With Enough Time
It was dark beneath the canvas covering my enclosure. On the opposite side of the fabric, the guests were arriving. The hall slowly filled with a budding hum of gossip.
“Have you seen her? I heard she’s unbitten. Is it a love match? His Majesty deserves this happiness.”
Perspective is a peculiar thing.
Gorvin’s words bounced incessantly through my mind, like a fly frantically tapping against a window pane—that this hardened tonic would become uncomfortable.
And I would have to endure it as though I wasn’t in pain.
As if it wasn’t painful enough to pretend to be happy while my family was held as ransom for my compliance.
A booming voice brought the crowd to a hush. It welcomed the guests, emphasized the momentous occasion, and promised a merry and memorable evening.
“Without further ado, may I present His Majesty Rhazien Kyrell and his prospect, Lady Reyva the Unbitten.”
The crowd erupted into applause and cheers and I was blinded temporarily as the covering was removed from my enclosure.
Every inch of the ballroom dripped with a gilded glaze. As if a mist carrying sun-soaked particles had descended onto every surface. The first night of Solstice celebrations had taken the form of a decadent golden winter.
And I was no exception. From toe to crown, I was a spectacle. A prize. A treasure. My skin was taut underneath the now dry resin, but from afar, I could have been mistaken for a lifeless statue.
Specifically, that of a precious bird, as I had been placed on a swing inside of a golden cage.
Gorvin said the symbolism would have a powerful impact on the guests. I simply saw it as foreshadowing for my future.
And like the cold metal I appeared to impersonate, I sat perfectly still and completely void of myself.
I was his decorative complement to Rhazien’s black suit. He bowed in appreciation to his crowd before turning and hinging even lower to me, the light blinking out from his eyes between the two audiences. As if I’d captured winter, I returned a cold, hardened stare but nodded to him as well.
Do your part and they won’t be harmed.
Sitting here—a prisoner in my own skin—felt worse than being first delivered to the Hive.
Guests ambled by in a slow, steady queue to catch a glimpse of the regent’s prospect.
“Our extensive compliments and grandest congratulations to Your Majesty,” a vampire woman wearing an obnoxious crown of bird feathers swooned. She dipped into a curtsey so low, I thought she would sink beneath the floor. The angle provided everyone with a view down her gaping neckline.
Rhazien, who stood within view but out of reach, nodded humbly and turned to greet the next guest in the lengthy reception parade.
I wondered if it was as clear to everyone else as it was to me how little he looked in my direction.
While Rhazien didn’t give much attention to me, he did, however, look consistently over his shoulder to his right.
Because flanking him, placed within my line of sight, was Dommik in his dress clothes.
Poised and postured, performing his own act as the ever dutiful commander. And alive. I hadn’t been sure he was still breathing.
I stared at him from my gilded cage, frozen beneath the shimmering paste painted on my body. Unblinking, I willed him to look at me, to give me a sign that he was okay. That we would be okay. But that moment never came.
Anger burned beneath my opulent shine. Rhazien could order to have Dommik’s traces removed, but he couldn’t erase my memories or my feelings. Those were mine to carry.
The event carried on around me in slow motion. Each second dragged on from the itching, claustrophobic discomfort Gorvin had promised me. Rhazien moved throughout the room, greeting guests, gesturing to me, smiling and laughing as though everything was completely normal.
This world might not think Rhazien was as terrible as Eryx, but I saw then he was just as cruel.
Dommik didn’t enter my line of vision again, but I could feel him. My suspicions were confirmed when a guest greeted the commander just outside my cage.
The man who had killed my husband waited as I’d been wrongly incarcerated, manipulated me to relinquish myself to the Hive, and seen me through countless moments of terror since.
But all of those horrible truths still brought me here.
To him. To the brief time we’d shared. A time I would mourn as long as I lived.
For the sake of my swollen, breaking heart, I chose to believe Dommik stood there of his own free will and not because Rhazien wanted to torture him as well.
He’d seen me decorated like the shining jewels he always compared me to and dangled me in front of the man he thought was a thief.
But Dommik hadn’t stolen me. I’d given myself to him, and Rhazien couldn’t stand that.
Hours imitated eons, but eventually the party ended and I was escorted back to Rhazien’s chambers.
