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“Who on Xhera would be dumb enough to try it?” Alrion whispers under his breath.
As the rest of the room exchanges similar chatter, I lean against the wall and sigh, closing my eyes.
That’s it. The reason I survived when no one else did. The reason I was born so ridiculously apt at being noticed by the opposite sex. The reason I breathe. Yet, I take a moment, because for all that, I don’t want to die.
At long last, I sigh and straighten up. “I’m going to need a dress.”
2
RHEA
The dress Doplov had made for me is finer than anything I’ve ever worn, anything I’ve ever touched or seen with my own eye, for that matter.And it was madefor me,there’s no denying it. It perfectly complements my coloring, my shape, my height. He knew I’d volunteer. He wanted me to.He might like me, and most definitely want me, but he still knows there’s no better choice for this impossibly perilous task.
I am the one who makes men do stupid things, thinking with whatever’s between their legs rather than their brain. When I’m sent north to seduce guards and soldiers into whispering their secrets in my ears, I am always successful.
Right now, all those assignments feel like they were a test, preparation for this very task.
I believed myself beyond thinking one way or another about my appearance, but I can’t stop looking in the mirror Alrion holds up for me after I try on my costume.
My mother valued my beauty enough to invest in it, sure she’d see a return when I married better than she had, but for all that, a horse master’s wife couldn’t exactly afford crushed velvet and raw silk, gold trim and fine lace.
The dress does little to hide any of my attributes. I haven’t worn boned bodices in three years, but instead of pinching my skin and cutting my breath off, this one softly adheres to my shape. My breasts look positively sinful, pushed up but not squashed. Instead of puffing out, the skirts, made of soft satin, follow my legs, caressing them with each of my steps. They’re cut high on either side of my hips, all the way up to the bone, which would have been vulgar if not for the sheer black chiffon underneath.
I am going to Nyxar, I tell myself. They’ve seen far worse than a glimpse of skin through flowing fabric. In Allea, it’s unseemly to show so much as an ankle, but I’ve heard that some of the courtiers in the shade’s kingdom wear nothing at all, or just paint, jewels dangling from their private parts.I don’t believe all the tales, but I believe them enough to think the dress entirely sensible, and suitable for a formal event up in north. Never mind that it would only have been fit for a brothel here.
A very chic brothel.
I force a calming breath in and out. Somehow, the dress and my reflection stress me out more than anything else so far.
I am being sent to seduce, isolate, and then kill the king ruling over darkness, over eternal night, over my nightmares.
“Won’t I be cold?” I ask.
Alrion snorts. "We’re all going to freeze our asses off when we step out, for sure. Half of the northern kingdom is covered in ice and snow, and we’re going deep in the north. But no, the king keeps Starfall heated year-round. Indoors, we’ll be fine.”
I blink. “We?”
He smiles sadly. “You didn’t think we’d let you go by yourself, did you?”
I knew I wouldn’t be sent out alone. At the very least, I need a staff to pose as a highborn guest. But I never would have dared to hopehe’dcome along.
Alrion is great in spycraft. His steps are almost silent, his presence, all but undetectable when he wishes not to be seen. I couldn’t hope for a better companion.
“I thought you believed I was dumb for volunteering.”
“You are,” he admits, direct as ever. He’s not one for lies, preferring honesty, however brutal. “Which is why I’m coming. How are you going to stay alive without me?”
I roll my eyes, though he’s more than likely right. “So, you, me, and who else?”
“Who do you think?” he retorts, amused.
Now, I can breathe just fine. My heart beats at its usual pace. Sorsha’s coming too. Maybe I haven’t volunteered to march to my death after all. Between the three of us, we’ll manage it. We will kill the vile monster at the head of the northern forces, and we’ll live to see a world at peace.
If I tell myself that often enough, I might believe it, too.
3
CALDORYN
