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She looked beautiful in her long dark dress. Her blue hair was untied and fell on her shoulders and covered her chest, creating a spark contrast with the black lacy dress she had worn today. Her red lips were quivering as her brow tightened.
She looked angry and brave at the same time.
Anger competed with relief. Seeing Xira always made me feel angry. Her presence reminded me of the day she had abandoned me at the arena. But now, relief accompanied that feeling and made it odd.
She was looking at Lord Lugh with an expression full of hate.
She was not the daughter of a high lord herself. It was odd for her to stare at Lord Lugh with such open contempt, yet she was, being brave where I could not.
“We were just talking, Lady Xira,” Lord Lugh said. “And you should know better than to talk to your betters with that tone.”
Xira’s shapely lips curled with a smile. She kept staring at Lord Lugh and did not cower before him. I felt scared for her sake.
“I don’t care that you are a high lord, Lugh,” Xira quickly walked to stand next to me. “I know how vile you are.”
My heart pounded. What was she doing, confronting him like this? It was dangerous. I wanted to convey to her somehow that she did not have to put herself in danger, that I was used to lords and ladies treating me this way. But I could not. She wasn’t looking at me.
“Does your father know how you are doing your best to drag your family name through the mud?” Lord Lugh asked with a mean grin as he glanced toward me to clarify what he considered ‘the mud.' He did not seem offended or taken aback at all. He knew Xira had no power over him. “Will he think it is wise to anger me?”
“We are loyal to the king and the king only,” Lady Xira responded. “King Duncan is our liege. You are not. I’m not afraid of you, and neither is my family.”
Lord Lugh's smile flickered, but he hid it quickly as his body tensed up.
“We will see about that,” Lord Lugh said under his breath.
I shrunk when Lord Lugh moved and felt ashamed of it immediately. It was a show of power to walk by us instead of turning the other way, and as he passed by us, the smirk on his lips told me he enjoyed my cowering.
Lady Xira and I stared at his back until he sauntered away from us. Only when he turned a corner did I let go of the breath I’d been holding on to.
Lady Xira turned to me.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded.
“What did he do?” Xira asked, taking a step to put her hand on my shoulder. “What did he say to you? I saw him grab you, and I thought... You are shaking.”
I was. It was embarrassing, and I wished my body did not betray the fear I had felt when Lugh threatened me.
“He threatened me. I can’t help it,” I said, not looking her way. This was why Jasmine and the others had left me behind. I was weak. “I am weak.”
I hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. As soon as I did, I met her gaze. She did not seem like she pitied me.
“No, you are not,” she said. “When a bad man threatens you, you feel cornered only because you do not know how to return that threat.”
“Because I don’t have the power,” I mumbled.
“No,” Xira said adamantly. “It is because you do not have the urge to violence. Just because you do not want to harm someone does not mean you are weak.”
She believed in what she was saying. I could tell.
“Why are you still here?” I heard myself asking.
“What?” Her lips quivered with surprise. “I thought Lord Lugh was taunting you.”
“I don’t mean that,” I replied. “I mean, he was taunting me.”
I hesitated. The question in my mind was one that I wasn’t supposed to ask or even wonder. Lady Xira and I were not friends. I did not get to question her, especially not when she had just risked herself to help me.
