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“She sent servants to put me in the damned thing—she should have sent them back to get me out of it.Gods,these jewels weigh more than I do!”
Tiernan chuckled, unweaving the corset up my back with slow, practiced precision. With each deepening breath I could take as it loosened, I became more and more lightheaded. Using the bedpost as more of a crutch than a brace.
“There,” he said, tugging the gown down to pool in a mass of gossamer, silk and jewels at my feet. “Better?”
I swayed trying to step out of the tangle of fabric, nearly fell. Tiernan caught me with a strong arm hooked around my middle. I blinked my eyes back into focus. “What was in that wine? Did she poison me?”
His hair fell into his face when he shook his head, “No—she didn’t poison you. Ididwarn you the wine was strong,” he said pointedly, righting me back on my feet. “Sit down, let help you get into bed.”
“Did I make a fool of myself?” I asked, sitting down hard on the edge of the mattress—sighing when I sunk deep into it’s soft embrace.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You were perfectly regal,” he said with a wink, “If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s Suriel.”
Tiernan helped me out of my shoes—pulled the stockings from my legs, letting his fingertips trail over my skin. Gooseflesh rose in their wake and I shivered. Then I remembered something she’d said to him and my chest tightened.
“Did you and The Day Queen ever… I mean did you—”
“Lie with her?”
Unable to meet his stare, I laid back onto the bed, staring up at the wisp-thin netting tapering up to the ceiling. “Did you?”
He set my leg back down on the bed and leaned over me, putting his face parallel to mine.
“No,” he said, and I knew he told the truth. He smirked, “But that’s not to say she didn’t want to.”
Ugh.I shoved him off me and he fell onto the bed with a disgruntledooomff.
“Who wouldn’t want to—have you seen yourself? The depictions of the gods hardly compare.”
The canopy spun again, and I groaned, covering my eyes. But that only seemed to make it worse.
“You should sleep,” Tiernan said and lifted my head onto a pillow. He leaned down and the warmth of him pressed against me. He laid a kiss on my forehead and my heart sputtered. The tether between us gave a small tug.
I grabbed him by his tunic when he made to pull away, and his shoulders pulled inwards. Opening myself up tofeelhim, I found that he radiated pain.
My jaw clenched, and my stomach roiled at the ugliness. It was his uncle—having to endure his company had shaken Tiernan, and I understood why. I’d seen what his uncle did to him. Giving no sympathy for his parent’s death. Ignoring him. Only paying him any mind if it was to punish him with the whip of his belt or the sting of his knuckles across Tiernan’s jaw.
He would pay for his sins—whether in this life, or the next.
“Don’t pay him another thought,” I said, and Tiernan looked away. I pulled his face back to me and pressed my lips softly against his. His hand tightened around mine and the dark emotions abated—just a little.
“Goodnight,” he said as I pulled away, falling back onto the silky-soft sheets.
I rubbed the back of his hand. Gave him a reassuring smile. “Goodnight, Tiernan.”
Chapter Nineteen
Kade
The darkness scattered like smoke in the wind—blowing away as I retook my Fae form to reveal a corridor of the palace. I rushed down the marble tile in long, fast strides, my body readjusting to the weight of bone and muscle. Travel by smoke was convenient, but it always left me feeling weak, heavy, and with the acrid taste of ashes on my tongue.
I leaned out the nearest window and spat out the foul black ichor before hurrying on to the council chambers. They wouldn’t have summoned me at this hour if it wasn’t important.
It wasn’t difficult to find the tether of the Immortal Bond. Since Liana left there’d been a hollowness in my chest. As if every mile she put between herself and I, the thinner the tether stretched and the more the absence of her burrowed into me. I latched onto the link between us and hurtled my thoughts through it.I know it’s late,I said,but the council has called me—I think the envoy has returned to the palace.
Doing as Finn explained before he left, I forced what I was seeing to travel through the bond, too.
There came no response. I worked harder to maintain the connection, hoping she could see what I saw. Hear my calls.
