Chapter 9 Amaryllis
AMARYLLIS
Tonight, the palace ballroom is alive with music and colour.
Dressed in a rich burgundy overcoat, Father leans back in his throne as he watches hundreds of couples twirling across the dance floor, each pair sparkling under the light of the crystal chandelier.
My sisters are all dressed beautifully too, even the ones who usually refuse to be stuffed into heavy ball gowns. Like Iris, who dances gracefully in her long, fitted black dress, while Kalimeris, Father’s eleventh daughter, bounces to the music in her puffy lavender gown.
Everyone looks so wonderful, and the music streaming from the band is exactly what we love to hear in our dance circle each night. But no matter how much my feet ache to dance with my sisters, the only sound I can focus on is the heavy sloshing of wine as I fill my goblet to the brim again.
I haven’t left the drinks table all evening.
“Smile, Ami!” Camellia glides up to me in a gown that’s very her – dainty and in her typical shade of white. A sparkling tiara rests on her shoulder-length brown hair, just like the one I’m wearing.
A gift from Father. He never fails to spoil us.
“You look so miserable standing there all alone.” Camellia drops her lips into a pout. “Come and dance with us. Please. We’re missing you out there.”
Sighing, I take another swig of wine. “Sorry, Mel. But someone needs to keep watch for Prince Hugo.”
It’s been a week since the Scorpion’s visit to my bedchamber, and so far I’ve heard nothing else from him. I can only hope he’s managed to confront the prince, but until I know for sure, I can’t relax.
Not until this is all over and the Scorpion is on his way home, several diamond necklaces richer.
“You need more wine, Ami,” Mel chuckles, pushing the goblet towards my lips.
“Loosen up a bit and forget about that damned prince for a while. It’s all sorted anyway.
” She leans closer, dropping her voice to a whisper.
“We’ve got the Scorpion to scare him off, remember?
” She laughs, but it does little to ease the tightness in my chest.
Humouring her, I take another swig, but it stopped helping three glasses ago. I only started drinking to calm my nerves. So far, all it’s done is made me wobbly on my feet and given everything in the room a soft, rosy hue.
“I’m going outside to get some air,” I tell her, swaying a little as I return my empty goblet to the table.
Camellia gives me a pitiful smile. “Alright but don’t stay out there too long. And please come and dance with us after?”
I nod. One dance won’t hurt. Besides, with this much alcohol soaking through to my bones, I should probably stay close to my sisters.
Shoving through the crowd, I make my way towards the arched exit, murmuring apologies as I squeeze past one couple after another.
I’m wearing my usual dance shoes, but they may as well be three sizes too big with the number of times I crash into unsuspecting guests.
No more wine tonight, Ami, I mentally scold myself as I stumble across the floor again.
I’m only a few metres from the archway when I feel a hand close around my wrist, and suddenly I’m spinning towards someone’s chest.
A squeal bursts from me. With a gasp, I slam my hands against their black doublet, stopping myself just before I collide face-first into the bold stranger.
“How dare you!” I seethe. “You know, it’s very improper—” The rest of the words get stuck in my throat as my chin tilts up.
“Good evening, Miss Ruby. You look radiant tonight.” The Scorpion’s heavy gaze bears down on me, a smile tugging at his lips. “May I have this dance?”
All the air whooshes from my throat. He’s here. It’s really him, even if he’s dressed far more formally than usual in a matching black doublet and breeches set that, in my wine-hazed state, fits him far too well.
Absent-mindedly, my fingers slip down the soft fabric covering his chest. He looks good.
More than good, actually. Like a dark angel.
And he smells like one too. The scent of rich leather and a forest at night fills my nose – the kind of forest that’s forbidden to enter, but I’d still absolutely let myself get lost in it. Beautiful. Intoxicating. Dangerous.
Scowling, I shake my head. “No,” I finally reply. “No, you may not ‘have this dance’. And it’s very rude to touch a lady without asking her first. Have you no manners at all?”
He chuckles, the low sound making my knees feel weak. “You’re drunk, Ruby,” he chides.
My breath catches.
Slowly, he draws closer until his jaw hovers by my neck. Then he inhales, deep enough that I worry he might smell the heat pooling between my thighs. “Just how much have you had to drink without me here to keep an eye on you?”
My cheeks burn. What is he talking about?
“That’s none of your concern,” I grumble.
“It is when you’re my client.”
With a huff, I yank myself out of his grasp. I already have eleven sisters to watch over me. I don’t need his supervision too.
“Ruby,” he warns, catching my wrist and forcing me back to his chest.
“Let me go,” I growl. Perhaps the wine is giving me more confidence than usual, but still – how dare he? How dare he touch me without permission, in front of all these people. And in front of Father!
Furious, I shake free of his hold. “I’m going outside for some air, so unless you have some good news to share, please excuse me.”
The Scorpion raises an eyebrow, but I don’t care. Pivoting on my heels, I head towards the archway.
“Your royal problem has been dealt with.”
I pause my steps. “What did you just say?” I ask, turning to face him.
The Scorpion shrugs. “I’ve spoken with Hugo.
He’s packing his bags now.” He speaks so casually, as if he’s just taken out a spider rather than fixed the problem that’s given me sleepless nights for two weeks.
“You and your sisters won’t need to worry about him bothering you any more. He’ll be gone within the hour.”
Relief washes over me. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!” I gasp. “My sisters will be so pleased. I have to go and tell them!” Grinning, I charge towards the dance floor, but before I can take my first step, I’m forced back by two strong arms.
