Chapter 40
ISI
“Are you alright?” Lexie called out. She rapped harder. “Isi? I went to the healers. They said you’re better, but who sleeps all day long?”
I’d slept the entire day?
Rising, I went to the door, tugging it open.
Lexie looked me up and down. “Good. I was so worried.” She hurtled herself at me, hugging me so hard I stumbled backward.
She released me and shut the door with a sweep of her hand.
“Like that? I’m testing new spells and was approved to shut—and lock—doors.
” Her fingers twitched and the lock snapped into place.
“Amazing. I want to learn that.”
“Maybe not.” She tested the door. “I’m not as good with unlocking as I am with locking. I’ve had…a few issues. No matter. We’ll figure that out later.” Turning, she smiled brightly, looking me over. “You do look better, which is good, because I brought this.”
She held up a gown, of all things.
“Why?”
“For the ball, of course.”
I’d completely forgotten there was a ball tomorrow night to celebrate the new warriors.
“Do you feel well enough to try this on?” she asked. “I can come back later.”
I actually felt like my old self, so why not?
The skirt flared as I spun, a sweep of soft green fabric catching the candlelight. Material whispered over my calves before settling in a swish that made me want to turn again just to hear the sound.
As a princess, I’d worn lovelier gowns, ones that cost five times what this one probably did. But I’d never felt prettier.
Behind me, Lexie danced to keep up, tugging on the laces of the bodice with a grumble. “Hold still or we’ll never get the back closed.”
“I am being still. Mostly.”
“You’re fidgeting like a minxpip in a bramble thicket,” she said, yanking on the ties.
“Ha. Sure.”
Minxpip?
I hadn’t seen the one I’d bonded with for days, and that made me sad. She was sweet, and I kind of wished I could jump into all this like Lexie. But I wasn’t Syllavar.
As for Maddox… I wasn’t sure what I should do about him, though I had some solid ideas.
Lexie finished and stepped back to inspect her handiwork, her dark eyes scanning me from the low-cut bodice to the capped sleeves snug to my upper arms, to the full skirt of the gown that shimmered in the torchlight.
“I swear, Isi, when people see you wearing this tomorrow night, they’ll be composing ballads and poems.” She leaned close. “Trew will die.”
My heart flipped over. “You think so?”
Surprisingly enough, I was getting excited about the ball, and I knew why. Trew had held me, protected me, and treated me with a gentleness that made my throat tighten.
“Definitely.” A mischievous smile tugged at Lexie’s mouth. “You’ve got the whole deadly grace thing going. Lethal, but in a way that will make men and a few women go stupid.”
“You’re sure I can borrow the gown?” I smoothed my hands over the fitted waistline. “It would look great on you.”
Lexie snorted. “I told you. It was in the closet, left by a past recruit who’s probably stationed somewhere else. They were told to take their things when they left, so even if she came back to court, she wouldn’t want it. She also left a yellow one that’ll look great with my skin tone.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Yellow? What’s the neckline look like?”
“About here.” She made a chopping motion at the top of her breasts, her grin rising. “It’s gorgeous. When I put it on, Derren pretty much passed out.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
We laughed, grinning at each other like fools. It was nice to do girly things, to dress up and pretend things were normal.
“I’ll wear it tomorrow night.” Lexie secured my hair in a high tail and stepped back, making a swirling motion with her finger. “Turn again.”
I spun slower this time so she could see how the skirt moved.
“Amazing,” she breathed, dropping the brush on the floor by accident, scooping it up.
I stared at my reflection in the full-length mirror while she peered over my shoulder.
“It’s perfect for you.” She squealed and clapped her hands.
“It is.” The deep green set off my pale skin, the color richer than moss and threaded with a subtle shimmer that caught the light. For a moment, I almost forgot what this place was and why I’d come here.
A bang rang out in the bedroom, and we gave each other raised eyebrow looks before hurrying into the room, just in time to see the door explode inward.
Wind slammed into the room first, swirling with a crackle of power that buffeted my gown. Torch flames guttered and flared. The air reeked faintly of ozone, as if lightning had just kissed stone.
Trew filled the doorway like one of the fates come to ground, his golden eyes blazing, his jaw sharp enough to cut glass. Magical heat licked along my bare arms, currents of air that snatched at my hair and made it whip around my face.
The way his gaze softened when it landed on me was the first warm break in the clouds.
Lexie froze beside me.
I was too startled to speak, my heart thudding hard.
Trew’s gaze swept through the room and landed again on me.
