I bit back a grin.Theo would bethrilled.He always did have that effect on people.It was both his greatest talent and his most annoying trait.
Mira lingered while I bathed, hovering near the edges of the room, arranging and rearranging items that didn’t need attention.I sank into the hot water, washing away the remnants of the shadows that stuck to the edges of my mind.
Once I finally emerged, I felt renewed.My skin tingling from the scented oils I wrapped myself in a drying cloth and started mentally working up the courage to ask her what had been gnawing at me since last night.
As she helped me dress—her deft fingers securing the intricate layers of fabric—I swallowed my unease and forced out the question.
“What’s the kings name?”My voice sounded small even to my own ears.
Mira didn’t still as she fashioned a skirt with a high slit that bared my whole thigh.Her face was a mask betraying nothing.When she finally spoke, her voice was steady, but there was something cautious in her tone.
“Dalkhan.”
The name slithered over my skin like icy water as she continued her work, fastening gold clasps at my shoulders.
“What’s he like?”I pressed, watching her reflection in the mirror.Searching for any tell, any hint of what I was up against.
She faltered, just for a heartbeat before smoothing the non-existent wrinkles from my clothes.As if that action alone could shield me from what she was about to say.
She met my eyes in the mirror.“I personally don’t have much experience when it comes to him, but—” she trailed off, her hands stilling on my shoulders.“I do know that he is merciless, and that he does not tolerate even the smallest acts of disrespect.”
Each word felt like a slap to the face.
Disrespect was exactly what I had shown him.I chewed at my lip, tasting blood as I bit down too hard.
“I was there.I saw what you did.”
I scrunched my nose in embarrassment, my hands coming up to cover my heated cheeks.“I messed up, didn’t I?”The words came out muffled through my fingers.
“Yes.”She didn’t even try to lie.Her honesty was both refreshing and terrifying.
I groaned, running my hands down my face, my nails dragging across my skin.“I couldn’t help it!I didn’t mean to stare.He knows that,right?It was the first time I had ever seen a king, and no less one likehim.”
I was rambling, my nerves unspooling into words I couldn’t seem to stop—each one tumbling over the next.
Mira’s hand wrapped around my wrist, anchoring me.“Breathe,” she commanded.
I hadn’t even realised I was holding my breath.I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my racing thoughts.
She grimaced, her grip tightening.“You are to meet with him.”
My blood froze in my veins.The room tilted—the walls closing in.I stared at her, waiting for her to laugh.To tell me she was joking.
She didn’t.
Mira’s gaze darkened, her voice quiet, as if speaking too loudly might summon him from the shadows.“Now.”
A sharp ringing filled my ears, drowning out everything else.My legs wobbled.I pressed my hands against the rough texture of the sturdy, cold wall.
No.No.No.No.
He was going to kill me.
Mira gently ushered me back toward the chair, her arm around my waist to support me.She continued her work as if shehadn’tjust shattered my world.
She stepped behind me, gliding her fingers through my damp hair, combing out the tangles before beginning to style it in the same way as last night.
I replayed every second of my encounter with Dalkhan.Every mistake I had made.Every glare he had thrown my way.
