Etaya looked at Anastasia and said, "Come back and we are going to give you your due place—as wife of my son and as the future queen of the fae kingdom. I will also release your parents. I would advise you to break your marriage with Ileus. You don't belong to him. You and Aed Ruad have fae blood. You cannot let our line be stained by the blood of a wizard—a species that is so lower than the faes." 

Anastasia didn't know whether to laugh at her or not. "According to your logic, Aed Ruad's blood is already stained. He is the son of a winged demon prince called Seraph! There were rumors that you enticed Seraph into marrying you, but I don't want to take that path." She shook her head lightly. "However, according to me not a single man, not a single species is low. Your character is defined by what you do or by what you are, and not by what class you belong to. And the best example of what I just said is you!"

Once again Etaya's blood drained. 

Anastasia said, "I will never ever get into a deal with you." She pointed her chin to the door and snarled "Fuck off!" 

"You will regret this Anastasia!" Etaya shouted.

"No, you will regret not telling Iona's whereabouts to us. The queen of Draoidh gave you an easy solution to accept your defeat and gracefully bow down to her offer, but you are choosing your fate. Also, don't think of touching my parents in the celestial prison, because if you do, trust me I am going to mutilate you into so many pieces that even dogs wouldn't recognize that you were a fae once." 

Etaya flared. "You bitch! How dare you give me orders? Now that you have the backing of Adrianna and Ileus, you are showing your bravery? When you were alone and at my mercy, where was this bravery? You couldn't stand up to show your true nature? That time you only showed cowardice!" 

"That time you poisoned me to suppress my magic. My wings were shackled by the Elders." 

Seeing that she was about to spill out all her secrets, Etaya said, "Stop speaking lies! I never did that to you. You are such a monster to imagine a situation and then turn it into reality. You are nothing but a piece of shit!" Etaya was well aware of the fact whatever talks occurred in the meeting rooms would be spread across the Lore soon and while negotiating about Iona was fine, if Anastasia revealed her secrets, the word might reach the fae people and an unrest may take place. In order to stop it, she added, "I am leaving. I will return and I will return with full force to take you back. And when I take you back, you will pay for your insolence. I only want you for my son so that the two of you are in a happy marriage and here you are trying to demean me. How dare you?" 

Anastasia got up from her chair and started clapping. "Excellent performance. Now get lost." 

Ileus added, "Should I show you the way to the door, Etaya?"

Etaya gave one last look to Adrianna and got up. She kicked the chair behind her and then strode out of the meeting room. 

As soon as she was out, Anastasia sagged in her chair. 

Adrianna adjourned the meeting after inviting all her allies for a dinner in the evening at Eynsworth Palace. 

When they left and only Adrianna, Dmitri, Ileus and Anastasia were left, the atmosphere relaxed. Anastasia bowed to the queen and said, "Thank you for backing me, Your Majesty." A lump formed in her throat. The way Adrianna supported her was unbelievable. "I will try my best to find Iona and bring her to you." That was her way of repaying. Her mother-in-law had just declared a war against the fae kingdom because of her. She didn't know what else would be the way to reciprocate. 

Adrianna simply said, "Good." She was about to leave but then she turned back and informed me, "You can do whatever you like with Maple. She is still in prison. She is useless to us. A burden to the prison's exchequer. And oh yes, you should make her death very slow and very painful." A smile tugged her lips up and she left along with her husband. 

As soon as the king and queen left, Anastasia giggled. She faced Ileus and said, "Your mother is awesome!" 

"Isn't she?" he replied, staring at her beautiful radiant face. He loved the look of confidence on her. She was truly happy and had begun to glow. 

She threw herself on him and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, sliding her hands beneath her wings. "Are you happy?" he asked as he rested his face on her head. 

"I am," she replied and pressed her face against his chest. "My opinion about your mother has changed completely."

"Shh, let us not talk about my Mother. Let us go back to our chamber and celebrate this small victory." 

She slapped his arm lightly. "No, I am too excited and filled with positive energy. I think we should spar. I am sure that this time I am going to defeat you!" 

"We can spar in our beds darling. I have a sword that wants to impale your core."

"You shameless, shameless prince!" she pushed against his chest and tried to run away, but she couldn't even budge from her place. Ileus picked her up and walked with her out of the meeting chamber. 

"Put me down," she gasped when the guards opened the door for them to go. She was a crimson red. Her husband was looking at her hungrily and his erection pressed her belly like a brand. 

"No, I won't." 

"What are they going to think?" She became hyper aware of people around her—the servants, the guards and some royals who still lingered in the hall. 

"They will think that we are sex starved newly married couple. They understand." He pressed a kiss on the corner of her mouth and licked her lips. He wanted to devour her. 

Servants and guards started giggling while the royals whooped. "Go Ileus, go!" 

Anastasia buried her face in the crook of his neck as her body heated like a thousand suns. Her husband was so brazen, lewd and incorrigible. Was this a family trait? She often found her father-in-law looking adorably at his wife. 

"Ileus!" All of a sudden a female's soft voice from the side came. "How are you?" 

He stopped. Anastasia looked up at the source of the voice. She was still in her husband's embrace. Very slowly, Ileus slid her down his body but didn't leave his grip on her waist. 

Anastasia was surprised at Ileus' reaction as her gaze darted between Ileus and the petite looking woman in front of him. 

"Hello Lila," said Ileus in a restrained manner. His body stiffened.

Lila smiled and bowed to him. "It is wonderful to see you," she said as she gave a cursory glance to Anastasia. 

Ileus didn't know what to talk to the woman in front of him. 

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.