A bath had been drawn for me and as I scrubbed away the golden paste, Rhazien said, “You’ll do better tomorrow.”
His tone was flat and disengaged. His face was heavy and cold.
“And why do you think that?” I sought refuge beneath the warm bubbles of the large tub.
“Because your family will be joining us.”
It was the second night of Solstice and every citizen of the Hive, from the markets below to the open-air gardens of the mountainous structure, was dressed in their finest garments. Guests from the North would arrive the following evening, but tonight was just for them. For Rhazien’s people.
Hallways and corridors were decorated with dramatic draping cloths and fresh cut bouquets Gorvin and I had selected. A sense of pride swept over me seeing the vision come to life. From time to time, I would catch Gorvin fussing over a detail no one else would notice.
I stood atop my perch next to Rhazien. He’d never looked more royal.
Not a hair out of place underneath his jewel-encrusted crown.
He’d opted for a piece more appropriate to his station than the simple golden band I’d become accustomed to seeing.
This one featured large black diamonds that matched the stones decorating my throat.
The gems spilled and flowed from beneath my chin into a garment that only covered what was necessary.
Sparkling floral designs were held together by glittering mesh, presenting me in what looked like more lingerie rather than a gown.
Revealing as it was, the garment was sound.
Meanwhile, I was coming apart at the seams. Rhazien had threatened my family, just as Dommik had, and from the ferocious look in his emerald eyes, I believed he would follow through.
I came to the Hive to protect them; I had committed to becoming shadowbound to prevent a war to protect them.
I wasn’t going to abandon my purpose now.
And besides, I wasn’t just protecting them, I was protecting Dommik too.
If I went along with Rhazien’s plan and helped him ascend, maybe I could convince him to only banish Dommik rather than kill him.
So, I cooperated, behaving in a way one might expect of a prospect.
I was more dressed than the night before but now absent of all traces, except the new ones Rhazien would add as he touched and claimed me throughout the night.
Still, the ensemble was far from modest and given the circumstances, I’d chosen to partake in a bit of wine prior to tonight’s performance of false affections.
“His Majesty, the Regent Rhazien Kyrell and his prospect, Lady Reyva the Unbitten.”
Rhazien held my hand, our fingers meeting between our separated bodies.
I flinched at my title, wondering if it was something to behold or an oddity about my place beside him.
He placed a kiss atop my knuckles—a gesture I used to enjoy—and then we descended the stairs to join the applauding guests below.
A melody carried by stringed instruments swirled and swam through the crowds as we performed our choreography perfectly. Step after calculated step, the precious jewels of my dress winked hello to guests as we passed by.
The room was filled with mostly strangers, except for two guests who I knew all too well.
Air rushed from my body. He hadn’t been bluffing.
There, in the Southern Hive ballroom, framed by a half circle of vampiric guards, stood my older sister Cova and my daughter. Lydia.
Dressed in Hive-fashioned finery, my sister and daughter were twin jewels. And dangling just beneath Cova’s slender neck was a gold chain. Fastened within its brackets was the stone from my vision.
The shard of Lorana’s stone.
I wanted to stop, greet them, and apologize. But just as he had at my introductory welcome ball, the crowds parted and he pulled me into a dance.
To any onlooker, the way he held me fully against his body and whispered into my hair would have been the picture of romance, one of two suitors sharing a flirtatious moment. But what I experienced was far from an amorous connection. It was a threat.
“Stay focused,” Rhazien growled. “They’re safe. As long as you do your part.”
I tried to swallow and found the act difficult.
Later. I would try to speak to them later.
Unlike the welcome ball, the music was not an elegant, sweeping waltz. Tonight, we were guided by a slow, sensual melody. Our bodies pressed together, leaving no room for air. It was a declaration. It was claiming.
Before, I had been his only verbally. But if all went to plan, and I agreed to the offer to be bound, I would be his, body and soul. This dance encompassed that impending fate.
Our chests were pressed so tightly together, we could have shared a heartbeat. Our hips swayed to the unhurried rhythm as if the music wanted us to make love right there on the dance floor.
He spun me and lifted my arms above my head before tracing the length of them back down my torso.
“You are such a divine dancer.” His nose traced the cuff of my ear.
My body hummed at the attention—at the energy.