Page 103 of Blade of the Nightking

I didn’t need to open the other wardrobes to know there would be nothing there for me.

Tightening the towel around myself, I spun on my heel and stormed from the room, fully intending to pound on Segolayne’s door until someone provided me with actual clothing.

I barely made it three steps into the suite before I stopped short with a gasp, my heart lurching into my throat.

Straight-backed and tense, her gloved hands folded neatly atop the scarred dining table, Levinica sat beside a carefully stacked pile of books.

Waiting for me.

CHAPTER 21

Alarm shot through me at the sight of her—but she looked normal today. Clear. Her eyes were focused, though she politely kept them averted from my state of undress, rubbing absently at one of the marks in the table with a gloved thumb.

There was no trace of madness in her.

My gaze flicked nervously toward Segolayne’s door, but it remained tightly shut. Had she slipped away while I was bathing? Did she know Levinica was here unattended?

I tightened my grip on the towel. “My apologies, Lady,” I said, attempting a small curtsy and immediately feeling ridiculous for it. Water dripped steadily from my hair onto the floor, gathering in a small puddle at my heels. “I was looking for something to wear…”

Her eyes widened in horror. “Oh!”

She stood so abruptly that I nearly stumbled backward, my heart leaping painfully as I braced for another attack. But instead, she hurried past me and disappeared into the bedroom. I hesitated only a moment before following, hovering near the doorway, ready to bolt if she so much as reached toward me.

Near one wall sat a large trunk I hadn't noticed before. Levinica flipped the lid open and gestured toward its contents.

“I’m—I’m sorry,” she said, wringing her gloved hands together. “He sent these up for you earlier.”

She stepped back immediately, giving me space, though for one fleeting moment I nearly snapped that I didn't want them. I knew who he was. And I didn’t particularly like the thought of him deciding what I would wear.

But I swallowed the protest before it could leave my mouth. At the end of the day, none of this was Levinica’s fault. Perhaps there would at least be something suitable in the trunk until I could corner Segolayne and beg her to retrieve my actual belongings.

I forced something resembling gratitude onto my face and crouched beside it, clutching the towel to myself as I rummaged through the contents one-handed.

Pants. Blouses. Soft shirts. Finely tailored, but plain.

Not a single dress.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll have his things moved so you can settle in properly.” She glanced toward the wardrobe. “He had his old room emptied for when Dannis…” Her voice caught. She swallowed hard, then gave a small nod. “I’ll wait outside.”

She slipped from the room and quietly shut the door behind her.

Thoroughly unsettled by her presence—and even more unsettled by the fact that she seemed lucid—I dressed as quickly as I could. I pulled on a pair of loose navy trousers and a crisp white shirt, then twisted my damp hair atop my head so it wouldn’t soak through the fabric at my back. Only then did I return to the dining room.

Levinica looked up immediately, her gaze catching on the trousers.

“That color suits you,” she said kindly. “It brings out your eyes.”

I tried to smile politely at the compliment, then scrambled for something to say in return. “You look well today,” I offered.

The moment the words left my mouth, I knew I had somehow said the wrong thing. Her expression dimmed almost imperceptibly before she covered it with a small, strained smile.

“Rìan has insisted on… relieving me of my search for the time being.” Her hands twisted together again in her lap. “He says rest will do me good. That he’ll handle it in my stead.”

I didn’t need to ask what search she meant. Dannis.

Her face filled with concern. “I heard what happened.”