The Mortal Queen | The Cruel Prince / Wicked King Fanfic

Seven

Cardan is watching me, gauging my reaction. He still has that intense look in his dark eyes.

If he wasn't sending me away to protect his investment, or insurance policy, then protecting me would mean— no, I can't even consider other reasons why he'd want to protect me. I can't let myself be that vulnerable, especially with him.

"Your reaction right after hearing your sentence has haunted me everyday since. That's when I knew we weren't on the same page after all. But I had to do it, Jude."

I think about his words but I'm so overwhelmed I can't speak. I'm absolutely sure I'm making the strangest faces based on how he's looking at me now.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" He asks me after a long silence.

I nod. "Yes. And no." I stammer, looking into his eyes. "I understand what you just said, but I don't get why you'd do something like that. For me, I mean." I look away from him, shaking my head, and watch a taxi pass by us. This gives me an idea.

"Hold on." I say and step up to the curb and wave my arm. A taxi stops in front of us and I open the door.

"What are you doing?" Cardan asks.

"Just get in."

We both slide in and I give the taxi driver the address to Vivi's house. Cardan is waiting for me to explain.

"No one will be home right now, so we can be alone and not get interrupted." I realized how that sounded as soon as it left my mouth, but Cardan doesn't hesitate to tease me about it. I look out the window as the city passes us by, hoping to avoid the awkwardness.

"Really, Jude? And I haven't even taken you on a proper date yet."

I look at him and see he's enjoying this.

"Well, you might have forgotten that we're married. So really, the whole dating thing is pointless." I should just stop talking.

Cardan is laughing, and I realize how much I like the sound of his laugh. "Your face is so red right now." He says.

He unbuckles his seatbelt and slides to the middle seat next to me.

"And so you know, no I haven't forgotten that we're married, wife." He says with a grin, and rests his arm along the seat behind me.

"Right." I swallow and turn to look out the window. I don't want him relishing in the evidence of my embarrassment.

We're almost to Vivi's house. The taxi takes a corner a bit too fast and Cardan knocks into me. I can feel his breath on the side of my face.

"I'd apologize but that clearly wasn't my fault." He says loudly.

The taxi driver mutters something so quietly we can't quite hear, right as we arrive at Vivi's house.

As I suspected, no one is home right now. I pay the taxi driver and we make our way inside.

Cardan looks so out of place in Vivi's very ordinary house, and he's looking around at everything in amazement, as if he's never set foot in something so unrefined. He most likely hasn't, and that puts a smile on my face.

I take my jacket off along with my shoes and put them in the closet near the door to the garage.

"So." Cardan says. "This is where you've been living all these months."

"It is. It's not so bad, though." I say.

He wanders off to take in more of his surroundings, and I move toward the back of the house and into my room.

"What are you doing?" Cardan asks from close behind me.

I didn't even realize he was following me.

I grab a few articles of clothing from my dresser. "Taking a shower."

He looks at me with a confused expression.

"I'm sure you've noticed that I stink." I say.

He just smiles. "Actually, you smell very pleasant."

I'm not sure how that's possible.

"Before you showed up I was in the middle of a pretty intense exercise routine and I feel disgusting right now."

"So you're just going to avoid talking to me because you smell?"

I swat his arm as I pass him. "Not exactly. You're going to wait here and we'll talk when I'm done. I just need to clear my head. And I'll smell better too."

I walk up to him, put my hands on both his arms and guide him to my bed, where I force him to sit down.

"Now, stay here. I won't be long." I start out of the room, but turn around to see him smiling mischievously at me. "And don't get into anything." I tell him, and he waves me off.

I head into the bathroom, close the door, and turn on the water. It will be a solid minute or two before it's a decent temperature, so I work on peeling out of my clothes.

Yes, I may stink and feel disgusting, but I really need to take a breath before having a serious conversation with the High King of Elfhame, who happens to also be my husband.

I need to stay focused and not get distracted with all the feelings that his sudden appearance has overwhelmed me with.

I've realized this day can't possibly get any more strange or confusing.

I step into the shower and let the hot water wash away all the tension in my mind and body.

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Thanks for reading this far! Drop me a comment and let me know your favorite or least favorite part. I'm curious about all of it!

So playlist.. this is normally where I'd post this chapter's song, but I've decided to post the playlist for this book as a bonus chapter at the end. I'll add to it every week, but still need to figure out a couple of the songs to the chapters I've already posted. So you might not see it for a few more days still.

Next chapter is coming soon! What do you think is going to happen next?