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I know instantly why my advisors were so quick to choose her when the ambassador brought her up. A portrait had been sent with each woman who was up for consideration, not that I had bothered to look at any of them.
Now, I wish I had, so I could have told them no.
Because she is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Long, midnight hair framing a perfectly symmetrical face. Skin the color of cinnamon. Gorgeous. Fierce. Even whatever she’s got on her hands and the ridiculous excess of jewelry can’t detract from her undeniable perfection.
But beautiful women do not bode well for this castle. They should have known that better than anyone after the last one poisoned them all and left them to die a slow, humiliating death.
Fury courses through my veins at the memory, at the reminder of why I am here at all. I am unable to refuse my people the relative comfort of knowing I won’t be left alone when they die because I can’t seem to find a way to save them... Still, I can’t tear my eyes away from her.
She’s not just pretty, either. She’s spectacular. The kohl lining her eyes does nothing to hide the intelligence brimming in them when she takes in me, the room, the people. It isn’t hard to see she finds us lacking in some way. She practically has to force herself to walk the rest of the way down the aisle.
You would almost think she hadn’t jumped at the chance to marry a king, that she hadn’t eagerly sent the contract back the same day she received it. My face hardens in response to the clear distaste in hers, and I know I was right all along.
This is a mistake.
I just didn’t realize how similar this would be to the last time.
When had I become so naive? Had two decades of torture for my people taught me nothing?
I push out memories of her skin on mine, of the vulnerable look in her eyes when she gave herself completely to me. The way I had been desperate to believe her, in spite of the warning signs.
My door opens, and Leif walks through.
“What has happened?” His voice is strained, his wide eyes in a panic.
Clearly, Sten and Gorm told him what they saw.
I take a shaking breath as I finish dressing.
“Zaina is gone.” My words come through gritted teeth.
One amphibian eye blinks, then the other. His wide mouth drops open in confusion, as if he’s struggling to understand what I’m saying.
I don’t give him a chance to ask anything before I give him the worst part.
“And she took the rose with her.”
Chapter Six
Zaina
The mouth of the cave looms before us, far more ominous than its half-hidden formation should allow for. I focus on my mission here rather than the onslaught of memories threatening to assault me.
Even if the moment I round the corner, I can practically see Einar’s naked body in the water and hear the way he gently coaxed me to let him save me.
Damian’s eyes flit to the steaming green water, and his head tilts in a question I don’t bother to answer. Not when my insides are churning with each tentative step deeper into the cave.
I force my footsteps to quicken, trying to get enough distance from him to lead him further into the cave.
A whoosh of movement is my only warning before he has me pinned against the wall, his forearm against my throat. I shove him off, but he replaces his arm with a sharp, curved dagger.
“Why are you so nervous?” His eerily calm voice echoes off the cave walls. He leans in closer to me, his breath moist against my ear. “What is your game, Zaina?”
He whispers the words like a sick caress as the flash of steel from his blade glints in the glowing green light from the waters.
“What could I possibly be planning when you are bigger and better armed than I am?” I keep my voice even, injecting just a hint of sarcasm.
“Then why are you trying to lead me to the back of a cave?”
