CHAPTER SEVEN ISI
CHAPTER SEVEN
ISI
Iwoke to sunlight and Trew’s arm banded around my waist, his breath warm against my neck. He’d left last night but snuck back in early this morning, telling me we’d have to be careful or someone might suspect we were together.
Every muscle ached in the most delicious way. Evidence of the past hours marked my skin. His fingerprints on my hips, the scrape of stubble along my inner thighs, and a tender spot on my breast where he’d sucked hard enough to leave a faint mark.
Trew propped himself up on one elbow and studied me in the gray light of dawn. He’d have to leave soon, and I missed him already.
His hair was still the wrong color, sandy brown instead of the dark silk I loved, and this wasn’t the face of the man I loved. But those golden eyes were pure him. They tracked across my face with an intensity that made my breath catch.
“How long have you been awake?” I whispered.
“I didn’t sleep.” His fingertip traced the curve of my cheekbone, featherlight. “I wanted to remember this in case we can’t touch again for hours.”
We’d have to pretend to be strangers, maintaining distance while every cell in my body screamed to be near him.
His hand drifted lower, tracing my jaw, my throat, and the hollow at the base of my neck where my pulse jumped from his touch.
His fingers stilled as morning light shifted across the room, highlighting the now-subtle bruises on my shoulder where the blanket had slipped.
“I still want to kill him.” The words came out flat, matter-of-fact.
“Most of the time, so do I.” And that was the problem. He was still my father, the man who, more often than not, had shown me he loved me.
How could I cut the cord that bound my heart to a man who could act like a monster?
His hand hovered over a lingering bruise, not quite touching. “May I?”
I nodded.
Magic flowed from his fingertips. This wasn’t the wild, destructive power I’d seen him use in battle, but something gentle. Healing magic, seeping into damaged tissue.
“This will help,” he said, his voice strained with concentration. “I wish I could do more, but my healing magic works best on myself.”
I felt the magic work its way deeper, encouraging my body’s natural healing. Relief seeped through me right away, but what undid me the most was the tenderness in his touch and the way he traced each mark, as if he could erase not just the bruises but the memory of how I’d gotten them.
“Better?” he asked in a croaky voice that beat through my chest more than his angry tone ever could.
The ache was gone.
“Much.” I caught his hand and kissed his palm. “Thank you. Healing these doesn’t erase him, though.”
Trew’s eyes softened, the violence in them dimming. “It’s a start.” Barely restrained violence growled through his voice. “This doesn’t end here, Minx.”
“We need to be smart about this.” I leaned into his touch. “I hate all of it. The disguise. The pretending. Having to act like I don’t know exactly how you taste.”
His eyes darkened, and his arm tightened around my waist, pulling me closer until we were pressed together beneath the sheets. “We’ll manage.”
“Will we?”
“We don’t have a choice.” He kissed my forehead. “But for a few hours each night, you’re mine.”
My core clenched at his possessive growl. I wanted to pull him closer, to lose myself in him again and forget everything waiting beyond these walls.
But we had work to do.
“We need a plan.” I ran my fingers across his chest, savoring the steady thrum of his heartbeat. I explained about the increased guards and patrols. “I don’t know what it means.”
His hand found my hip, stroking absently. “My disguise as your bodyguard gives me access to the entire castle. I can map the layout, identify threats, and find vulnerabilities. Your father’s worries might stem from the Skathe news. Fenmark and Addie could’ve uncovered something big.”
I traced the lines of his palm, following each callus and scar I’d memorized. “We have less than two weeks until the Day of Mercy. Twenty-three people are scheduled to die. They’re in the dungeon.”
“We’ll stop it.”
“And we need to find Addie and Fenmark.”
His jaw tightened. “That letter could be a trap.”
The thought had haunted me through the night. “What if it’s not? What if she’s here, somewhere in this castle, and I’m her only chance?”
“Then we’ll find her.” His hand stilled on my hip. “But carefully. Your father is watching you.”
“He already suspects something.” I met his eyes. “You saw how he looked at me yesterday. He knows I’m different. I can’t hide that I’m stronger. Less afraid.” I smiled without humor. “You taught me that.”
He brought my hand to his lips, kissing each fingertip. “Fear makes you predictable. Strength makes you dangerous.”
“We also need to discover what Addie and Fenmark learned about the Skathes. Whatever they found may have gotten them captured or killed.”
“Or sent into hiding,” Trew said quietly. “We don’t know what might’ve happened to them.”
