Chapter 21 #2
One word from me, and Cal would risk everything. He would take my hand and bolt from Gathe faster than the gods themselves could move. He would throw our mission to save Corinth out the window and I can’t let that happen.
“I have a plan,” I admit with a confidence I don’t wholly have yet.
“Of course you do.” Cal smiles softly, his hand sweeping across his face as he turns towards the door. “Keep that blade on you at all times, princess. And whatever happens tonight, know that—”
“No,” I stop him. I will not allow myself to consider any scenario in which I put my own interests above my people’s. I cannot take anyone else’s feelings into consideration or else I might talk myself out of my plan. “Tell me later.”
He may be a royal asshole, but Governor Rollins does have one of the most exquisite manors in all of Corinth, second only to the king’s palace in Amale. And despite his feelings towards me, the guest room I am assigned is no exception to that opulence.
A massive oak bed sits in the middle of the room with heavy, red velvet curtains hanging from the four-posters encasing the thick feather mattress. I don’t even bother to remove my boots before collapsing onto the luxurious silk bedding.
The late afternoon sun is barely visible over the horizon when a knock at the door wakes me from my nap. A servant girl enters with a tray of food and lays it on the massive desk that sprawls in front of the floor to ceiling windows. She says nothing, only smiles and nods before leaving again.
My grumbling stomach pulls me towards the desk. A plate with roasted pork and a large heap of vegetables steams in the pale orange light. I eat quickly, watching the last rays of the sun dip below the Facet Mountains.
We’re still a few days’ ride from the base of the range and the river we’ll have to cross to enter the Diamond Region, but from the towering height of the manor, the outline of them is unmistakable.
Until now, I’ve thought of reaching the Alloy River as an inevitable, a small landmark on our cross-country journey.
But now … now I wonder if we’ll even make it that far.
The plate is long empty when another knock sounds.
A different woman enters, the candlelight making her tan skin glimmer against the scant uniform her employer demands.
Thick braids trail down her back in gorgeous plaits and I know the fingers that created those will be perfect for the hairstyle I have in mind.
She sweeps into a low bow as she approaches me. “My lady,” she says softly.
“Call me Ivy.” I try to not sound how I feel—exasperated, nervous, unsure.
“I’m Anna,” she motions to herself, standing upright again. “It will be my honor to dress you.”
Anna directs me to the open wardrobe, proudly displaying the selection of dresses sent by Kieran.
As promised, a red ball gown awaits in the front of the wardrobe. A taunt, but not a threat. Behind it, gowns made of exquisite silk, tulle, and organza fill the small space. Silhouettes in sapphire blue, silvery-white, golden yellow, and emerald green. Every color of Corinth’s jeweled regions.
What are you playing at, Kieran?
I flip through them carefully, bypassing the colors of the other regions until my fingers snag on something wholly unexpected: a simple, silk gown in midnight black. The color of the Dark God of Death—and the color of Captain Callan Murphy.
Magic squeezes my heart, not at the thought of publicly declaring myself a harbinger of Death, but at the look that would overtake Cal when he saw me. I shake my head, clearing away the momentary lapse in judgement.
Behind the black dress, hidden in the very back of the wardrobe is the only color I prayed to find. I pull it out, handing it to Anna before I can talk myself out of it.
“You’re sure, my lady?” she asks skeptically.
“Very.”
Amethyst is a color reserved only for the monarch. If I was a governor, this dress would signal my intent to ascend the throne. But given that I’m not even eligible to be on the ballot, wearing the king’s color is more of a formal ‘fuck you’ to his apparent successor.
I’m coming for the Lord General, and everyone here will know it after tonight.
Anna slides the gown over my head, my breath hitching as I realize how little silk fabric there is. Two swathes of cloth run over my shoulders, gathering just above the navel and clinging to my curves perfectly. I turn towards the mirror, admiring the low cowl that exposes my entire back.
“One second.”
Anna’s sweet voice trails off as she rushes back to the dressing table and removes a small box from the drawer. She swiftly pins a brooch at the seam on my stomach—an intricate silver serpent with sparkling diamond eyes.
“This was sent for you.”
The image of the leviathan is uncanny, a near-identical replica of the beast that adorns Cal’s chest but with a much smaller tail. I still don’t fully understand why or how the sea beast connects us, but there’s no mistaking its role in our fused fate.
Anna directs me to sit at the dressing table and I let her cover my face with creams and serums and cosmetics until my skin glows and pinks in all the right places. She adds purple and gold to my eyelids before darkening the lashes, accentuating my green eyes until they sparkle.
I reach towards the vase of godsbane blooms on the desk that I grew after dinner, extracting a few and explaining the vision for my hair.
Her nimble fingers move quickly, placing a silver circlet on my head before effortlessly braiding and twisting the hair into something even grander than I imagined. Anna pins the deep purple blooms and green leaves into the plaits until the style takes shape.
She steps back to admire her work and I’m breathless again. She has transformed my tresses into an ethereal crown fit for a poisonous earth goddess.
She secures strappy heels on my feet while I add long, thin silver earrings. Standing in front of the mirror, I nervously run my hands down my thighs, exposed on both sides by twin slits that start just below my hip bones.
Everyone will be talking about this dress and the woman wearing it.
“If there’s nothing else, my lady…” she moves to clean up the brushes and pins that litter the dressing table but I stop her.
“Actually, Anna, there is one more thing.” I pull Cal’s ivory-handled dagger from my bag along with a simple sheath. “Can you help me with this?”
Her eyes linger on the strange letters and markings as she examines the blade. With a single nod, Anna drops to her knees and begins to wrap the black leather straps around my upper thigh. Her lips move silently as her fingers work to secure the buckles.
Curiosity overtakes me and I have to ask. “What are you doing?”
“Praying, my lady. To the goddess whose blessings cover you twofold.”
“And whose blessings are they?”
“Arcasia,” she says, standing to grip me by the shoulders. “May the Goddess of Protection guard you from the enemies who wait below.”