The Cursed Kingdom

FORTY-ONE

There was even a list of gift ideas and every item had been crossed out with a straight line through them, all of which I had received but not in the exact order they were written—perfumes, hats, jewelry, flowers—everything. Two near the top were completely scribbled out, the black ink too thick for me to make out what they said, which I guessed were ideas he'd scrapped.

I turned to the next section of the book and felt my stomach grow heavy with sick when I saw the chapter's title: Sexual Intercourse.

I'd read many books about Lycans and a couple here and there about Mages and Faes whenever I was bored or ran out of things to read. Yes, there were chapters that focused on reproduction, but I'd never once come across anything that came close to explaining how they preferred to have sex itself.

Even though I tried not to be, I couldn't help but feel offended, knowing full well this was proof of how lowly Humans were viewed by other species. Just the idea of somebody picking this up and reading it and laughing at it—it was utterly demeaning. Having such a vile piece of literature in my hands felt equivalent to holding a pile of dung and all I wanted to do was throw it out the window and let it land in the dirt, where it belonged.

With an audible swallow, I flipped the page, knowing whatever I was about to see wouldn't be something I'd ever forget no matter how many times I tried.

It was so much worse than I expected.

My eyes widened when I saw all the notes—Patience. Ask. Face-to-face—and the dozens of pictures that covered the chapter's forty-three pages, reminding me of a shortened version of the erotic book I'd found in Tylem and Taylium's house all those years ago.

But the image that caught my attention the most was the very first one, which displayed a man with teeth-too-large-for-his-face above a woman, holding her hands over her head by her wrists just as Henrik had done when—

I snapped the book shut barely a second before the sound of the doorknob turning invaded the room, my body as stiff as stone while my head bowed towards the ground, wishing I could be anywhere but there. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge when they felt his eyes on me, my heartbeat so fast that it felt like it would burst out of my chest. My breathing came out in shallow and uneven bursts as I continued looking at the horrible book and its disgusting images that seemed to stare right back.

Before that moment, I thought I'd had the whole situation under control. But now that Henrik was just a few feet behind me, I felt more prepared to dive off a mountain than confront him.

"Yrmus said you needed to see me." His voice was still gravelly with a hint of a growl, despite the fact I could tell he was trying to suppress it, an effect of the full moon that I knew would last with him for at least a couple more hours. Even while mad at him, my heart clenched at the sound of it and remembered how that same voice had vowed to be my husband in front of Zuerstelle's statue and to be honest and true to me forever until death parted us.

It all felt like such a cruel joke now.

Even after everything that had taken place only a couple hours ago, all I wanted to do was run straight into Henrik's arms and make his magical warmth scare away the coldness of the world. And it hurt more than death itself that I couldn't. That Henrik's lies stole that ability away from me until I was like a broken vase that could no longer hold flowers or trust anything beautiful again.

When the door clicked shut, I released a shaky breath and turned around to face the one responsible for both my happiness and suffering within the past few months, Henrik's body stiffening and eyes narrowing in confusion when he saw my very red and swollen face from hours of crying.