One of the attendants pressed something against her upper arm.A small, cool square that tingled for half a second and then dissolved into her skin before she could look at it.A second followed on the other arm, gone just as fast.
"Hey, what was?—"
"Standard preparation, Your Grace."
That was it.No explanation, no asking permission.Just two somethings absorbed into her body and an attendant already moving on to her hair.Just another indignity in a long line of them.The anger was there, buried under layers of shock and smothered by the sheer overwhelming wrongness of everything.
They lifted her out of the pool and patted her dry with towels softer than anything she'd ever felt.The air was cool against her damp skin, raising goosebumps on her arms.
“Her grace is cold."
"The robes."
Someone approached with fabric draped over their arms.It looked like silk, and they wrapped it around her, layer after layer.It was deep blue shot through with threads of silver that caught the light and clung to her, highlighting the curves she'd spent years learning not to hate.Her mother's voice echoed in her head:If you'd just lose ten pounds, Emily.If you'd just try a little harder.
The attendants stepped back to admire their work.
"Perfect… The Emperor will be pleased."
"Your Grace looks radiant."
Your Grace.
This time, the words stuck and burrowed under her skin.Your Grace.As in, the future Empress.As in, the woman who would marry a man she'd never met.As in, property of the Latharian Empire.
Panic rose to lock off her throat.
She looked around the room, searching for something… anything.The attendants moved around her in their endless circles, like sharks, adjusting a hem here and smoothing a wrinkle there, utterly oblivious to the fact that she was drowning.
Oh god, the walls were too close.The silk was too tight around her.The scent of alien flowers was too strong… she couldn’t breathe.
Lifting her eyes, she caught Raaevik’s gaze.No longer studying the ceiling now that she was dressed, he was looking right at her.Watching her with those unsettling violet eyes.
She stared at him, clinging to his presence like a lifeline.
He crossed the room in three strides.The attendants parted around him without comment, their hands never pausing in their work.He stopped in front of her, close enough that she had to crane her neck to look at his face.
Fuck, he was big.Up close, he seemed even bigger.
"You are distressed.”It wasn’t a question.
"Brilliant observation."Her voice cracked."Did the advanced alien technology tell you that, or did you figure it out from the hyperventilating?"
His jaw tightened.For a moment, she thought he would snap back at her—or worse, ignore her the way everyone else was.Instead, he leaned down.
His breath was warm against her ear, and his voice was soft, pitched so that only she could hear."You outrank everyone in this room."
She blinked."What?"
"You are the Emperor's Match.The future Empress.Your authority exceeds theirs."He leaned back to look at her."If you want them gone, tell them to leave."
She stared at him."I...they won't listen."
"They will."
"I tried.I told them to stop, and they?—"
"You asked.Politely."An expression flickered in his gaze—not quite amusement, but close."You are the Empress to be.You do not ask.Youcommand.There is a difference."
