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“Your Majesty, time is short. We must prepare you now. Please allow us to enter.”
My breath left me in a relieved whoosh at the maid’s voice.
Solemnly, Garrick grasped my free hand and pressed his warm lips to my palm. I swallowed when my mouth ran dry.Just the touch of a man loyal to his queen? Or...?
“I’ll see you at the feast, Starlight,” he promised, and then rose, striding to the door and letting the maids back in.
The glamoured girls didn’t react to the way I knelt on the floor, my half-unbuttoned tunic hanging loosely from my frame. They didn’t notice the way Garrick and I stared at one another for one last, long moment, silently making promises of helping one another to freedom,somehow, before he ducked out of the room. They simply escorted me to the tub, waiting with their eerily blank expressions as I scrubbed myself clean, rinsing away Garrick’s scent from my body even as my skin continued to tingle from his every touch.
CHAPTER TWENTY
As soon as the maids turned me to peer into the mirror, I gasped. I’d scarcely paid attention to the dress when it had been laid out, and my mind had wandered as the women laced me into a fae corset and pulled layers of fabric over my head. Now, I found myself staring at a woman dressed all in white lace, adorned in silver beading. I cringed. I was dressed like a bride. Like a snowflake. Silver glitter even dusted my cheeks and eyelids.
A knock sounded at the door.
One of the maids went to open it, and I silently begged that it wasn’t Preston on the other side of the door. To my relief, Garrick waited for me in the hall.
“Ready?” he asked. “His Royal Majesty requested I personally see you safely to the feast.”
I glanced toward the window, surprised to find late afternoon light gilding the snow outside. Time had passed quickly, and now that I knew what horrors of the underworld escaped at night, I realized our time for an evening feast was short.
Garrick stepped inside, leaning back against the closed door as both maids fluttered about me, tugging my dress this way and that in final touch-ups.
I turned toward Garrick when the women finally moved back, but froze when I caught his assessing glance burning intome. Heat flooded my cheeks. Was it my imagination, or were his eyes trailing me up and down?
His gaze latched onto mine, and he grinned. The warmth in my face sank down into my chest, and I returned his smile.
“I know this isn’t the color you’d prefer to wear,” he said, his smile turning forced, “but you still look lovely.”
Clothed in leathers and fur and wearing his knives strapped to his belt, Garrick looked like the hunter he was. But the outfit suited him more than formal attire would have. The cut of his clothes emphasized the muscles hidden beneath, and the rugged look made his gold eyes shine even brighter.
Feeling daring, I lifted my chin. “You look rather handsome yourself.”
His mouth curved upward in a crooked smile. “It’s nice to hear you admit it out loud.”
I flushed. “What?”
“You heard me. I’ve seen the way you look at me, Starlight.”
Quickly averting my gaze from his, I quipped, “That sounds awfully arrogant.” It was nice to hear him flirt like his usual self, though I didn’t dare read into it. Instead, I strode across the room, looking at the arm Garrick had offered me.
“You can touch my sleeve,” Garrick reminded me, reading my tumultuous thoughts. “They’ll expect me to escort you properly. Your scent on my clothes won’t bring any punishments. Only skin.”
Slowly, I slid my arm through his. “He’s dressed me to look like his bride,” I whispered despairingly as he escorted me out the door and down the hall.
