Chapter Twenty-Five #5
Kadeesha sucked in an unintentional breath when she beheld the sight.
Yashira had understood the goal without Kadeesha needing to give her instructions.
Clothed in the gown bearing flowers known to be able to end an individual’s life in the most gruesome manner, Kadeesha looked like a lethal warrior queen.
No, like an avenging, deadly Celestial who’d rain her wrath down on everyone who’d crossed her.
Kohl rimmed Kadeesha’s eyes, dark purple and silver eyepaint decorated her eyelids in a shaded effect, with the silver beginning at the top and fading into a light purple, her cheekbones shimmered a deeper bronze than their natural hue in a manner that accentuated how strikingly high and blade sharp they were, and her lips were a glimmering, pitiless black.
Kadeesha held up her hands and ignited a pair of blazing aether flames in her palms. She smiled at the way her fire completed the effect.
“Your work is lovely, Mother. Thank you,” she praised Yashira’s skills.
Yashira winked at her in the mirror. The laugh that followed was girlish and conspiratorial. “You are welcome. You look the sort of arresting that has lured males to their deaths. The Apollyon king won’t be able to take his eyes off you. You will further bewitch him.”
“Mother …” Kadeesha warned.
Yashira held up a hand. “Perhaps you do not wish to entice him in an earnest entreaty to be made his high queen. However, I’ve taught you well that a female possesses untold power herself when she can easily beguile powerful males.
So, think of my work here and what it will accomplish as me bestowing upon you an additional weapon to wield against Malachi in whatever dance you two are doing. ”
Kadeesha nodded at Yashira’s suggestion.
That perspective she could readily embrace, and be soothed by even, since her goal from the beginning was to stoke Malachi’s growing hunger for her and use it as a weapon against him.
She held tight to that aim and planted it squarely in the forefront of her mind, which helped make whatever dance she and Malachi had become engaged in a lot less rattling—as long as she didn’t dwell on how he was perhaps captivating her as ardently.
A knock came at the door. Kadeesha called for who she assumed to be a maidservant to come in.
Instead of a young woman, though, Malachi strode inside.
Yashira beamed upon seeing him. Kadeesha became …
stuck. The Aether Court didn’t have laws or customs that allowed for sanctioned challenges for its throne.
But if it did, she imagined Sylas, or any other seated monarch, would participate wearing supple and breathable fighting leathers with sturdy boots.
Malachi … he was dressed in … well, practically nothing.
His feet were bare, as was a good portion of his muscled legs, leaving his powerful quads and thighs, which were like tree branches, on display.
A pair of loose-fitting black silk shorts with a silver waistband was the scrap of a garment that covered his lower half.
And that didn’t leave much to the imagination, because a bulge tented the front of the shorts. Kadeesha jerked her eyes upward.
It was an egregious mistake. Above the silver waistband of the shorts was more gloriously bronzed, satiny-smooth skin rippling with muscles.
She quickly skipped her eyes over the thin sagittal trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath his waistband, making her mouth water.
Each abdominal muscle stood out in a proud display that competed with Malachi’s shredded chest and biceps.
Black paint, thick horizontal bands that Kadeesha wanted to lick, had been smeared across his chest. Around both of his biceps was a pair of glittering silver cuffs.
More paint—war paint, Kadeesha surmised—had been smeared in vertical bands along the sides of his neck.
The bands on the right side stopped just above the Marking she’d placed on him.
It was a hard-won effort to collect her senses enough to pry her eyes away from Malachi’s body and the Marking and look him in the eyes.
That was another mistake. Malachi’s gaze locked with hers in a manner that disturbed her entire psyche.
The flecks of gold within his dark brown stare smoldered with an intense gleam, while the shadows that swirled in the depths of his pupils were like looking upon a black void and being sucked in no matter how vicious of a fight you put up against them.
The combined effect stole what little breath she had left.
His gaze—pinned on her, piercing her—swept down the length of her.
She swore she could feel his stare emanate an icy burn that licked down the column of her throat, over her Marking, between and across her breasts, and then lower.
Her stomach fluttered, her pulse a rapid pounding in her ears that shot straight down to her sex.
When he looked back into her eyes, he grinned—it was wicked and salacious and knowing and possessive.
She should’ve automatically rebuked him, reminded him she was not his plaything or property for real.
But he’d donned the grilles over his perfect white teeth and the gleam of diamonds set in platinum that flashed at her made him go from smoldering to scalding.
The damn grilles made Malachi all the hotter, and threatened to make Kadeesha combust on sight.
She mentally shook herself. At the same time, Malachi seemed to need to exert a taxing effort to pry his own gaze away from her. At least she was successfully establishing a firm hold on him; she just needed to ensure she wasn’t a victim of her own stratagem.
Malachi glanced behind Kadeesha. She knew what he saw: the corpse of a member of his court. He raised an eyebrow. “How long has Lady Keeya been dead?”
“Not very long,” Kadeesha answered.
“And her offense?”
“She brought my daughter a dress that had been laced with Deathbane,” Yashira seethed.
“I see,” Malachi murmured. “Did she knowingly participate in the attempt on your life?” His eyes had refastened on Kadeesha.
“That is what she told me when I interrogated her before killing her. She apprised me of other curious things too that may be of interest to you.”
Malachi’s lips twitched. “It sounds like you’re edging toward initiating another bargain, Archprincess?”
“Obviously,” Kadeesha returned. “How did Leisha fare in extracting information from Arrenia?” She asked the question while studying her nails.
Malachi gifted her with a glacial smile.
It was a clear warning she was testing his patience.
She glanced away, uninterested in any such warnings.
He should know her better than that by now.
When she felt she’d ignored him long enough, she gave the Apollyon king a smile that told him precisely that.
“Leisha is a part of your court. I am sure she updated you before seeking me out.” Malachi grunted.
Kadeesha smiled wider. Then, she casually said, “The Stone Warden’s daughter might’ve had a charm placed on her that restricts her from speaking of what she knows of her mother’s involvement in treasonous actions, but Lord Prime Tareek did not take such wise care with his own ilk.”
Malachi nearly hid the eagerness that flashed across his features before Kadeesha glimpsed it.
Yet he hadn’t wiped the expression quite fast enough.
“Before Lady Keeya’s death, I made her name the lord primes who conspire against you and tell me of the treasonous actions they’ve taken alongside the Cleric’s Rebellion.
I also got the name of the rebellion’s new leader—someone who is a great threat to you and your kingdom, and I can promise you are entirely ignorant of their identity.
This is information you want very, very badly.
” She practically cooed that last bit, and she could tell by the tick in his jaw that she was right.
Now almost purring, she said, “I will tell you all I’ve learned … ”
“In exchange for what?” he growled out.
“In exchange, I want your vow that when the battle with Rishaud and the larger Six Kingdoms is over, if you emerge victorious and install yourself as high king, you will leave Aether territory alone.”
“If?”
Ignoring that, she continued, “We will exist independently and the only monarch the Aetherfolk will recognize is me as their queen.” She felt the heat of her mother staring a hole into the side of her head once she’d finished, heard Yashira’s disapproving words in her mind that she was witlessly passing up a greater opportunity.
Make him swear an oath to take you for a bride, foolish girl, and make you a high queen.
But she had already decided to dismiss that alternative course.
Like she’d told Yashira, she didn’t want to be high queen of Nimani.
She didn’t give a damn about the rest of the cursed continent.
She cared about the Aether Kingdom and its folk, and this was the way to securing its freedom if Rishaud fell and Malachi replaced him as another brutal tyrant.