His Red Queen

Chapter Eight

"Where are we going?" I demand once we're outside of the palace. Maven says nothing but puts a hand on the small of my back, lightly pushing me in front of him. I stop in my tracks and he bumps into me.

He plasters on a charismatic grin. "Careful, Mare."

I finally snap, my terrible day catching up to me all at once. "Maven, tell me where we are going!"

He smiles at me sarcastically. "A honeymoon, dear wife."

"Where?" I am not taking another step until he tells me where this honeymoon he speaks of is. For all I know, he could be marching me to my death right now after playing with my head, making me think he actually wants me alive.

"Coriane's old favorite palace," he responds. "Well, according to Cal, it was. Right near the ocean, though we aren't going to spend much time near the water."

Why he would choose to go to Cal's mother's old palace, I have no idea. Maven is a burner. Water is his greatest enemy. Well, maybe not the greatest. The Scarlet Guard is still out there, with Cal, and they will pounce the second they have the chance.

"Why?"

"Because I said so," he hisses. "Now let's go." He pulls me into the jet with him and only a few sentinels follow. The rest disperse, going back to the palace for my wedding reception that I am missing.

Maven and I have our own designated space, separated from where the sentinels sit silently. After a solid ten minutes of staring out at the clouds, contemplating my decisions from the past several days, my eyes grow heavy from exhaustion.

"You can go to sleep, Mare," Maven says softly. "I'll wake you when we get there."

I rub my eyes, instantly regretting it as I smudge a bit of eyeliner. "I'm fine."

"Are you, though?" I think that I see genuine concern on his pale face.

"Does it matter?" I sigh.

"Now, don't be like that!" Maven snaps. "I can give you everything! Did you think I was going to let you die with my brother? It does matter. It matters to me."

I shake my head, not knowing how to respond. No matter what he can give me, he'll never fix the damage he has caused. He'll never rule this country properly, and I'll never love him the way I once thought I did. My heart has been burned so badly, that any love I once had has shriveled and died in his Maven's hands.

If the difference of me being okay or not mattered to him, Maven never would have betrayed me in the first place.

"Fine," I finally say, looking out the window.

There is an uncomfortable stretch of silence and though I am looking away from him, I feel Maven's gaze on me.

"You're my queen now," he says.

Thanks for the reminder. I ignore him.

"Mare."

"Maven."

He studies my face for a long moment before speaking again. One of his curls flops down over his forehead and he pushes it away as he keeps his eyes on me as if I am going to run away.

"What's wrong?" I sigh.

Snapping out of his little trance, Maven casts his eyes to the floor. "I really love you, you know."

His words make my skin crawl.

"A lie." Venom laces my voice as I say the exact words he said to me when I told him that his father loved him.

Maven bites out a bitter laugh. "You've always had a bit of a... spark... in your words, my queen."

It is impossible to say how much I wish my lightning could course through my veins and spill from my hands, crackling and purple. If it weren't for these bracelets, the air jet would have been splintered against the ground a half hour ago.

"I know you loved me," he says. "Mother always said that love makes you weak."

At that, I laugh. "So, is that what you are? Weak?" The expression on Maven's face only incenses me further, knowing that I have some power over him and that I can hurt him like he hurt me. "You're weak, Maven. And if you love me the way you say you do, all you're going to do is get yourself killed. You'd have been better off leaving me to die!"

Maven stands up quickly and pulls me up out of my seat. "I am not weak. You are." His grip on my shoulders hurts but I do not wince or show how afraid I actually am of him.

"Tell me, then, how I am weak."

"You chose me over death." He leans down, lips brushing my ear. It sends shivers, both pleasant and disturbing, down my spine, leaving me unsure if I want to lean into his touch or back away. "You love your family more than you hate me. And that is why you have become weak in your attempt to keep them safe."

"Maybe I am weak. But I am no fool." I pull away from him and sit back down. I turn my new crown over in my hands for the rest of the flight, counting down the seconds until I can be on solid ground again.

When we finally touch down, I get off of the air jet before Maven and his precious sentinels. I am not allowed much of a reprieve or more than maybe two deep breaths of ocean air before Maven catches up to me. He laces his fingers in mine and a traitorous part of my wretched heart is glad to have him so close.

There are no whispers around to taint my thoughts and twist my brain into knots, so I have to admit to myself that a piece of me still cares for him. Maven. The King. My husband.

It's dark outside now. The sun has long since set and stars twinkle above, watching us as we make our way towards the palace. The palace that is rumored to have been beloved by Cal's mother, Coriane.

Once in the palace, the sentinels practically disappear, leaving me with Maven at the beginning of a hall. There's an eerie feel to the palace. So empty and hollowed out. Beautiful, yet devoid of life. The only living beings here are Maven, the sentinels, a short staff of servants that I haven't even seen yet, and me. It's not like the palace that we left; full of people and cameras and noise.

Maven steps up to me and I flinch involuntarily. But he simply straightens my crown, an unreadable expression on his face.