“Which ring would you have paid with?” he finally asked me.
I held his arm tighter. “I’m not sure,” I said, keeping my voice even. “I don’t know the value of each ring, nor the cost of gowns. But considering I am both desperate and practical, I can tell you that I would have paid with whichever ring the seller would have accepted.”
He gave a grunt, then began walking us diagonally, toward the opening of a narrow alleyway. He pulled me through and called back to his guards. “Mind the opening here.” Then he led me onto a shadowy stoop and pressed my back against the plaster wall.
He hooked his hand over the top of my trousers and held me still. “Mine costs more,” he said, looming over me. “I asked the stone-cutter for a ring the color of your eyes that was worth more than an Obelian spinel because I am still maddeningly jealous that slimy captain got to call himself your fiancé for any time at all, while I have to pull you into filthy alleys just for a moment to touch you.”
Heat rushed through me, despite his nonsensical logic. “You were married to me once, Theo. That’s already more than Evander.”
He grazed his lips across my cheekbone, toward my ear. “You remember, don’t you?” He lowered his head toward my lips. “How greed-riddled I am when it comes to you.Morethan him is still not enough.”
Slowly, he leaned in to kiss me. It was a simple, decadent contact. Only our lips. Yet my muscles, my breaths, rippled like the air on a hot day.
We’d not been alone since that night in the netting, when his mouth on my neck and breasts had made me half wild. We’d hurried back to the stateroom when the sound of sailors drew near and we’d not had a moment alone in the three days since—not with the ship’s cabins now overcrowded, the managing and monitoring of Halla, and the collective worry over Agatha’s well-being.
“This isn’t what we’re here for.” I smiled between luxuriant kisses.
“I know.” He tipped back my chin and kissed me deeper.
Now that we were finally alone, my need for him was as powerful as my need for food and drink and air. I threaded my fingers into his thick hair, meeting his feverish attention with my own. I couldn’t know how long I’d have the opportunity to do so.
A low approving rumble in his chest, his hot lips at my jaw, the corner of my mouth, my neck. His hands grasped at the waistband of my trousers and gave a frustrated tug.
My head fell back against the wall with a groan. “Should have worn a gown.”
“I’m a devout man, Imogen,” he said, with a hint of irony. “But if you had, I would have happily profaned you against this dirty alley wall.”
He leaned in for another kiss, when the sheepish clearing of a throat pulled our attention.
One of Theodore’s guards stood in front of the stoop, eyes on theground, sword in hand. “My apologies, Your Majesties.” Shouts and hollers rose up from the street beyond. “We need to be moving.”
Theodore craned, keeping my body behind his, to see what the commotion was. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Della’s first voting day, Majesty. Just seems to be a dustup, but the crowds are growing…” The other guards moved in, weapons drawn, and began herding us down the alley. “This way will be safer.” The first guard said, offering me a comforting, chip-toothed grin. “Quicker too.”
He’d been right. It was no time at all before we stood in the very heart of the vibrant, messy city, looking up at an ancient tilting tower of worn stone and blackened thatch.
The guards ushered us through the tattered door, into a small, empty vestibule that was lit by a single oil lamp. It led directly to a narrow staircase, the treads dangerously steep.
The guard eyed the little room with suspicion. “We’ll come with you, then, Your Majesties?”
Both Theodore and I shook our heads. “We’ll be quick,” Theodore said.
The guard looked stern, positioning himself at the base of the stairs. “You’d best be, my king. We’ll be listening for your call. When you’re done, we return straight to the ship.”
My hands grew damp as we started up the stairs. The air here was stale, dry. We stopped on the first landing and lingered, letting our eyes adjust to the dark. There was nothing here either. Just empty walls, well-trod floors, and the thinnest beam of light cutting though a boarded-up window. All it illuminated was a proliferation of dust.
The both of us stepped lightly, listening intently, but the place was uncomfortably still. The whole tower had a spirt of disuse about it, the way old, forgotten things gave off an uncanny sort of loneliness.
“Do Dellens not visit here?” I whispered. “It looks like no one has come through this place in years.”
Theodore led me up the next flight. “No one goes to a Mage Seer unless they must.”
Magic and its cost were certainly awful, but I had to imagine it had its uses for the common Leucosian. Itcouldaccomplish things that Gods’ power couldn’t. It was a shame that the horror of the Mage Seers kept those who needed their help from seeking it.
At the top of the stairs, I glanced to Theodore beside me and pulled him to a stop. “Take off your coat.”
His fingers went instantly to his top button. “You want to…Here?”
