikely wife, it occurred to me that I was lucky she easily accepted what she referred to as my brooding silence. If not, Leila would have pushed and insisted on hearing why I had abandoned her, and I wasn’t quite ready to tell her.
I’d spent the past three days trying to sort out what I felt about her as a queen.
I’d agreed to become her consort because I really wondered if she’d try to destroy the Court.
But in my absence, she hadn’t acted like a tyrant or started beheading nobles. Rather, she’d carried on—business as usual.
Based on what I’d heard, the most tyrannical thing she had done was inform the Court she was cutting the number of social events in half to make up for a budget shortage.
No one dared to nay say her.
She won’t willfully destroy the Night Court…but her idea of ending the struggles for power is madness. She’s a threat to the Court still, because she’s going to change the game one way or another.
If I were a more idealistic fae, I’d dare to hope that she could save us all. But it’s too late for that.
“Rigel—are you listening?”
“You want me to thank the Paragon for the tea maker.”
“Precisely!”
I watched her organize her papers with a bunch of fuss, and something in me prickled. Before I thought twice about it, I said, “You don’t want me to kill anyone for bad wedding gifts?”
“No!” She gave me a reproachful look. “You are a bloodthirsty lion, aren’t you? You should drink some tea. I hear it’s calming.”
“Perhaps you ought to try it, then.”
“I would rather die!”
My lips shivered in an almost smile.
Yes, I married her to stop her if necessary. I never wanted it—neither did she, apparently—but at least she’ll be an amusing person to tease from now until it’s over.
The End
To be continued in Crown of Moonlight: Court of Midnight and Deception Book 2
For free short stories and more information about the Court of Midnight and Deception Series, visit kmshea.com!
Afterword
Thank you for reading Crown of Shadows, I hope you enjoyed Leila’s story! If you want to read more of my work, sign up for my newsletter to receive my free K. M. Shea Starter Pack ebook.
It contains:
A Hall of Blood and Mercy short story
A King Arthur and Her Knights prequel short story
A Red Rope of Fate prequel short story
An original fairy tale, Princess Snow and Queen Ruby
A fairy tale retelling, The Princess Who Chased Sheep
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Thank you for your support and encouragement. I am proud to say I have the best readers. Therefore, it is my dearest wish that Leila and her friends made you laugh and warmed your heart. Thank you.
Leila’s adventure continues in…
Crown of Moonlight
Available on Amazon!
My citizens despise my half-human blood, but it sure comes in handy! My ability to lie was key in forcing my Court to bow to my authority as their Queen. Okay, it also helped that I’m married to the most feared fae assassin in the supernatural community.
But once I meet the monarchs of the rest of the fae Courts in the region I realize the good times are only just beginning! They hate my guts and don’t even bother using their fae tricks to hide their disgust of me and my background.
At least I know where I stand with them, which is more than I can say for Rigel.
My relationship with Rigel is … complicated. When he first became my consort I thought it would be enough if he let me use his deadly reputation and refrained from killing me. But as he has saved me from countless attempts on my life and joked with me through boring Court socials, my thoughts about him have veered into uncomfortable territory.
Not that I have time to think about all of this.
Those attempts on my life I mentioned earlier? Yeah, they’re getting bolder and more difficult to survive. I’m confident one of the other monarchs is behind it, but I don’t have the power to make them stop the same way I did my own court.
So far, my lying tongue and Rigel’s blades have gotten us through, but if something BIG gets dropped on us, will we survive?
Other books by K. M. Shea
The Snow Queen Series:
A completed Epic Fantasy series of two books and an anthology of short stories
Timeless Fairy Tales:
Beauty and the Beast
The Wild Swans
Cinderella and the Colonel
Rumpelstiltskin
The Little Selkie
Puss in Boots
Swan Lake
Sleeping Beauty
Frog Prince
12 Dancing Princesses
Snow White
Three pack (Beauty and the Beast, The Wild Swans, Cinderella and the Colonel)
The Fairy Tale Enchantress:
Apprentice of Magic
Curse of Magic
Reign of Magic
The Elves of Lessa:
Red Rope of Fate
Royal Magic
The Prince’s Bargain
Hall of Blood and Mercy:
A complete urban fantasy series of 3 books
King Arthur and Her Knights:
A complete historical fantasy series of seven books
Robyn Hood:
A compete historical fiction series of two novellas
The Magical Beings’ Rehabilitation Center:
A complete urban fantasy series of two books and an anthology of short stories
Other Novels
Life Reader
Princess Ahira
A Goose Girl
Second Age of Retha: Written under pen name A. M. Sohma
The Luckless
The Desperate Quest
The Revived
About the Author
K. M. Shea is a fantasy-romance author who never quite grew out of adventure books or fairy tales, and still searches closets in hopes of stumbling into Narnia. She is addicted to sweet romances, witty characters, and happy endings. She also writes LitRPG and GameLit under the pen name, A. M. Sohma.
Hang out with the K. M. Shea Community at…
kmshea.com