Serpentine Tongue Read Online Free Page A

did she name me her royal consort. I was infatuated beyond forgiveness. I deluded myself, betrayed my own instincts for what I wanted to see. What she asked of me I did without question, making enemies at every turn. I broke laws for her, until the court demanded my head. After a year’s time, in love as I was, blind to the precipice on the horizon, she came to me, crying.” Fallon’s breath caught, as the hatred returned in a severe flash. “She begged me to help her. Bartel MacArtian had rallied his fellows into forcing the Queen to marry. His plans were clear. Take the throne, and kill the Queen, as only a rightful Seelie King could do with beheading.”
    “Bartel had always set his sights high. He romanced the Queen at many functions, to no avail. He constantly met with others at night, to rally people in his favor,” Siobhan said. “Most of us remained unmoved. For all of the Queen’s faults, Bartel put her to shame.”
    “His supporters outweighed those who rallied with her,” Dearg murmured.
    Siobhan stared at Fallon. “What did she ask you to do?”
    “To kill him. She promised that if I succeeded, she would indeed make me her consort, protecting me by diplomatic immunity.” Fallon smirked. “I was elated. I asked Dearg for aid to distract his guard, so I could dispose of a nobleman. But it seemed the game hadn’t ended there. For it wasn’t just Bartel she wanted gone. She had me followed that night.”
    “Why?”
    “For all the enemies I’d made during my relationship with Druantia, allies were in abundance, supporters of my own, in high places. Let me assure you, I had no intention of this happening. Whispers told it, she feared my rise in popularity. She’d trade one dead enforced husband, for another to take his place.”
    Dearg cleared his throat. “Come now, Fallon. Tell the rest.”
    He glared at his friend. “After we returned to the castle, I found the Queen in the arms of Garbhan himself.”
    Siobhan hadn’t reacted. She sipped her wine, eyes ice chips in her face. Hard to tell who her anger was directed at.
    Dearg sighed. “Fallon was so distraught; I had to stop him from decapitating the Captain of Queen’s Knights right then and there.”
    Fallon shook his head. “I would’ve, if you hadn’t pulled me away.” He turned to Siobhan. “Dearg took me into the kitchens, safe from nobility’s sight. We’d always gone there to socialize with the Brownies and Sidhe servants. They were more trustworthy and honest than any noble. It was there I drank myself into a stupor, until walking was no longer an option. I could not kill, if raising my sword became too difficult to bear.”
    Siobhan smiled without humor. “I’d have to agree.”
    “Safest that way.”
    “No, safest is getting another under you. We took two servant women to our quarters that night,” Dearg picked up. “As if on cue, the Queen burst into our chambers unannounced. As if she expected to catch Fallon. She accused him of breaking a vow of fidelity, a heinous crime as I’m sure you know.”
    Siobhan paled.
    “I’d made no vow. Neither had she. However, it was a royal’s word against mine. With the rumor of my killing Bartel out of jealousy, this didn’t bode well in the case against me. The Queen denied being with the Captain. We were pulled from our beds, the women whipped before our eyes. We spent nearly two months imprisoned. I blamed myself for a moment of stupidity, because Dearg was being punished for nothing. When we were brought before the Queen,” he ground his teeth. “We were accused of conspiring against the crown, by murdering the future Seelie King, with her spies as witness. Kneeling at her feet, I saw the plan in her eyes. All along, she’d planned for me to kill Bartel, and take the fall.” He dropped his face into his hands, unable to look at Siobhan anymore. What did she think of him now? How had he done what he’d done, when every time he professed his adoration for the Queen,