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I peeked through an arched doorway leading into a second room. The bedchamber. Two floor-length windows opened onto a balcony overlooking the sea. From here it glittered innocently. Everything seemed so bright, so peaceful.
The calm was deceptive and ensorcelled me into a false sense of security.
Full quilts and satin coverlets were smoothed over a plush mattress that looked as if it had never been used. A washroom branched off from the sleep area, and another open doorway led down a new staircase. I leaned my face against a narrow lancet to find where it let out.
My heart jumped. Below was a garden, untamed and made of dry, wild brambles, but beneath the neglect could be something stunning.
Erik opened a wardrobe with edges carved as though air bubbles floated to the surface of the sea. Unfazed by company, the king stripped his shoulders of the white, dingy shirt from the journey, and reached for something new.
I didn’t intend to utter a sound. I fought to remain indifferent. I failed.
Across Erik’s back, from the top of his shoulders, around his ribs, to the lower curves of his hips, were dozens of scars. Pink and gnarled. Some white and fading. Old wounds left behind from prolonged suffering.
By the hells, he must’ve been in horrid pain even now. Skin was left irritated, untreated. Movements would be uncomfortable; no mistake it would burn constantly pulling at the taut skin without proper cleansers and oils.
“They wouldn’t do that to you.” My voice was soft and small. Uncertain.
Erik slipped his head through a black tunic and faced me. “I know how disgusting it is for you to look upon suchmangledskin.” A shadow dulled the sunset red of his eyes. “So, believe what you wish, Princess, but I did not do it to myself.”
To see the tormented flesh, my mind could not reconcile with the notion that it might be true. My family had humanity. They were just and fair. Loving.
The thought of them seeing an innocent as nothing more than a tool was nauseating.
“I will be gone for a time,” Erik said as he ran his palms over his dark, tousled hair. He paused at the doorway between his room and sitting area. “You will remain here.”
A sudden panic throttled my chest. I did not want him to leave. Not because he was tender and wonderful, but because Bloodsinger was clearly possessive. He wanted me and didn’t, but his want seemed to win out more than his resentment. Odd as it was to admit, Erik felt like the safest person in the palace right now.
Sweat dripped down my neck. The room tilted, and I couldn’t stop . . .
“Livia.” Erik’s voice shattered the panic. His eyes were narrowed. “Do not leave. I need to know you heard me.”
I shook out my hands and peered through the lancet once more. “May I go to your garden? It’s concealed.”
“No.” His jaw pulsed for a few breaths. “I say this for your own good.”
“Right. A glittering cage.”
Erik’s gaze hardened. “You’ll regret it should you choose not to listen.”
The threat hovered like a dark omen in the room. Bloodsinger didn’t wait for a retort, a plea, nothing before he abandoned me to the emptiness of his unfamiliar space.
A shock jolted my heart when the door slammed, dislodging a golden framed mirror from the wall. Glass cracked. My reflection stood amidst the pieces, a true likeness to the deepening fissures in my heart.
I slid down the cold stones of the wall and hugged my knees to my chest. Utterly alone.
CHAPTER30
The Serpent
“Highness, he’s just arrived.” Alistair materialized as though he’d misted into shape from a shadow. The man was portly, a size too large for his clothing, but he couldn’t see what the rest did. His skin sagged around his mouth and eyes, and the tips of his tapered ears flopped over from age.
Bound to the palace until his final days, he’d served five Ever Kings. Next to Alistair, I was a bleeding infant.
Still, he blustered as he’d always done under the watch of my father, and had the decency to treat me as the lord of this land the moment I stepped foot into the halls as a broken, limping boy.
We quickened the pace to the council room in silence until we reached the double doors at the end of a narrow corridor.
“What is your word on our guest?” Alistair asked.
