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“And what of your daughter?” Elna asked, looking really serious. “Are you going to take her back there too?”
“I’ve taken the necessary precautions,” Mama answered, trying to sound strong. But her voice shook a bit, and she played with her silver ring like she always does when she's nervous.
Elna took Mama's hand, her face all worried. She's tall and looks like a queen from the stories, with her skin like the earth and her long, black hair.
“I don’t understand, Lyria,” Elna said, looking sad. “Why would you do this now, after everything you’ve done to keep Kitana safe?”
Mama sounded just as sad when she said, “Because he is the other half of my heart. I thought I could leave him behind for her sake, Elna. I really did. But if I don’t go back for him, his fate will haunt me forever. And I will never be whole.”
“Kitana!”
I sat up with a start as Nyra pounded on my bedroom door. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub and onto the floor as she flung open the door and stalked in, her hazel eyes sparking with impatience.
“I’ve been waiting outside for nearly an hour,” she said, grabbing a fluffy bathrobe hanging on a hook. “What are you doing in here, trying to drown yourself?”
“You wish,” I snapped. I reached out and snatched the robe from her fingers, then shrugged it on as I climbed out of the tub. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep, nor take that very unexpected trip down memory lane. I tried to cling to the details of the dream, but Nyra dumped a towel on my head, interrupting my concentration.
“Hey!” I yelped as she began to roughly towel-dry my hair. “What are you doing?”
“Getting you ready, since you seem to be incapable of doing it yourself.” She whisked the towel off my head, then plucked a brush off the bathroom counter and moved to attack my hair.
I snatched the brush out of her hand before she could make contact with my scalp. “I can brush my own hair,” I said firmly.
The two of us stared at each other for a long moment before Nyra finally lifted her chin. “Fine. I’ll select an outfit for you. But hurry up. Lord Starclaw doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
I opened my mouth to tell her that I didn’t give a damn about what ‘Lord Starclaw’ did or didn’t like, but she disappeared back into the bedroom. Sighing, I reluctantly approached the mirror with the brush in my hand, afraid of what I might find looking back at me.
To my surprise, I didn’t look nearly as bad as I thought. Sure, my face was a little gaunt, and the robe hung far too loosely on me given that I’d tied it as tight as I could. But my hair had a thick, lustrous shine, and there was healthy color in my cheeks. The shadows dogging my violet eyes were something I could do without, though. I hoped they would go away as I continued to recover.
I dragged the brush through my hair a few dozen times, then abandoned it on the counter and returned to the bedroom. A burgundy dress with matching undergarments had been laid out atop the bedspread for me, and a pair of simple black satin slippers waited by the foot of the bed.
“Good, you’re finished.” Nyra moved away from where she’d been standing by the balcony doors. “Dress.”
I picked up the heavy velvet garment, then held it up to my chest. “Absolutely not,” I snapped as I looked at it in the mirror. “I’m not wearing anything with an off the shoulder neckline around a vampire.”
Nyra laughed, the sound a masterclass in elegance and disdain. “Do you really think a collar would stop Lord Starclaw from feeding on you?” she asked, her upper lip curling into a sneer. “Your naivety is astonishing.”
“Of course not.” I scowled as I tossed the garment back on the bed. “But that doesn’t mean I need to parade myself like a buffet around him at dinner. I’ll find something else.”
I turned toward the closet, but Nyra’s scathing voice stopped me in my tracks. “There is nothing in there that’s suitable for your skeleton frame. I’ve already checked.”
To my horror, my lip began to wobble. I knew I was painfully thin—my clothes had barely fit me, and the blouse I’d borrowed from the closet had billowed around me. But for Nyra to actually say it out loud was a blow to my already battered ego. My body had once been strong and powerful, with just the right amount of curves, honed from years and years of warrior training. To hear that I’d lost all that progress, that I was small and weak again—
Stop it,I told myself.You’ll get it back. One day at a time.
Woodenly, I reached for the ties on my bathrobe and slipped it off my shoulders, letting it fall to the ground. Nyra’s expression shifted as she glimpsed my naked form, the antipathy in her gaze giving way to curiosity as she beheld the spray of nightshade flowers in the middle of my torso, just beneath my breasts. But to my relief, she didn’t ask about them, and I quickly put the undergarments on and stepped into the dress. Nyra did the buttons up in the back, the ran the brush through my hair one more time before arranging it around my shoulders.
“You’ll do,” she said as we both gazed at the reflection in the mirror in front of us.
I nodded. The dress was a little loose at the waist, but it molded nicely to what little cleavage I had left. I ran a hand over one of my collarbones, hating the way they jutted out so sharply.
Nyra’s eyes tracked the movement. She disappeared into the closet, then returned with a black wrap. “Here,” she said, thrusting the garment at me. “To protect that delicate swan neck of yours.”
I snorted, but took the wrap and swirled it around my shoulders. I knew it was silly, but the scrap of fabric really did make me feel more protected. Not as protected as my armor and coat would have, but it was better than nothing.
After tucking two stakes into my dress pockets—which Nyra rolled her eyes at, but didn’t object to—I followed the vampire out the door, then down the hall to where a metallic box with a wrought metal cage waited. She pressed a button on the wall, and the double doors slid back to reveal a closet-sized room with padded green walls.
“Come on,” she said, stepping inside.