The violent surge gentled, the currents curling around me in a way that felt almost like his hand settling at the back of my waist. My pulse tripped over itself as I realized he was bending his magic solely for me.
And his eyes… By the fates. The storm in them had melted into something dangerous.
He sank to his knees in front of me, this king I suspected knelt to no one. He stared up as though I’d been lost, and he’d just found me.
My pulse forgot how to be steady. This was a man who made kingdoms bow, and yet, here he was, bowing to me.
“You broke down my door to…” My voice sounded steady only because shock kept it there. “Do you plan to kneel there a while, staring up at me?”
His mouth curved in a hungry smile. “If I’d known this was what I’d find, I’d have broken the door down sooner.”
“Well,” Lexie said dryly. “This is some of the best entertainment I’ve had in weeks. I assume you had a problem with my magical lock.”
Trew’s attention flicked to her before coming back to me, pinning me more effectively than his magic ever could.
“I heard something from this room,” he said. “A sound I didn’t like.”
“That sound,” Lexie muttered, her smile quivering with humor, “was us making sure the gown fit. And me telling Isi she’s going to cause a scandal.”
His gaze swept over me again, slow enough that the gown felt far too thin. “I had to be sure she was still safe.”
“I am.” I swallowed hard. “We’re fine. You can—”
“Stay,” he barked out.
Lexie’s eyebrows went up. “Or you could go, Your Majesty. Give her a little mystery before the ball tomorrow. A woman likes to make an entrance.”
“Ball?” His gaze narrowed.
“For the new warriors.” Heat crawled up my neck. “If you want to see me in the gown again, you’ll have to attend.”
That earned me a smirk that promised nothing good.
“Oh, I’ll be there.” He rose, the easy grace of it countering the raw power I’d seen when he’d come through the door.
Stepping in close, he leaned down, his warm breath brushing across my cheek.
“That gown’s wasted on the ball, Minx.” His husky voice curled through my belly in a very pleasant way. “I’d rather take it off you instead.”
My knees went unreliable, and he knew it. I almost forgot Lexie was in the room.
“Alright,” Lexie cut in, stepping between us.
She planted her hands on his chest and nudged, though the gesture didn’t move him at all.
“You’ve assured yourself she’s safe. Back out into the hall with you.
If you want to see Isi again, you’ll have to wait for morning.
” She pushed him again, though he only moved back a few steps.
His infuriating, insufferable smirk only deepened as his gaze locked on mine. He braced one broad shoulder against the fractured doorframe, his hand coming up to rest lazily against the other side, effectively caging me in the room.
“You broke my door,” I said. “How am I going to secure it tonight?”
His tone deepened to a low rasp. “I could stand guard. If you’d like.”
“I’ll see if Derren can fix it,” Lexie said.
A flick of his finger, and the doorframe looked as if he hadn’t just shredded it to pieces.
“Construction time is over.” Lexie pushed him harder. “We have women things to do. Out.”
He didn’t look at her. “Make me.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “You can’t stay.”
The heat in his eyes said otherwise. “You sound very sure for someone who’s still flushed from me whispering in her ear.”
Fates. My palm itched to smack him. Pull him closer. And that gave me more trouble than I could handle right now.
“You’re impossible.” I strode forward and urged him backward.
He shifted enough that my hand landed on the center of his chest. His heart beat steady, showing how infuriatingly unaffected he was. “When you wear that gown tomorrow night, Minx, you’ll be wearing it for me.”
My pulse gave a traitorous leap. The claim in his voice snagged deep, a hook beneath the ribs.
Lexie rolled her eyes so hard I could hear it. “We’ll keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”
His gaze lingered on me for another heartbeat before he stepped out into the hall. His warmth went with him, though the echo of his magic still clung to my skin like a second gown.
Lexie shut the door with a solid click. Turning, she leaned against the back, crossing her arms on her chest. “That was dramatic. He really likes you.”
I grinned. “He does, right?”
Her smile joined in with mine, and she waved to the gown. “Turn and I’ll untie you. Hang it up in the other room and when you’re dressed, come back here.” After releasing the ties, she crossed to my bed and sat. “We’re going to have a nice little chat.”
It didn’t take long to remove the gown and return to the room dressed in a loose tunic and a pair of lounge pants. I sank beside her on the bed, both of us stretching our legs out, our backs against the headboard.
“You just had the king looking at you like he’d like to eat you alive,” she said. “And you’re acting like nothing happened.”