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As he’d thought daily since he could reive , slaving, rapist father had succumbed, but what of the rest of his execrable line? The noed queen and her spawn, Rune’s half siblings

The guards dressed hi shirt, and shoes that pinched his feet Leaving his hand bindings, they re cha, Rune wobbled on his feet Was thisthe royal court? They es He gawked at the riches around hih the Canny, the queen who loathed hied his very life

Aher to her knees But he could do nothing with his hands bound The guards would block his into her

She was seated upon her elaborate throne, her cutting blue eyes studying hient?" Her croas a circlet of polished gold, and it rested far too co, Rune forced himself to bow

"How old are you?" she asked

"I’ve survived the fens for fifteen years" He was strong and hardened, could do the work of two adult demons

"Such bravado, cur"

"My nae "Your face isn’t handso the highborn fedom"

Reminded of his success, he drew on the patience he’d learned when seducing e féodals "Yes, my queen, they have honored hborns to uncover his dam’s fate after she’d been taken frolib of tongue You must be to convince them to risk your toxins" She canted her head "I suppose youbelow If only he could find a fe who’d been spared

The queen continued, "But what of your leavings? Are you demonic in that manner? Have you a demon’s mystical seal over yourhis seed with the queen "I do" A demon could know the pleasure of a climax but couldn’t spill semen Not until he was inside his destined female and his seal disappeared

In other words, never for et a mate, especially since we’ve exterminated your ilk in Sylvan"

His claws ached to rend her flesh But Rune had feared the same How many times had he heard that dark fey were creations never meant to be, outcasts from the reach of destiny?

"I wanted my husband to obey convention and dispose of you as well To allow such a lethal being to remain alive, even enslaved, seeive me the power

"But now I see more in you, and I can almost comprehend why those idiotic fe sensuality of the fey and the sexual intensity of a deazed past him "It appears I have a use for you after all"

Chills skittered up his spine, and again he wondered if a stoning htn’t have been a mercy