Page 98 of Blade of the Nightking

My breath caught. I threw back the blankets and yanked up the hem of my nightdress, my eyes flying to my side.

Nothing. Not even a mark.

Only smooth, unbroken skin where the blade had been buried. "What..." I breathed. My thumb drifted absently over the fabric of the nightdress, then stilled.

Not mine.

A cold awareness slid through me. Someone had dressed me. Someone had washed me. Heat rushed into my face. I didn't dare ask who.

"This isn't my room."

"Rìan had you moved to the royal apartments."

"What?" I sat bolt upright.

No. There was no way I was sleeping here. In his rooms. The thought alone turned my stomach.

"Relax, Eidra. The Dark Prince isn't staying here. But I'll be in the room next door." She rapped her knuckles smartly against the wall.

"No," I said, shoving the covers aside.

"It's not up for debate." Segolayne's mirth hardened into something colder. "You could've died in that alley. Which means he could've died. Trouble seems to find you—he wants you carefully supervised."

"I didn't do anything wrong," I protested. "I was attacked."

“Exactly.” She nudged the pile of clothes toward me. “Now get dressed.”

"Dressed?" I asked, still struggling to catch up. "For what?"

"Your first self-defense lesson."

I blinked. "My... what?"

"You heard me." She crossed her arms, looking unbearably smug. "You're as defenseless as a mewling kitten. If his life depends on yours, you're going to have to learn how to survive a basic confrontation. Aedric may have enjoyed keeping a blushing wallflower at his side, but Rìan has no use for that."

He didn't want me to die in case I took him with me. I ground my teeth so hard my jaw ached.

"You have ten minutes." Segolayne turned on her heel. "If you're not ready by then, I'll drag you through the castle in your nightclothes."

The door snapped shut behind her. I had no doubt she was standing just outside, counting every second.

Muttering a curse, I threw back the covers and climbed out of bed, the dusky marble floor surprisingly warm beneath my feet. I lit the lantern on the nightstand and examined the clothes Segolayne had brought me.

Tight black trousers made from some kind of supple hide. A white tunic. A linen breastband. A belt. Thin socks.

Grumbling under my breath, I pulled the nightdress over my head, goosebumps prickling across my skin in the cool morning air, and dressed as quickly as I could. I ducked into the bathing chamber just long enough to drag a brush through my tangled hair, tie it back, and clean my teeth with the spare toiletries that had been laid out for me.

By the time the door banged open again, I was as ready as I would ever be for whatever fresh torment Rìan had planned for me.

Segolayne crossed to the wall and crouched beside a shallow stone basin. She tipped her lantern toward it, touching the candle flame to the dark oil pooled inside. Veins of milky quartz embedded around the perimeter of the enormous chamber flared at once, the glow racing outward in branching channels that climbed the walls and spread across the ceilings high overhead. The hall brightened at once, revealing a wall of mirrors opposite racks of gleaming weapons.

Wooden practice swords hung beside blunted steel blades, axes, spears, and rows of dulled knives. Stranger things rested among them too—wicked crescent-shaped weapons mounted to long poles, their curved edges like hooked claws. Heavy chains hung from hooks, thick enough that I doubted I could wrap my hands around a single link.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the chamber as Segolayne flung open the towering glass doors at its far end, revealing a broad terrace overlooking the Virellan Sea. The thunder of waves crashing against the cliffs below rolled through the chamber, making the floor vibrate beneath my feet. I hugged my arms tightly around myself, teeth chattering against the cold.

Segolayne stood before the weapons, studying them with the focused anticipation of a cat eyeing a bowl of cream. She actually licked her lips before she turned back to face me.

“Shoes,” she ordered, and I reluctantly pulled off my boots. She slipped out of hers and kicked them aside.