“Not so fast, Princess,” the Scorpion commands, his voice vibrating through my back as he holds me against him. “There is still the matter of my payment.”
“Oh,” I laugh. “You know where my bedchamber is. Just take all the jewels you’d like. I already said I’d pay you anything you wanted.”
A soft hum rumbles off his chest. Tugging my shoulders, he twists me around to face him. “Dance with me.”
“What?”
“You said you’d pay me anything I wanted,” he says, slipping his hand around mine, “and I want to dance… so dance with me.”
My heart stutters. It’s already hard enough to focus with the wine blurring my senses, but now, with his skin burning against mine, I can hardly breathe.
“Alright,” I accept, barely aware that I’m speaking.
“But you have to ask me properly. Introduce yourself and bow, like you’re supposed to when you meet a princess. ”
Smirking, he tips his chin. “As my lady commands.”
I watch as he steps back, then confidently stoops into a low bow. “Princess Amaryllis,” he begins, lifting his dark head of hair, “my name is Kasimir Verekov, but please call me Kaz.”
“Kasimir?” I breathe. Is that his real name? Judging by the way he grins as I say it aloud, I can only assume it is.
Clearing his throat, he extends his hand. “Now, may I please have this dance?”
I tilt my head. For the first time in years, I am not repulsed by the man asking me that question. So, with a genuine smile and a strange new warmth buzzing through me, I slip my hand into his.
“Of course, Sir Verekov. You may.”
I must be dreaming. I’ve never danced like this before. Kaz is surprisingly confident as he parades me in his arms, occasionally twirling me in time to the music.
It’s so strange. This just all feels so different from the way I felt with him in my bedchamber.
Back then, he was rough, intense, passionate.
But here, there’s still passion – but it’s so…
different. Here, he’s kind. Courteous. And, were it not for me catching the odd glint of his daggers concealed beneath his sleeves, I’d assume he was just a perfectly ordinary – yet dangerously handsome – gentleman.
“You’re a good dancer,” I say, letting him lift me into another spin.
“I was raised by more than twenty women,” he chuckles. “So I’ve had more than enough partners to practise with.”
He dips me low to the ground, our lips hovering inches apart as another warmth rushes through me. Maybe it’s just the wine. Then again, I haven’t had a drop in over an hour, and I’m in no rush to fetch another glass.
“Tell me about your family,” I ask as the band transitions into a new song.
Kaz grins. “You mean Lady Carp’s whorehouse? Hardly an appropriate conversation to be having in the king’s golden ballroom, don’t you think?”
A knot forms in my throat. “So you weren’t lying about that?”
“I don’t like liars, Ruby, remember?”
I swallow, trying not to think about that night. But it’s a little difficult with his hand gripping my waist in that same strong way and the scent of leather filling my nose.
“My mother worked at the whorehouse,” he continues, oblivious to my discomfort.
“And she raised me there with her, hidden away in the attic while she worked. It wasn’t a bad life.
” He rolls his shoulders. “There weren’t many other children so we all had plenty of attention, and they let us roam the streets during the day.
They were good times for us.” He smiles in a soft way I haven’t seen before.
“And what about your mother now?” I keep going, even as he lifts me in another spin. “Does she still work for Lady Carp?”
Kaz shakes his head, smile fading. “She died when I was twelve.”
“Oh.” I pause. Without thinking, my hand squeezes his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” His smile returns. “I’m just happy I had twelve years with her. Some of the others weren’t so lucky.”
There’s a silence between us as my thoughts drift. I’m not quite sure what’s worse – to lose your mother at twelve or to never have a mother at all.
No.
I don’t deserve to feel sad.
Like Father told us, we all have mothers somewhere; they just didn’t care enough to stay. Kaz has it worse. Much worse. He lost someone who loved him dearly while I’ve still got Father – and he’s got more love for us all than a silly mother could ever give.
“What about your father then?” I ask, suddenly desperate to change the subject. “Surely he must be proud of the life you’ve made for yourself?”
Kaz shoots me a look.
Oh, right…whorehouse.
My cheeks flush, but before I can apologise, my gaze flies over his shoulder and locks onto a sight that makes my entire body freeze.
Hugo.
The vile prince stands beneath the ballroom’s entrance arch. He’s dressed in typical royal attire, slightly hunched and clutching a bandaged hand to his chest. But there’s no sign of the usual sneer on his face. Instead, it’s fury – more than I’d ever think possible on such a small man.
Frozen, I watch his beady eyes scan over the ballroom. The moment they settle on Father, he clenches his unbandaged hand and storms towards the throne.
“What is it?” Kaz asks.
“You said you dealt with Hugo,” I seethe, pushing his hands off me. Any warmth I felt before is long gone as my sisters’ cold, hard reality stalks across the ballroom.
“I did,” Kaz hisses.
“If that’s the truth,” I snarl, “then why is he over there, climbing up onto the dais?”
“What?” Kaz’s lips part, but before he can explain himself, Hugo’s scratchy voice echoes across the ballroom.
“King Sol!” he bellows. Like a heavy blanket, silence falls over the dance floor. “In my entire seventy years as prince, never have I been so insulted, so…” His face twists with anger. “Betrayed! You are a true coward of a king!”
Gasps ripple through the guests while Father looks as though he’s just been stabbed.
“Still, I might be able to look past your barbaric Solarian ways, but I cannot look past the fact that we had a deal, and now I have come to collect on my side of the bargain.” Furiously, Hugo’s eyes scan the dance floor. “Where is Liliana?”
My heart fractures. No.
“I came here to select my new bride, and I’ll be taking the brat home with me tonight.”