Fiery Fate by Jaci Burton

they been alone. Roarke had made sure they either remained in public or that one of his guards accompanied them.
    Really, she was much smaller than him. She could hardly pounce on and ravage him without his consent.
    It was quite insulting, the more she thought about it.
    “It’s just that what?”

    “It’s Roarke.”
    She ignored the gawking stares of Elise and Mina and looked away from them, embarrassed that she had even brought up the subject.
    “What is wrong with Roarke?”
    “Nothing is wrong with him. Everything is wrong with him. I don’t know. He treats me like a child, as if I couldn’t make an intelligent decision if the very survival of the world depended upon it. Really, Noele, he is insufferable.”
    “Perhaps you care for him, and that is why it upsets you to be so close to him.” Solara whirled at Elise’s statement, dumbfounded as to how to respond. Elise smiled innocently, her golden eyes sparkling with warmth.
    Leave it to Elise to state the obvious. Even if it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
    “I do not care for him. Perhaps you could take over my duties, Elise?”
    “I need Elise to help me elsewhere,” Noele interrupted. “Besides, neither she nor Mina are old enough or experienced enough to run a castle.”
    The twins were merely two years younger than her. And yet Noele was right. They hadn’t yet been trained. She, at least, had received basic instructions on the daily goings on. And she had to admit that the past few days she had learned much under Roarke’s tutelage.
    What she wanted to learn from Roarke, he would not give her. Her training in the fine art of lovemaking would have to come from Braedon of Greenbriar, a thought which turned her stomach. She had never met the king, and the thought of anyone but Roarke touching her sent shudders of revulsion down her spine.
    “Come, sit with us while I read to Noele,” Mina said. “Really, Solara, you complain too much. Your time here is limited as it is. Surely you can bear up under whatever perceived torture Roarke bestows upon you.”
    And leave it to Mina to be insulting. “I am not tortured by him. I am merely perturbed at his attitude.” Mina fluttered her copper wings and stood, peering out the window at the guards training below.
    “Roarke is a male. They are annoying. One must learn to deal with that, I suppose.” Noele laughed, color rising to her cheeks. For the first time in days Solara saw her sister smile. Perhaps the torture would not last much longer. Once Noele was past the sickly days of early pregnancy, she would want to take over her duties again, thereby freeing Solara from Roarke’s scrutiny.
    “And speaking of duties, shouldn’t you be seeking out Roarke to see what he has planned for you today?” Noele asked, setting down the needlepoint she’d been working on.
    She’d sooner conjure up some magic and turn him to stone. “Yes, I suppose I should.” Noele stood and reached for her hands, squeezing them gently. “You may think you handle your troubles alone, sister, but remember that we are linked. I feel what you feel, I know what you know.
    Destiny will find a way. Be patient.”
    Noele may think she knew everything, but Solara had kept her thoughts and actions where Roarke was concerned locked up inside herself.
    After she left Noele’s chambers, Solara thought about what her sister had said. Destiny, fate, it was all a ridiculous notion. Her life was set in stone and could not be changed. Even if it could, the elvin warrior she wanted would never suffer dishonor to follow his heart. He was too steeped in ritual, in how things had always been done, to even consider the notion that perhaps there was another way.
    Well, he might not choose her, but by the stars she would make certain he knew exactly what he was giving up.
    It was time to put her plan into action.

    * * * * *
Roarke finished overseeing the repair and refitting of several of their battle weapons, confident that should a wizard