CHAPTER FIVE

INISFAIL COURT

SHISTI

A long wooden table and few upended chairs were the only things in the room Fechin chose. The furniture was pushed against the far wall under a high window with curtains tied back to reveal the evening sky.
It was what she’d come to expect. No thought given to her comfort, but these weren’t exactly romantic trysts between lovers.
Well, at least it never lasts long.
Fechin was nothing if not efficient. And while he didn’t go out of his way to pleasure her, he never hurt her physically. That was something, given how her father’s men had treated her.
The door closed and Fechin loomed over her. “You want to be fucked, take off whatever you don’t want ripped.”
Shisti waited, a small smile curving her lips. He always said that. She always ignored it. He did as little as possible. If he wanted her naked, she made him do it himself. Maybe he thought her being naked while he remained clothed was some show of control or power.
Forcing him to participate even that much, gave her a small measure of satisfaction. He ripped her dress and shift off, tossing them carelessly to the floor.
She stood nude before him, to make the point that he couldn’t shame her, then turned away and walked to the table. When she reached it, she arranged herself on her front.
While she waited for Fechin to follow her, she focused on her fertility spells, willing them to work this time. The thrill of magic warmed her blood, settled in her core, and made her slick. That was as ready as she could make herself.
Fechin muttered a spell, and the ties holding the curtains open extended to wrap around her wrists and pull her arms straight.
Shisti resisted laughing. That was another thing he liked to do. She was a powerful witch. Outside of Inisfáil lands, she was more than Fechin’s match. On his territory though, he could draw on power she couldn’t. But she didn’t need her hands to use her magic against him if she wanted to.
A zipper rasped, then Fechin stepped between her spread thighs and plunged into her. He took her hard from the first thrust as he mechanically pumped in and out of her.
She closed her eyes and tried to remember the face of the man who loved her. His eyes were a color somewhere between purple and blue. There were sweet words a husky voice murmured in her ear. Caresses she could almost feel on her skin. Kisses. Lots of sweet, lingering kisses.
Her body came alive at the memories. Her nipples hardened to tight points and pressed into the hard surface of the wooden table. Desire curled tight deep inside her.
Shisti needed Fechin to move faster. She desperately wanted either release, or to get this over with. If she reached orgasm, at least she could use the sex to collect energy for her magic.
As usual, that didn’t happen.
Fechin slammed himself into her one last time, and his cock jerked as he emptied himself into her. He pulled out immediately and gave her a pat on her ass. His footsteps crossed the room. The door opened and closed.
He’d. Patted. Her. Ass.
Like she was a horse he’d just ridden.
The bastard.
Sudden and surprising tears stung her eyes. It was one thing to know she was nothing more than a broodmare, but quite another for Fechin to treat her like one. She banished the tears. No one had made her cry since she was a defenseless girl, and she refused to let a pat on her ass reduce her to sobs. Rage sent her blood and magic coursing through her. The temperature dropped and frost coated the window.
So, he’d found a way to get under her skin after all. Cursing the man, she plotted her revenge.
One day, she vowed. One day I will crush Fechin and his entire court. Then I will destroy my father and any other man who used me or gets in my way.
Shisti directed her magic to work on the knots holding her wrists. Ice formed on the ties and she yanked, shattering the bindings. She crossed the room to her discarded clothing and removed a spelled cloth from a pocket in her dress to clean herself up.
Fechin was careless. He didn’t let her touch him, but thought nothing about leaving his seed inside her. It didn’t get her pregnant, but the essence of the most powerful magic user in the land was potent in and of itself.
In a moment, her body was free of all traces of him, and she tucked the scrap of fabric away. When she returned to her rooms, she would extract what magic she could use. A good witch never wasted anything.
This attempt was another failure — she could tell there was no child. The signs had all pointed to her getting pregnant tonight. Why wasn’t it working? Her magic had never failed her like this before.
Maybe there was something wrong with Fechin. If he let her touch him, she could tell, and maybe fix —
No. What was she thinking? With that pat on her ass, Shisti had reached her limit. No more throwing herself at him. No trying to help the unappreciative would-be King.
If he wanted an heir from her, he would have to come to her, and she would be ready with her list of demands — starting with him begging.
In fact, she was ready to take it further. Her dreams said she would make Fechin King, but what did she care about the Raven Throne, or the Inisfáil Fae? Not one of them wanted her here. Why was she trying so hard?
If her father hadn’t dumped her at the Raven Court, would she have come? She didn’t owe anyone here anything.
Let them remain kingless.
No more fertility spells. From now on, she would focus all her magic on finding a way to get past the fog that shrouded Inisfáil territory. Based on what she’d been able to learn from the library and whispers around the castle, she suspected the magical boundary was connected to Fechin’s blood, or the Morrigan’s bloodline.
Fechin would never let Shisti take his blood, but… She had been collecting his essence for two years.
Waste not.
Maybe it would be enough to part the fog so she could escape.