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“My eyes are up here, Captain,” she says.
I slowly drag my gaze up her far-too-perfect body and meet her eyes. She winks at me, and it takes everything in me not to laugh or smirk. Those are the wrong reactions to have in front of your enemy.
Her jade-green eyes remain fixed on me as I walk over to her. My eyes catch a glimpse of her seductive pink lips and get stuck there.
I wonder if they are as soft as they look.
I shake my head.
No. Stop. Those are horrible, indecent thoughts I shouldn’t be having about a married woman, especially when her husband is the Umbra Brutus. I’m sure if he could hear my thoughts, I’d be dead.
I step through the door of my cell and stop mere inches away from her. I watch as her breath hitches, and she steps back.
“What’s with the outfit? Plan on adventuring today?” I ask, and she tilts her head up at my question.
“I thought we would do some sparring, and I didn’t think a dress was the most appropriate outfit,” she answers. “It would allow for effortless movement, but my undergarments would be on full display,” she clarifies, wiggling her eyebrows at me as she heads down the hall.
I follow her, trying to force images of what’s beneath her clothes out of my mind.
She’s trying to disarm me.
Their hideout is quiet this early. We walk in silence as she leads me around a corner and down a long corridor leading to a set of large, dark wood doors. She walks to them, shouldering them open, revealing an expansive training room. The walls are lined with weapons of all shapes and materials. Body opponent bags for practice are set to the side. There are several marked sparring circles in the middle of the room.
How many ways is this place going to shock me?
Umbra is realm-renowned for their spies, but this training room is for warriors. It’s far superior to our lackluster indoor space in Lux. We often choose to practice outside in the rain to avoid the poor conditions of our training room.
I walk to a table lined with wooden practice swords. The swords are intricately detailed and of excellent quality. I’ve been fighting with my father for months to replace ours. Some men had been getting splinters from the handles. Yet, here, in a kingdom we’ve thought to be too poor to care for its people, they have a training space that puts ours to shame. I can feel my face glowing with amazement as I take in the state-of-the-art space around me.
King Asher must be keeping his people poor to fund his army of brutes. How much of this was funded entirely from stolen items from across the realm?
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” the queen says from my side.
I drag my eyes away from the room to see a smile on her face that makes her eyes glow with pride. She’s absolutely stunning, and I fight the urge to tell her.
I need to stop looking at her.
“Pick out the one you like and let’s get started,” she says, rolling the sleeves of her shirt up and tucking back loose strands of her hair.
“I won’t spar with you, Your Highness.”
She has to be messing with me.
Walking to the table of practice weapons, she runs a finger gently over them, as if looking for the right one.
“Why? Are you afraid you’ll lose?” She gives me a side-eye glance before picking up a sword perfect for her height, and I hate myself for being impressed by it.
“Warriors fight for their queen, not with them,” I say, trying to remember if Junie even knows how to hold a weapon.
The queen tests the feel of the sword in her hand. In a flash, she spins, and the blade is inches from my face. The tip grazes the end of my nose. I stare at her—awestruck.
A sly smirk curves across her delicate lips. “Well then, Captain, this is going to be unpleasant for you,” she says with a step forward.
I jump to the side to avoid being jabbed in the face.
She gestures for me to follow and saunters away, her hips swaying side to side hypnotically. She stops at the center ring and turns around to face me. The candelabras from above cast an almost ethereal glow on her as she stares at me expectantly.
She surprises me every moment I spend with her. She seems to be a collection of contradictions. I’ve seen her be incredibly sweet to her people, and yet I’m sure she could kill me with the flick of her wrist. She probably wouldn’t even feel bad about it, either.