The grief in his voice reminded me that Fenmark wasn’t just a missing warrior. He was Trew’s cousin. Family.
“We’ll find them both.”
“And in the meantime, we pretend. I’m Blain Torreth, mercenary guard. You’re Princess Amarissa, dutiful daughter. We’re strangers.”
“I hate that as well.”
“So do I.” He kissed me, nuzzling my neck with his nose. “But it keeps you alive. That’s all that matters.”
A knock at the outer door shattered the moment.
We both froze.
“Your Highness?” Mae called out from the hallway. “Your ladies and I are here to help you bathe and dress.”
Panic flared in my chest. Trew was naked in my bed, his clothing rumpled on the floor, and my staff was about to enter.
“One moment,” I called back, already scrambling out of bed and tugging on a robe, securing the tie at my waist. “Where are Pherin and Gavelle?”
“At the top of the castle.”
Trew moved fast, gathering his clothes and dressing with the speed of a man trained for quick escapes. I watched him transform, tucking the sandy hair into place, settling his expression into cold professionalism.
The man I loved disappeared behind the mask.
He caught me watching and crossed to me in three strides, his hand cupping the back of my neck as he pulled me into a kiss that was desperate and claiming and far too brief.
“Tonight,” he promised against my lips. “I’ll touch you again tonight. While you’re getting ready, I’ll go to the guard’s quarters and wash and dress myself.”
When he stepped back, the coldness returned to his eyes. He became a stranger.
I strode to the sitting room, calling out for them to come inside. Mae and two other ladies entered, their eyes flicking to Blain, standing near the window, looking out.
“Your Highness.” Mae curtsied. “Shall we prepare your bath?”
“Please.”
I could feel Trew’s gaze on me, tracking my every movement, but when I glanced at him, his expression remained blank. Professional. As if he hadn’t spent time worshipping my body. As if we meant nothing to each other.
Trew left while the ladies hurried to the bathing chamber. Water soon poured from the spout.
Pherin flew in through the open window and landed on my shoulder. I stroked her fluffy feathers.
You’re safe? I asked her.
She tutted, as if that should be assumed.
I strode into the bathroom chamber, and she flew over to land on a low cabinet while my ladies helped me out of my robe and into the steaming water. I sank beneath the surface, letting the heat ease muscles still tender from last night.
Mae scrubbed my back while another lady washed my hair, their touches gentle and familiar. I’d known these women for a long time. They’d dressed me, bathed me, and attended to my every need since I was a child.
None of them knew the woman I’d become.
“He’s handsome,” Mae said quietly, her voice pitched for my ears alone. “In a rough sort of way.”
I kept my expression neutral even as my heart slammed against my ribs. “Who?”
“Your new bodyguard.” She worked soap into my shoulders. “Blain, was it? You look warm, Your Highness. Is the water too hot, or is something else making you blush?”
“I don’t recall.” Heat crawled up my neck, and I sank deeper into the bath. My body remembered his hands all too well, the places they’d wandered, the marks they’d left, hidden beneath the water where no one could see.
Mae laughed softly. “Your father chose well. He certainly looks capable.”
He was a king, a warrior, and the most devastating man I’d ever known. But I couldn’t say any of that.
“I suppose,” I said instead.
“I noticed he couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
My blood chilled. We could not draw attention. Not from my father, his guards, or my ladies. Anyone could be a spy.
“He’s doing his job,” I said in a short tone. “I heard a sound and he came into my suite to find out what it was.”
“Mmm.” Mae didn’t sound convinced.
They finished bathing me and helped me from the tub, wrapping me in warm towels before leading me to the bedroom to dress.
Pherin flew in to land on the bureau, watching.
The outer door thudded closed, and I spied Trew as he stalked around in the sitting area through the crack in the open door.
He’d strode over to stand against the wall beside the entrance, his hand resting on his sword hilt.
His eyes tracked my movement, but his expression remained cold and detached.
I wanted to scream.
The ladies took me behind an ornate screen and helped me into undergarments before lacing me into a gown of pale green silk. The bodice fit tight, and the skirt had been embroidered with flowers. Each layer felt like armor going back on.
Princess Amarissa, perfect and proper and caged.
I caught glimpses of Trew through the mirror as they worked on my hair. His jaw remained hard and his shoulders tense.
“There,” Mae said, stepping back to admire their work. “Beautiful as always, Your Highness.”
I looked like a stranger, nothing like the woman who’d slept in Trew’s arms.
My ladies curtsied and departed, leaving me alone with my guard. Silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we couldn’t say.