"Allow me to make this clear," Damian said sternly, eyes narrowing. "This is a political arrangement that father insisted on. I have no intention of being a husband to you or having faelings. We will not be sharing a room, a bed, anything. Do I make myself clear?"

He was trying very hard to sound serious and stoic, but he was pacing around the room and gesticulating, unable to calm down. Damian and his new spouse were in a nuptial suite, beautifully decorated with ethereal glowing flowers. It was gorgeous and he was sure he was going to throw up.

Damian knew why this was happening. His grandfather had grown tired of waiting for him to make his move and decided to act. The whole reason why he'd been sent to the Winter Realm was so he could attack it from the inside.

But...Damian had grown fond of his father, his brothers and sisters, of this life in which he didn't need to be ruthless. He didn't want to betray his new family. It's not that he wanted to betray his grandfather and mother. He didn't. And so he'd stalled, not revealing the deception and not performing his role, and now...

"Listen," he said with a sense of urgency, grabbing his new spouse's shoulders and giving them a firm squeeze. "I need you to listen. All right? You cannot...be near me. At all. Do you understand that? I do not want you anywhere near me. If we must be in the same building, you stay as far away from me as possible. If you must be in the same room as me, you sit on the opposite side. If you have a meal with me, you take whatever food you need and leave. I do not want any contact with you."

Damian swallowed harshly at the confusion in his new spouse's face. Of course. He sounded like a control freak. But this was important. He knew the kind of magic his grandfather wielded. Knew he'd been hexed before coming here. Why they hadn't activated the hex yet, he didn't know, but it was a matter of time. And if he killed this fae—

"Tell me you understand," he hissed. It came out sounding more like a plea than he'd meant for it to.