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I narrow my eyes at her.
“If I let you sleep with me, you’re not allowed to bite me again. Understand?”
The cat purrs, vibrating through my chest.
“Fine,” I sigh.
I plop her down on the bed and lie down next to her. She goes straight to my pillow, kneading the fabric with shimmering claws until she’s satisfied.
“Khijhana,” I say again, more amused this time. “It would seem that we have found your name, at least.”
She stretches and purrs before closing her eyes to sleep.
I wish I could follow suit.
Over-thinking is getting me nowhere, but neither will closing my eyes and wishing this all away. I force my eyes to stay open, trying desperately to turn the gears in my weary mind.
I need to find a way to make this better, and I need to do it soon, before this convoluted mess of a situation gets any worse.
Chapter Fourteen
This is an awful idea, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
No sooner do I hear the king’s voice echoing down the hallway outside my bedroom than I find myself slipping through the panel in my wall. The one he said leads to his room.
I don’t stop to think. I don’t even spare a second for shoes, instead slipping along the freezing stone floor on the naked soles of my feet.
Madame always did say desperation makes a fool.
I can hardly deny that now, not when I’m shivering and he could return at any moment. But I need to know something,anythingabout the man if I have the furthest chance of making this work.
I leave the panel cracked for a trickle of light but don’t dare take my bedside lantern. It hardly matters. I am no stranger to the shadows.
In fact, as I make my way down the hallway, I realize how much I have missed the darkness, the ease of hiding in the shadows, of seeing without being seen rather than being on constant display in the full force of an unforgiving light.
Here, no one can see my scars.
Perhaps my cat, for all her seemingly nocturnal preferences, was an apt gift after all, if only I could believe it was meant that way.
Speak of the siren.
The tiny, exquisite terror is making her way behind me with footsteps even more muted than my own, but her shadow plays like a giant on the wall, giving her away.
A smile tugs at my lips, in spite of myself and this wretched situation. Without time to backtrack, I have little choice but to scoop the vixen up and bring her along for this little reconnaissance outing.
Ill-fated though it may be, my gamble has paid off already. Before I even make it to Einar’s room, I discover something new about him. Something altogether less surprising than I wish it was.
This passage leads far beyond my room in both directions and has at least half a dozen hallways breaking off toward the eastern and northern wings. Unless the man has chambers the size of Villa Paradís, the king is a liar. And a rather gifted one at that.
A soft glow to my left seeps from under what I assume is his door. Pressing my ear to the wood, I listen to be certain no one is on the other side. I feel around for a knob or lever until my fingers graze the cold steel of the handle. One slow twist and the door is creeping open.
I steel myself for what my excuse will be for coming into his space unannounced. But we are married, after all... I’m certain no one else would take issue with my visit, even if my husband undoubtedly would.
Closing the door, I allow my eyes to adjust to the hazy light coming from the lanterns in the room. I’m not sure what I expected from such a calloused man, but it certainly wasn’t this.
Plants cover half the surfaces in the room, potted on tables or the floor, hanging in the windows. Some of their leaves and stems are cut and rest on his desk. A closer examination shows drawings of the plants and hand-written explanations of their health benefits.
Books, unsurprisingly, line every shelf, some stacked on top of one another, some spread open on his bed and the table next to it. Some are new, but most are worn, the bindings frayed and torn as if they have been read many times by many different people.
