Viciously Yours (Fae Kings of Eden Book 1)

Rennick didn’t know which frightened him more; the voices in his head no one else could hear, or the name those voices whispered and what it meant.

“Amelia,” he murmured to himself, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

It was the prettiest name he’d ever heard.

As a royal fae, Rennick didn’t have a choice in who he would marry, and he’d been preparing for this day since he was old enough to understand what a mate was.

At midnight on a royal fae’s thirteenth birthday, the gods whispered the name of the royal heir’s fated mate for only them to hear, creating a bond between the two before they ever met.

Amelia.

Royals possessed stronger magic than other fae, in addition to superior physical strength and speed. His father said the gods ensured the royal bloodlines stayed strong and left nothing to chance. That’s why royals had fated mates. There was no stronger magic than that of a royal’s mate bond, thus making the strongest offspring possible.

The thing about mates that Rennick didn’t understand was that the bond didn’t make them love each other. Wouldn’t that be easier? he thought begrudgingly.

The gods decreed that royals had to marry their fated mates, no matter what. It didn’t seem fair. Regardless, his father said he had a duty to his mate and his kingdom, and Rennick would do his best to make him proud.

Rennick’s father, Callum, chuckled, pulling him from his thoughts. “I know that look.” Callum gazed lovingly at his wife. “I remember hearing your mother’s name for the first time.” He winked at her. “Helena.”

Helena smiled and rolled her eyes before turning to Rennick. “Who is she, sweetie?”

Rennick’s wonder gave way to anxiety. What if he didn’t like Amelia when they met? Doubt threatened to overpower him, and he drew in an unsteady breath. “Amelia. I’ve never heard of her.”

He knew most people his age in Vale, the capital of the Mountain Kingdom, and since mates were born on the same day, he’d taken note of girls who shared his birthday.

“That’s normal,” his father assured him. “It’s not likely you’d meet them naturally.”

Rennick’s face paled. They might not meet?

Would that really be so bad?

“Callum.” Helena leaned across the small dining table in Rennick’s rooms to pat his hand. “What your father meant is there are many people throughout the four fae kingdoms, and it’s not unusual for your mate to be someone you don’t know; there are too many people in this world to encounter them all.” She squeezed his hand reassuringly. “You will find her. The gods ensure it.”

Meeting Amelia for the first time would be uncomfortable at best. All the heirs from other kingdoms were boys, meaning she was a normal fae and wouldn’t know he was her mate. She would feel his stronger emotions, but the gods only spoke to royals. She probably wouldn’t understand what the extra emotions meant.

What would he say? Hi, we’re going to get married. By the way, my name is Rennick?

What if she wasn’t from the Mountain Kingdom? His mother grew up in the Garden Kingdom, and she didn’t mind the cold, but if Amelia lived in the Tropical or Desert Kingdoms, she would freeze to death.

He would have extra coats and blankets stashed around the palace, just in case.

“I know you don’t understand now,” his mother said gently, “but one day she will be the most important person in your life. It will be your job to protect her if she cannot protect herself.”

He puffed out his chest and sat taller. “I will do my duty and protect her.”

Even if we never fall in love.

ONE WEEK LATER

Rennick and his best friend, Finn, stood in the middle of the training arena, panting after their last round of sparring. Rennick began warrior training when he was old enough to hold a sword, and Finn’s father, one of the Mountain Kingdom’s best warriors, brought his son to train alongside the other trainees. They’d been best friends ever since.

The impossibly tall stone walls of the arena formed an oval structure far outside the palace. The open space could fit an entire legion of warriors, as well as trainees. Rennick and Finn spent every bit of free time they had either training with the other trainees or watching the warriors train.

The large colorful trees filled with rainbow leaves and capped in snow provided shade on cloudless days, but even they weren’t enough to filter out the blistering sun today. Sweat coated Rennick’s lightly tanned skin, and he swiped at his damp forehead, but the leather of his sleeve stuck to his skin, making it worse. Finn’s warm umber skin glistened as well, and Rennick knew it was time to go inside before one of them died of a heat stroke.

The Mountain Kingdom was cold and covered in snow, but its location high in the mountains placed them closer to the sun. On a clear day, it felt like the seven rings of hell, especially when weighed down by armor. It didn’t help that Rennick’s father had increased the training schedule for the trainees and newer warriors.

New rebel factions had popped up throughout the four fae kingdoms. They attacked at random and grew bolder by the year. In history classes, they learned that with each generation came new waves of unrest, but no matter the era, the rebels’ goals remained the same: to extinguish the royal bloodlines.

Rennick once asked his father why the rebels hated the royals so much, and his father said, “You will always be someone else’s villain, whether you deserve the title or not. Your duty is to ensure their hate is unjustified.”

