Chapter 29 #2
She gestures toward the vanity stool. “If you’ll sit, I can work more easily. We’ll keep things simple.”
I obey, lowering myself onto the stool and trying not to stare at all the tools I don’t recognize. The mirror shows my own face, bare and a little too pale under the overhead light. My hair hangs in loose waves down my back, still slightly damp at the ends from the bath I took to settle my nerves.
She steps behind me and begins to gently comb my hair before separating sections of it with deft fingers. “Is it all right if I braid some of it back?” she asks. “We can leave the rest loose. It will frame your face nicely and keep it out of the way.”
“That’s fine,” I say, relaxing a fraction under the careful tug and twist of her hands. “I trust your decisions. I’m very far out of my own expertise with this.”
Her gaze meets mine briefly in the mirror and something like gratitude flickers there before her cheeks warm slightly.
My chest pangs with the realization that she likely deals with a lot of difficult and rude people that come here.
Kindness and appreciation might be a rare commodity in this glass tower.
She works in silence at first, fingers moving with practiced ease. After a few minutes, when the rhythm of her movements have lulled some of my tension, I clear my throat.
“May I ask you something?” I say softly.
If the people here haven’t shown her kindness, perhaps she will be willing to give me some insight into this world here.
“Of course,” she answers, reaching for a small pin and sliding it into place.
“Have you been here for a while?” I ask politely. “Working at headquarters.”
She smiles, but it seems forced, not quite reaching her eyes. “Five years.”
“You must see and hear a lot,” I hedge, keeping my eyes on her face in the mirror to track any reaction. “With all the officers, events, and whatever else happens here.”
Her hands pause for a fraction of a second before resuming. “I see what they allow us to see,” she says, tone light but carefully guarded. “I keep records of room assignments, arrange services, and make sure guest needs are met. That is my job.”
It’s an answer that says a lot without saying anything at all.
I watch her in the mirror for a moment longer as she refuses to meet my own eyes. “What are the men in charge like?” I ask, keeping my tone as casual as I can. “The General and the Admiral. The…inner circle.”
Tenae’s smile tightens at the corners, held in place with sheer will. “They are very busy,” she answers casually. “Very important. They have dedicated their lives to protecting humanity. We are…fortunate.”
The hesitation and tension tells me more than her words. She knows these aren’t good people.
“Has anyone not been fortunate?” I push gently. “In their care.”
Her fingers still completely this time, tangled for a second in a section of hair. She takes a measured breath, then resumes, faster than before.
“It’s not my place to speak in detail,” she answers, voice pitched higher. “Talking too freely is not good for people in my position.”
“I understand,” I say quickly, not wanting to cost her anything. “I don’t want to get you in trouble, I promise.”
I take a beat to let her shoulders relax and take a deep breath as I figure out how much to say.
It’s clear she isn’t fond of the people here but needs to protect her position.
Perhaps if I share my true fears with her, it’ll show what my intentions are and allow her to feel more at ease.
At the same time, I worry about the consequences of this if she doesn’t keep this between us.
I nibble on my bottom lip and debate over whether it’s worth it. My gut pushes me toward thinking it is, and so far I’ve trusted that feeling in deciding if someone is friend or foe.
I avert my eyes to my hands twisting together in my lap, hoping maybe she won’t feel as uncomfortable without my gaze on her. “This is just my first time here and I’ve heard whispers that I might be in…danger from some of them.”
Silence greets me for a few minutes as she continues to work on my hair.
Just when I think maybe I’ve made a horrible mistake, her voice comes out in a trembling whisper.
“Men with too much power and no one to answer to often forget that the people around them are equal with them. We are all humans here.”
A muscle ticks in her jaw as my eyes lift back up to her face in the mirror, finding her gaze now firmly on my face.
“Some of them forget kindness when they climb the ranks,” she adds. “Some of them never had it to begin with.”
My stomach knots as Eli’s haunting admission of what he heard of these men is all but confirmed by Tenae.
“Is that true of all of them?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. “All the men here?”
“No.” The answer is immediate this time. “Not all.”
She exhales, shoulders relaxing a little as her hands leave my hair, reaching now for a brush and a small bottle of color. “Could you turn around to the side please?”
I do as she requests, giving her space to work and offer any information as she feels comfortable.
“Colonel Kane, for example,” she continues, dipping the brush and then tilting my chin up with a knuckle.
My heart gives an unhelpful little jump at hearing his name from her mouth. I can’t help but smile gently at him being the first person to come to mind.
“How so?” I ask, holding still and closing my eyes as she lifts the brush toward them.
“He says thank you,” she replies simply as she begins to sweep something soft along my eyelids.
“To everyone. To the people cleaning the floors, to the cooks, to the low-ranking officers bringing him messages. He has never raised his voice at me or anyone on the staff. He looks people in the eye instead of over them, like they aren’t worth his attention. ”
Her voice tightens as she gets to the end and I feel like there’s more she wants to say. She continues to work on my eyes and eventually she whispers, “He doesn’t…touch without asking.”
