Chapter 68
Florian
The liege Lord of Northall had kindly granted the members of the Blades rooms in the keep, which they had wasted no time settling into.
Knox and Lilith had then disappeared off Fate knew where, leaving Florian alone to help Rhea and Gareth lug up the giant golden snake, which they were intent on bringing back to Grimlocke, if not as payment than as another unusual trophy.
Now, he was walking through the congested halls to the largest stay room where Keira had taken to preparing for the wedding.
Three servants were exiting the room as he arrived, all holding various bundles of flowers.
They bobbed little bows before leaving him to whatever task they were rushing to prepare.
Florian rapped his knuckle on the door. It was already open a sliver, but he didn’t want to barge in on a fitting or the like.
“What now!” Lilith’s impatient voice sounded a moment before she appeared, the door opening wide. “Oh,” she relaxed at the sight of him. “Keira, it’s Florian.”
“Send him in,” Keira answered.
Lilith left the door open, going to sprawl out on the large bed.
Aside from the giant four poster bed, the room was furnished with layers of rugs and an oversized fireplace to keep the chill at bay.
It was very comfortable in a rustic northern sort of way, though Florian preferred the style of the airy southern palaces better.
Keira was sitting at a small table, her dark hair pulled over her shoulder, wet from a recent washing. Scattered throughout the room, dresses had been piled on every surface in every color and shape, various styles popular in different regions of the realm.
“They’ve been coming in all afternoon,” Lilith explained as she saw Florian examining a trunk full.
“Some of them are from Northall’s collection, but most have been donated by members of the court,” Keira said. “They’re trying to help, since it’s all happening in such a rush.”
“Generous of them,” Florian remarked, running his fingers down the satiny fabric of a yellow gown.
“It’s only because Caspian and the prince are such good friends. They’re trying to impress him,” Keira shrugged.
“Or maybe they feel bad that you almost got eaten by a magical snake this morning,” Lilith added.
“Or maybe they recognize true love when they see it,” Florian suggested.
Lilith rolled her eyes, and Keira looked less than convinced.
He sighed. “Do you think Keira and I could have a minute?”
Lilith looked between them. “What am I supposed to do? Jerk off in the hall? I’m helping her pick a dress.”
“Please, Lil.”
“Fine,” she groaned before turning to Keira. “But you can’t pick one without me! Rhea and I… we didn’t get to pick out dresses or flowers or even our cords. You have to let me live vicariously.”
“I will, don’t worry,” Keira promised.
Lilith studied each of them before she left, closing the door behind her.
A beat of silence passed between them before Florian displaced a bundle of gowns and sat down across from her.
“Lilith is going to cut you for messing with her piles,” Keira remarked. “They’ve been carefully sorted.”
“Oh?” Florian quirked a brow. “What was that one?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted. “I’ve got to say, three years together, and I never figured her to be the gowns and flowers type.”
Florian laughed. “We’re all full of surprises, eh?”
“Yes, some more than most.” Her tone suggestive, her meaning clear.
He took in a heavy breath. “Thank you, for your pardon today.”
“I only did it for you,” Keira said easily. “If it had been up to me… She still has more to answer for..”
“I understand,” he said, voice shallow. It was entirely understandable for her to be upset given the way she had suffered and Yvette’s unfortunate, though undeniable, role in it.
“You said that she did everything out of love, were you talking about Victor, her love for him?”
Florian nodded.
“Who could love such a despicable person?” Keira asked, as though trying to work out the answer to her very question.
He sighed. “Someone who is desperate to be loved by anyone, I suspect.”
Keira’s expression turned thoughtful before she spoke again. “And what is it you see in her?”
Her question caught him off guard, the answer not quite so plain.
As a rule, Florian was not easily made speechless, but it took time before he had formed his answer.
“The first time I saw her, I couldn’t look away.
She’s beautiful, of course, but… There was something inside her that called to me, that I wanted to understand…
and once I came to know her, I wanted to protect her, but not-” Florian ran a hand through his hair.
“Not just to protect her, but to comfort her, to be the reason she felt safe, and happy.” He searched himself for more, feeling as though he were missing the mark somehow, no matter how hard he tried to explain.
“She’s different, isn’t she?” Keira offered finally. “Different from Knox, or me, or anyone else you’ve been with.”
Florian shuffled in his seat. “When you first met Caspian, did you know?”
“Know what? That I was going to fall in love with him?” Keira asked, taken aback.
“That he was different.”
She shook her head. “No, not at all. I mean, I was young and so was he. I hadn’t had any partners to compare him to. We weren’t children, but- No, it took time. It grew slowly. If anything, it snuck up on me.” Her green eyes studied his features as he took in her words.
Florian nodded. Yvette had not snuck her way into his life. She had erupted. A single moment of cataclysmic fate had run through him the second he learned her name. She had altered him somehow, in ways he still could not fully understand.
“Don’t tell me you think you love her.”
“Love her,” Florian repeated, leaning back in his chair. “No, I couldn’t. I hardly know her. But I want to… She is… different.”
Keira nodded, not quite in understanding, but in acceptance at least. “I’ll play nicely then, shall I?” Her lips twisted into a smile.
He returned it, flashing his teeth.
“Are you two milkmaids done yapping?” Lilith called from outside.
Keira rolled her eyes as Florian shook his head, suppressing a laugh. “I’ll let her in, shall I?”
She agreed, setting her attention back on the gowns.
Lilith strode in like a general into a war room. “Okay, so I was thinking, in the hall,” she added spitefully, “and I think we should narrow down to a color and pick from there.”
Keira nodded as if this was a sound tactical decision.
“So?” Lilith prompted her.
“Well… not red,” Keira began.
“Right,” she agreed at once. “Good call.” She collected the few red gowns and set them aside.
“I could wear blue,” Keira suggested, though dispassionately. “It’s the color of Northall and all. The people might like that.”
“But it’s not your color,” Florian added.
“He’s right,” Lilith chimed in. “Blue is out- and Yellow. Fate knows that no one in the realms looks good in yellow.” Her eyes lit up suddenly as she dug out a dress with a full tulle skirt. “Oh! What about pink!”
Keira studied it uncertainly.
“Lil’, no,” Florian said. “It’s obvious.” They both looked at him with raised brows, waiting. “You should go with green, to match your eyes.”
The women shared a look.
“Fate’s teeth, he’s right,” Lilith growled.
And then they were sorting through the gowns.
Some were ruled out due to the cold weather.
Florian discarded several that were so outdated that they might have belonged to his mother.
More were set aside due to incomparable fit issues.
Those that remained were arranged on the bed for their inspection.
Florian watched as Keira took them in silently, nodding slowly to herself.
“I think this one,” she said finally, stroking the fabric.
“Yes!” Lilith clapped excitedly. “It will be perfect.”
Keira turned to Florian, seeking his opinion.
He nodded thoughtfully. She would look gorgeous in this, like any other woman of the court. “Almost perfect,” he mused. The problem was, Keira was so much more than that, and she needed to show them. “But I think I know just what it needs.”