They could thank the stupid rebels for their mandatory extra training.

As Rennick and Finn left the training arena with dirt coating their sticky skin, all Rennick could think about was soaking in a snow bath.

Finn jogged alongside him to keep up with his long strides. At thirteen, Rennick already stood six feet tall, with broad shoulders that rivaled those of fully grown men.

“When does your father leave?” Finn asked between pants.

Rennick continued his hurried pace in silence.

Finn punched Rennick’s arm. “Answer me.”

Rennick punched him back, dodging when Finn swung again. “Tomorrow morning.”

Rennick’s parents had spent the last few days checking the Mountain Kingdom’s birth registry for anyone named Amelia with the same birthday as Rennick, but they’d found nothing. Tomorrow, his father would leave for the other kingdoms to check their registries as well.

Once a royal fae heard the name of their mate, they needed to find them as soon as possible and move them to their kingdom’s capital for their own safety. The quickest way to end the royal lines was by killing a royal’s mate or a young royal heir.

“Your Majesty,” Rand, Finn’s father and one of the king’s most trusted generals, called out to Rennick. The look on his face had both boys pulling up short. Something was wrong. “A group of rebels breeched the palace walls. I need you two to come with me.”

“How?” Finn asked as they followed Rand back toward the palace.

“They managed to slip into the garden,” Rand replied, his eyes distant.

The garden. On sunny days, his mother spent hours in the gardens. Rennick sprinted toward the palace walls as the other two ran after him, yelling his name.

His chest tightened as he closed in on the palace gates. Please be okay, he chanted silently as his feet pounded against the ground. A guard moved into his path with his hand out, and something within Rennick went wild. They’d not keep him from his mother. An explosion of anger had him slamming the guard against the stone wall.

“Unlock the gate,” he commanded in a voice he didn’t recognize, scaring himself.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard waved his hand to another. “Let him in.”

If the rebels had hurt his mother, she’d be in the infirmary. He took off in a sprint, praying she wasn’t there. Guards jumped out of his way, and when he rounded the corner of the service wing, he saw the familiar silhouette of his father entering the infirmary. A flash of red hair dangled from his arms.

Rennick’s blood ran cold, and he skidded to a halt outside of the infirmary door. “What happened?” A guard stepped in front of him and braced his hand on Rennick’s chest. Through the gaps between the guard’s body and the door, Rennick watched his father lay his unconscious mother on a bed. Time stopped.

“Mom!” He should have been embarrassed by the desperation tainting his voice, but the vision of his mother’s lifeless body killed whatever pride he had.

The guard spoke in a deceptively soft voice. “The best thing you can do for the queen is let the healer and his staff do their jobs uninterrupted.”

Rennick tore his gaze away from his mother. “What if she dies?”

The guard pinched his lips together and glanced over his shoulder into the room for a long moment. With a sad sigh, he turned and motioned for Rennick to follow him inside.

Callum turned on them with such fury and pain in his eyes that Rennick almost stepped back. He took tentative steps to his father’s side and stared at his mother with abject horror.

The healer and nurses switched out blood-soaked towels at an alarming rate in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. Fae were stronger and faster than humans, royals even more so, but they weren’t immortal, nor did they heal rapidly, like the human fairytales claimed. The healer hung his head and stepped away.

Rennick moved to the other side of the bed and tenderly took his mother’s hand in his.

“I love you, Mom,” he choked out while tears streamed down his dirty face.

Rennick’s father leaned forward and kissed her forehead, murmuring, “Goodbye, love,” and when her chest rose for the last time, a sob ripped from his chest.

Rennick’s ears rang, and his legs gave out, sending him to his knees.

He didn’t know when Finn arrived, but his friend grabbed him by the arms and hauled him to his feet. Rennick’s father remained hunched over his wife, his body shaking with anguished sobs.

Rennick allowed Finn to lead him toward the hall in a daze, but he paused at the door and took one last look at her rapidly paling face. Grief filled his veins, pumping through him at a rapid pace. Thirteen years’ worth of memories, he thought bitterly. That’s all he had left of his mother. Their future memories bled dry at the hands of the rebels. Hatred joined the grief within him, and he reached for it, latching onto the dark emotion with everything he had.

Finn guided him down the halls toward the royal wing, but Rennick barely registered his surroundings. He thought back to the last conversation he’d had with his mother. That morning, at breakfast, she’d chattered excitedly about Amelia and how she’d always wanted a daughter. She wondered which kingdom she came from and what things she liked to do.

Pain lanced through him.

She wouldn’t be there to weep at his wedding like he knew she would have, and his mate would never know the joy of having his mother as her own.