Serpentine Tongue Read Online Free

and handed them each one. “I will tell you the truth, only if you tell me first.”
    “Swear it.” Fallon straightened. “Give your oath, and we will tell you what transpired.”
    “Do I look the woman who would go back on my word?”
    Fallon sent her a droll look. “I have known you but two days.”
    She waved him off. “Fine. I shall give my oath that upon hearing your truthful story—and I will know if you tell a lie—I will tell you my own.”
    Nature herself tensed at the declaration. Magick arched between them, sealing their deal in a binding, unbreakable contract. Few rejected a deal once made. Those who did ended up dead.
    Fallon sipped from his goblet. The fairy wine untangled his enforced silence on the issue at hand. He gulped half the contents to loosen his tongue, to fortify himself for what was to come.
    “You’ve been gone from court, providing you ignorance on the escalation of the Queen’s activities,” he began in safety. Surely the signs of Druantia O’hUallachain’s eccentrics had shown before that.
    She nodded in agreement, her bright, eager gaze belittling the reserved set of her mouth. “Two years is adequate time for much to transpire at court.”
    “The Queen’s consort of seventy five years was killed in a battle with rogue Unseelie Goblins. She grieved a short time, long as she thought appropriate. Afterward, she threw parties, taking the Knights one by one in shadowed corners, discarding them fast as she’d procured them. None spoke of her trysts, hoping against hope she’d return to their beds, giving them a chance to become the royal consort. Perhaps, even King. But she never had intentions to share her crown.”
    Siobhan smirked, steeping her hands. “When I still involved myself in the politics, there was much talk of forcing her to take a husband. To make babies and let a man to take the reins of the court.”
    “That talk never ceased. Her counselors pleaded in every way imaginable. She hasn’t done her duty to our people in a long time, leaving the decision making to her advisors. As long as she had the power and riches that come with her station, nothing else mattered.” Dearg stoked the natural fire, giving them his back. No doubt to hide his enraged expression. Yet, his voice wasn’t as neutral. He’d never played the game well enough. His anger, a constant pit, a living flame inside of him never bothered to stay hidden, as it should.
    “Were you one of the Knights who went to her bed?” Siobhan said.
    “No. Fallon was.”
    Her mauve gaze clashed with his, absent of condemnation he expected. Mere curiosity.
    “True that I gave into her wiles.” He fidgeted, ashamed of himself. “Upon a moonlit night as Dearg and I were at swordplay, she came to me, wearing a glowing white cloak to hide her features from prying eyes.” He distanced himself from the memory, the betraying innocence she’d worn, a mask of pure deceit he hadn’t deciphered until far too late. “Back then, I was the prized Knight, the one the Captain sought out for the difficult challenges. I had no inclination the Queen kept up with anything, short of her orders followed to the letter. That night she recited every accomplishment I’d procured in battle. She called me cunning, fearless, played to every string of pride within my fiber.”
    “You aren’t the first to fall for her petty lies. Many, male and female alike have fallen prey to her.” She winced. “She is a phenomenal actress, when it comes to getting what she wants.”
    His cheeks burned. How could she be so understanding, when he’d never forgive himself? “I am aware there is a long line behind me of fallen duped. I went to her bed time and again, taking no one else but her. For a time, she was sweet, loving. Unlike those who preceded me, she didn’t hide our relationship from the nobility. I suppose I’d proven my prowess, and she openly marked me to any feminine eye I caught. She became jealous, possessive. But neither