Free Reign Check by Michelle Rowen

feared for a moment that he was furious with me, that I’d crossed some invisible line, said too much, pushed him too hard. I’d been upset and wanted to lash out.
    So I lashed out at a really sore spot for him. Obviously I’d hit the mark.
    “Let me try to put this in terms you’ll understand,” he said, his voice already quiet and controlled again. He blinked and his eyes returned to their usual hazel shade which matched my own. “What happened with your mother and myself was a mistake.”
    I flinched.
    He shook his head. “No, not because of you. Back then, I was young and foolish and willing to break the rules I’d grown up with simply out of rebellion. Because I hated my father and wanted to prove that he had no control over me. I was fully aware that I was forbidden to fall in love with a human. I just didn’t know what the consequences would be.”
    I knew this already. “You had to come back here and take the throne. You were told my mom was dead so you never tried to contact her again.”
    He waved a hand. “Yes, but that wasn’t the penalty for breaking the law. I didn’t realize it at the time, but being with Susan and ignoring the very strict and specific rules of the dark worlds meant that I was putting your mother’s life at risk.”
    “Her life?”
    “Yes. She never knew what I really was, and that was in her best interest. If she found out I was a demon, if I told her then or now out of some selfish need to be with her, she would be in grave peril. The most common punishment for breaking a law like this is death. Since I am royal, I might be pardoned. But your mother is not royal, and she would certainly be punished—the council would see to it.”
    “They’d kill her?” It was barely a whisper.
    “Yes.” His expression was stony.
    This was why he didn’t want her to know about him. Because he was afraid she’d get hurt.
    “But you’re king here,” I breathed. “Can’t you do something? Can’t you change things?”
    “I am king, but the Shadowlands are only a small part of the dark worlds. They serve one solitary purpose—maintaining the barrier. In fact, my title holds very little weight with the council. Perhaps if I were to become more lax in my duties and let those who wish to pass through to the faery and human worlds at will, like Kieran, have their way, then my opinion might be more valued. But I know I can’t do that. My sense of duty makes me an outsider to them. I have no doubt that if they learned I had told your mother everything and drawn her into a world she never knew existed, I would be signing her death warrant. And I will never do that.”
    I was trying to process everything. Make sense of it. Trying to find another answer. There had to be one, right?
    “You need to know, Nikki,” he continued, “that the decisions I make regarding your mother, as well as those I make about Michael, are not to hurt them but to protect them. Even when those decisions may seem harsh or difficult to understand.” He looked at me very intensely. “You are my daughter. And even though I only had the privilege of meeting you very recently, I know you will make the right decisions. I don’t think you’d ever put anyone you care about at great risk if you knew you could protect them.”
    He was being purposely vague, I thought, but there was no mistaking his meaning. Just by liking Michael as more than a servant, I was putting his life at risk because of the laws in the dark worlds.
    Indignation rose inside me but quickly settled into a strange, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
    “It’s not fair,” I said quietly.
    “I know.”
    The next moment, Michael entered the room carrying a metal tray with a pitcher and two silver goblets on it.
    “Thank you, Michael,” my father said. “But I think it’s time for you to take my daughter back to the gateway so she can return to her normal life.”
    Michael put the tray down on the table. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
    Then my