If Autumn had spent any time at all imagining what the Evil Wizard King would look like, she would have likely arrived at something very close to reality. He had a goatee, and short black hair, and the ripples of a permanent frown etched in between his eyebrows. His limbs were long and slim, but unlike her knight who seemed skittish and awkward, the king exuded the easy grace of a large predatory cat. He wore an elaborately embroidered black coat with silver clasps, its high collar barely letting her glimpse the trim of another dark shirt underneath. His hands were covered by soft gloves, and his leather boots went all the way up to his knees. Atop his head was a black, open crown, sharply pronged and adorned with small dark gems.

He greeted Autumn in his throne room, a long, echoing hall with an obsidian floor and tall columns. Muted beams of light came at intervals from narrow windows with red and orange stained glass and delicately woven dark lace curtains. He watched her approach while lounging on his throne, and at the sight of the accursed thing, she felt her heart rise up into her throat with sudden panic. A masterpiece of sculpted black ebony wood and rich crimson leather, it had featured prominently in the art of her kingdom, although never in a flattering light. Over the last few weeks, it had also appeared in her dreams, shrouded in darkness and adrip in blood.

The real thing was smaller than she had anticipated. The legs were sturdy and the arms wide, but she was surprised by the low height of the curved backrest which only reached up to the king’s shoulder blades. The Dark Evil Throne that she had seen in paintings had almost always featured a high, intricately sculpted back that loomed over the observer and framed the king in all the trappings of his power. But now that they were face to face, she realized that he did not need an intimidating seat to appear powerful. His presence alone was more than enough. The room felt suffocating with him in it.

Her knight walked her all the way down that obscenely gloomy hall, her hand gently resting on his elbow. They stopped at the edge of the dais, where he bowed first to his king, then to her, and finally stepped backwards to stand at attention between two columns.

Autumn glanced up at the silent king, trying to calm her racing heart through sheer strength of will. Then she decided that she wasn’t going to greet him from the bottom of his steps like some commoner. She was about to be his wife (allegedly), so she could very well permit herself to look at him face to face. She would not show fear. Not now, and not ever. With her head held high, she proceeded to climb onto the dais and walk right up to the throne. She bent her knees in the most brazen suggestion of a curtsy that she thought she could get away with, and waited.

The Evil Wizard King met her eyes and smirked.

“The lady Autumn, I presume?”

“Princess Autumn,” she corrected coldly.

“Not here, I’m afraid. In this kingdom you will be a lady, and then perhaps you will be my wife.” He leaned back languidly on his throne, spreading his knees in the very picture of ease. “Have my terms been explained to you?”

“Your terms are perfectly clear. I survive two months and then you wed me.”

The Dark King huffed. “Survive. Must we be so crude about it?”

He rose to his feet, and Autumn reflexively took a step back. The king paused. A pensive expression came onto his face.

“Lady Autumn, surely you are not scared of me?”

It was her turn to huff, all bravado and no truth. “I have my own terms to state, if you will deign to hear them,” she told him, forcing her voice to be as firm as possible. Best to make it clear from the start that she would give him as good as she got, even if she wasn’t quite willing to go as far as to follow her sisters’ suggestions and push him back onto his throne to straddle him. It really was smaller than she had anticipated and she didn’t quite know what to do with that.

He smirked again. She had the unpleasant impression that there would be a lot of smirking in the weeks to come. “Please, go ahead. What are your terms, my lady?”

“You are not to touch me until the day of our wedding,” she started. “And in exchange of that wedding, you will swear my kingdom protection.”

For some reason, he seemed to find her words amusing. The smirk stretched, turned more predatory; he took another step towards her, stopping just shy of brushing the folds of her dress. This time she didn’t retreat. Autumn held her ground, although she knew that her tension must have been obvious to see. The king tilted his head and let his dark eyes roam up and down her body, lingering for an instant on her waist and the curve of her heaving chest. When he met her gaze again, his smile was still amused but now his eyes shone with something sharper.

“You have my word that I will not touch you before our wedding, and on this land my word is law,” he murmured slowly, his voice dipping into the register of warm mead on a cold night. The words dripped with a sticky sweetness that she knew that she couldn’t trust, and yet for some reason upon hearing them Autumn could not help but to feel hungry.

“But be advised,” he continued, “if you are still living and breathing in my castle when two months have passed, by the rules of magic I will own you.” He paused long enough for his words to sink in, and she tried and failed not to swallow in a way that would betray her. The king’s eyes followed the movement of her throat, his attention scorching on the pale naked skin of her neck.

“I understand, however, that your people do not consider a union valid until wedding and… consummation.” On this he paused again, and while he didn’t quite come closer, his presence got sharper, somehow, more overwhelming. This time, Autumn held his gaze and managed not to twitch.

“If you want to have this protection your family is so desperate for, then the contract must be fulfilled according to both of our kingdom’s laws.” His eyes swept significantly up and down her body once more. Heat crawled up the back of her neck. The longer she stood here, the more aware she became of her plunging neckline and the way her stays shaped her breasts. “It doesn’t have to be unpleasant.”

Her entire body shivered in response to the dark, sinful promise in these words. Incapable of being in his presence any longer, she took a halting step back at last and stuttered some reply that she wouldn’t even remember afterwards. The king, amused again, easily dismissed her until dinner.

On trembling legs, Autumn followed her knight out of the hall through dark and gloomy corridors towards a plush room where her luggage was already waiting for her. She did not speak to him, for all the while she could only curse her own reactions and reflect on how badly she was doomed. The Evil Wizard King, it turned out, was not just attractive, but highly beddable. And she had just told him not to touch her.