Chapter 19
I stare at Bess, pointing my thumb at Rydian as irritation mars my face. “Why is he here?”
She only saw him once before—briefly and with a mask—when he visited as a guest, so her calm expression does nothing to quiet my growing confusion as to why he’s sitting here.
“Is two weeks not long enough for you to be graced with my gorgeous face?” Rydian quips. His smirk is as entrancing as it is annoying, but his tone drips with mockery.
My gaze shifts to him, and the sight only deepens my frustration. Dark auburn hair slightly curls around his ears, only adding to his irritating charm. His eyes glint with a mixture of amusement and what appears to be annoyance.
Then I begin to notice the details, realizing he’s not wearing a mask. His boots are still on and—is that a weapon? My eyes narrow, leaving me to rip off my mask. My scowl deepens, and Rydian raises his brow, the corners of his mouth twitching in quiet amusement.
“Did you finally sleep enough to venture out of your fancy little castle?” he asks, then relaxes into the settee, like he doesn’t have his own castle in Aurelia.
His jab infuriates me though, and before I can stop myself, I somehow manage to summon an orb, hurling it at his smug face with a grunt of frustration.
He dodges it, his grin widening as the orb sizzles against the back of the settee, eyes flaring with surprise.
Frustration rises in my chest, irritated that he dodged it so easily, leaving me to throw another one.
Oh, I could get used to this.
“Those were expensive! No magic,” Bess yells, her voice cutting through the air. She steps between us, leaning against the hard edge of her desk with her arms crossed.
“Maybe he should have thought about that before acting like an ass,” I snap. “Do you know how annoying you’ve been these last two weeks?”
“I’ve missed you too,” he says, his voice teasing, but his expression flickers with something a little deeper than amusement.
“I forgot how much fun it is to watch you lose your temper. But if you didn’t want to be annoyed for two weeks, perhaps you should have met with me like we planned.
Though it brings me great joy knowing you couldn’t respond. ”
I shift my attention to Bess, ignoring him as my temper flares.
“He keeps me company while we wait for you,” she says.
“What about me?” I flick my eyes between the two of them, suddenly feeling like I’m trapped. “You know what? Never mind. I came to see how we could rent a room here as a private meeting location for that one.” I point to Rydian. “But I guess you have it all figured out.”
Rydian chimes in. “Well, yes, since you’ve been gallivanting at the castle for two weeks, I had to take it upon myself to find my own accommodations. Renting at the Silver Lily was not going to happen given my last… experience there. So yes, it’s already taken care of. We were just waiting on you.”
Our plan was to always meet here for meetings, but I didn’t expect Rydian to rent a room at the brothel. If that’s what he did. A heated shiver runs down my spine at the thought of all the brothel noises during those meetings.
“I haven’t been gallivanting. I’ve been working,” I say, and then my brows rise, curiosity spiking. “And already done? So does that mean we’re good to meet here then?”
I look at Bess as she glances back and forth, like she’s mentally cataloging every word. With a sharp turn, she uncrosses her arms and strides behind her desk, the picture of composure. She sits, her posture straight and authoritative, and I feel off as she glances at me.
She looks every inch like the shrewd brothel owner now—detached and professional. Nothing like the Bess I thought I knew, and a pang of sadness creeps in as I study her, realizing now that maybe I don’t know her at all. The warmth she often offered me is gone: the easy smiles, the laughter.
“Yes.” She sighs. “He’s staying here, and you’re welcome to meet whenever. Just keep it private. Also, Pete already knows of the arrangement, so he’ll let you in when you come.”
Pete. So that’s the large male’s name at the door. Wait…
I growl and exaggerate the jingle of my coin bag in front of my face, which is now empty, so it just sounds like shaking leather. “What do you mean he knows? He just took all my money.”
My brows lower when Rydian attempts to hide his smirk from behind his hand. I throw him a stern look, warning him to shut up before I stab him with my… right. I don’t have a weapon.
Bess smirks. “Well, you shouldn’t have bribed him. He would’ve let you in regardless.”
“So where is this meeting room?” I ask.
“She gave me the entire right side of the top floor,” he says casually, offering me a shit-eating grin, as if he’s also in disbelief.
My brows pinch. “How did that happen?”
I assume she doesn’t know anything, and I wonder how he managed this. My eyes flick to Rydian, who’s leaning back with his arms resting on the settee.
