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He strides through the courtyard to the heart of the castle: the keep. It towers high enough to blot out the moon. Candlelight glows behind dozens of windows. Guards flank us as we climb the stone stairs and then usher us through a door.
Inside, the castle has been decorated with dark wood and velvet, a rich contrast to the wedding-cake exterior. I’m tempted to steal the golden candlesticks for my hoard. I tap one with my fingernail. It’s gilded, not solid gold, which is less tempting.
“Quickly,” says a guard. “Her Majesty’s sorceress is in a foul mood tonight.”
“Tonight?” Scaldric snorts.
This must be a regular occurrence.
The guard gives him a long-suffering look. “Threatened to hex me with pox.” He sighs. “Womenfolk and magic, what can you do?”
Scaldric claps him on the shoulder. “Not much, unfortunately.”
They remind me of the men who muttered insults and disgusting jokes while I worked at the tavern. Scaldric seems ignorant of my frown.
We stop in a hallway. When the guard knocks on a door, Zin yanks it open.
The dark-eyed sorceress glares at us. “Finally.”
Zin snatches me by the wrist and drags me into the room, an ornate bedchamber in sapphire. I twist my arm free and resist the urge to claw her skin. With one last smile at me, Scaldric abandons me to my fate.
Zin slams the door behind me. “Take off those filthy rags.”
“Rags?” I glance down at my borrowed clothes, grimy with travel. They’re Rook’s clothes—all that I have left of him.
She snaps her fingers in my face. “Undress. Fast. Before I change my mind about removing the aellurium chains.”
I bare my teeth. “Forgive me if I’m not excited to strip naked in your bedchamber.”
“This isn’tmybedchamber.” She rolls her eyes. “God, Scaldric didn’t tell you anything?”
“Tell me what?”
She shakes her head. “Ask him. And don’t try anything stupid after I unchain you.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” I deadpan.
Without turning my back on the sorceress, I take off all my clothes and bare the chains that crisscross my skin. She traces her fingertips along the aellurium. The unbroken chains snap apart with aping, then slither off me and puddle at my feet.
The dragon uncurls inside me, demanding freedom. A shuddering breath escapes me. It’s been far too long since I shifted.
Zin retreats from me. Violet magic flickers between her fingertips. “Don’t.”
“This bedchamber is too small to contain a dragon.” I bend my neck until it cracks. “Besides, are we even enemies any longer?”
“No.” She clenches her hands, and the magic goes dark. “You belong to Scaldric.”
“Belong? He doesn’t own me.”
“Not yet.”
I narrow my eyes. “Excuse me?”
Bending down, she grabs a fistful of aellurium chains. “Scaldric can be…possessive.”
My stomach flutters. “He claimed me as his mate. It’s to be expected.”
She opens the door but glances back on her way out. “Good luck.”