“Can I speak to you outside?” I ask him.
“She knows everything,” he says, immediately catching on to what I want to ask. I peek at Bess, who’s flipping pages in her ledger with her head down. Turning back to Rydian, I mouth the word, everything? And he nods.
“Would you… care to explain?” I ask Rydian out loud, but Bess looks up.
She shuts her ledger. “What would you like to know?”
“Everything.”
She eyes Rydian as if asking permission, and he gives her a curt nod. “I knew of the Vaelborne family for many years, though I didn’t know who Rydian was until he asked for my help two weeks ago.”
“How?”
“Because I’m also Shadovar,” she says. “And I support his cause… if that’s what you want to call it.
When the battle in Aurelia happened, it was when the treaty was in place, allowing everyone to travel to the realms. I ended up getting trapped here all those years when they closed off the borders, deciding that it was best I stayed. ”
“Did you know who she was?” I ask Rydian, but he shakes his head.
“No, but I suspected once I discovered that you found a Veil coin here at the brothel—one that wasn’t mine.
Being king gives me a certain ability to feel the magic of our own realm.
I can’t exactly pinpoint who it comes from, but I suspected it was her since we were just outside her chambers.
” He shoots me a smug grin, my face heating under his gaze as if his thoughts landed on what our plans were.
“It was a risk I was willing to take given the secrecy her brothel provides.”
“Bold risk.” I pivot to Bess. “So the coin was yours?”
“Yes, it’s mine,” she says sharply. “I didn’t want you to question me about it when I saw you pick it up in the hall, so I let you have it.”
Oh. I have nothing left to say so I nod, studying her features.
She appears unamused by today’s turn of events, or perhaps it’s something deeper she’s not saying.
But I don’t miss the flicker of her eyes as she meets Rydian’s gaze, and I can’t help but think that I’m left out of a conversation I can’t hear.
“Let me show you where we’ll be meeting,” Rydian says and stands.
He’s at the door within seconds before I bolt from the settee. He takes long strides down the corridor, banking left for the back staircase that winds up all three stories.
I’m on his heels, doing my best to match his stride. We reach the top floor when Rydian takes another left, walking a few more steps before planting his feet in front of a large door.
It’s astounding given that the space doesn’t look like it should support how big the door is.
After unlocking it without a word, he takes a step inside, pivoting to the right.
Stepping in, I understand why the door is so big.
The space is large and dark, not at all what I expected when he said “floor.” It’s a loft.
Brick stone lines the floor, partially hidden beneath scattered rugs, especially near the bed.
Straight back is a spacious kitchenette tucked behind the wall where the bed sits.
Still, it offers a view into the kitchen.
Directly above that is a generous mezzanine with books lining the wall, and a spiral staircase to the left of the kitchen leads to the second floor.
Arched, textured windows reach the ceiling on the right, where I assume it looks into the grand pleasure room, accompanied by a four-poster bed.
A stone mantel reaches the ceiling across from the bed, and the space is furnished with a long settee and a small table between them.
There’s no doubt the stone mantel comes from the mountain itself.
I finally turn to Rydian, letting my eyes drift over the space before settling on him. His glare is a small storm—arms crossed, jaw tight, and a heat in his eyes that feels like they could burn a hole through me. The air between us suddenly feels heavier—charged.
“Well, you’re angry,” I say casually, leaning against the door and refusing to let his anger rattle me.
“Angry?” he growls, voice sharp. “Angry doesn’t even cover it. We had a deal, so what happened?”
He doesn’t wait for me to answer, storming past, close enough to catch the faint oakmoss on his skin, and I find myself holding my breath. His presence is magnetic, and I hate how easily he pulls me in despite his anger.
I sigh, pushing away from the door to follow him as he strides up the staircase. When I reach the top level, he’s already at the oak table, its surface scattered with scrolls and parchment. He whirls around to face me, and I cross my arms.
“Not that I need to explain myself to you, but I didn’t want Ezra or Ren following me. I needed to make sure that I was clear before moving forward. It’s not like I wasn’t doing anything,” I say.
His jaw tightens. “I have an entire realm to run. I can’t just drop everything to chase after you when you decide to run away from your problems.”
“Is that what you think?” I snarl as he strides closer, stopping inches from me when his eyes narrow into menacing slits. Eyes of a king.