Heat pricks at the back of my eyes at the implication. “That shouldn’t be rare,” I murmur back, emotion quickly clogging my throat.
“It shouldn’t,” she agrees tightly. “But it is. Especially here.”
We sit with that in silence for a bit as my eyes pop back open and she moves on to the next parts. The brush moves across my skin in light strokes.
“I’m beginning to see how much of an anomaly Colonel Kane is,” I admit. “I’ve also met some men who crowded me with their bad intentions.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her that it doesn’t just happen with humans, but supernaturals as well, but I hold it back before my comfortability with Tenae costs us our carefully constructed facade.
A corner of her mouth lifts. “You could do worse for a fiancé,” she says, a hint of teasing threading through the heavy conversation.
I huff out a soft laugh.
“He’s very honorable,” I answer, because it feels true and safe at once. “Sometimes painfully so.”
Eventually she dusts something along my cheeks, then works a faint color into my lips with a tube. When she’s finished with my face, she steps back and tilts my head this way and that, assessing.
“All done,” she says. “Let’s get you into that dress properly before I do the final touches to your hair. I don’t want the heavy gown to mess it up and have to redo it after, seeing as we’re tight on time.”
I slip back into the bathroom and carefully trade the robe for the gown again, this time feeling more prepared for its weight. When I emerge, clutching the bodice in place, Tenae is ready.
“Turn around,” she instructs gently. “We’ll have this laced in no time.”
I obey, using both hands to hold the bodice in place as she takes hold of the laces. The first tug draws the fabric snug around my ribs. It’s a firm pressure, but not suffocating. She works quickly, pulling until the gown feels like it’s molded to my body perfectly.
“There,” she says, tying off the end. “How does that feel? Tell me if it needs to be tightened or loosened anywhere.”
I take a breath, testing the range of my movement. The dress holds me upright and my back straight. “Secure,” I answer, satisfied. “Like my top won’t fall out of it if I sneeze.”
“Always a bonus,” she says with a soft laugh.
She guides me back to the stool for a few finishing touches to my hair. When she finally announces we’re done, she urges me toward the full-length mirror.
My breath catches at the sight of the woman staring back at me as I take it all in, turning and gasping.
My dark hair is half-gathered into an intricate braid that ends at the nape of my neck, the rest falling in soft waves over the front of my shoulder.
My face looks luminous, a faint flush warming my cheeks permanently with the powder there.
My dark lashes are lengthened and the dusting of light powder on my eyelids frame my hazel eyes to look brighter than ever before.
This version of me looks like she belongs at a ball. She looks like someone people would believe belongs on a colonel’s arm.
“If you hate it, we can change things,” Tenae says quickly, mistaking my silence. “I don’t want—”
“I don’t hate it,” I cut in, shaking my head. “I just…hardly recognize myself.”
Her expression softens. “Sometimes these places are easier if you put on a different version of yourself like a costume,” she says quietly. “You can take it off later.”
I meet her eyes in the mirror and nod slowly, absorbing the wisdom in her words. “Thank you,” I say. “For all of this.”
“You’re most welcome,” she answers, gracing me with a true, full-fledged smile for the first time.
After ensuring multiple times that there’s nothing else I need and helping me into a pair of flats, she closes her case with a soft click and lifts it by the handle. I follow her to the door where she pauses, fingers resting lightly on the knob as if she’s considering something.
“May I give you one more piece of advice?” she asks without turning.
A curl of unease winds through my stomach. “Please.”
“Don’t find yourself alone at the ball tonight,” she says softly. “Stay close to your fiancé. Or your guard. The rooms are large and the halls are…confusing. It’s easy to get turned around.”
Her words are far too carefully chosen to be about getting lost on the way to the bathroom.
My fingers tighten on the back of the chair. “Is it that dangerous?” I ask.
She hesitates and then looks back at me. “Unfortunately it’s probably worsened by Colonel Kane’s protectiveness over you. You’ve likely become a challenge that men who think themselves untouchable won’t be able to resist.”
Before I can respond, she opens the door and outside Eli straightens immediately, eyes flicking from her to me and then widening.
“Wow,” he says, then clears his throat and schools his expression into something more neutral. “You look nice, ma’am.”
Tenae ducks her head, stepping past him into the hallway and then she’s gone, footsteps fading down the corridor.
“Have a good evening,” she says a few seconds later, her voice carrying back to us.
Before I can ask Eli who she’s talking to, he’s nodding respectfully at whoever it is as heavy footsteps approach. Moments later Ryoden steps into the room and shuts the door behind him. Everything swirling around in my mind blurs at the edges as his attention locks on me.
For the first time, there’s no one watching us for him to perform for. No wives, no officers, and no curious onlookers we have to convince of our engagement. Just the two of us in this quiet room.
He stops just inside the threshold as if he’s forgotten how to move.
His eyes trace the line of the gown, slow and reverent, lingering at the bare skin of my shoulders, the curve of my chest, and the way the bodice shapes my waist. When his gaze finally returns to my face, an unguarded emotion flickers through it.
Desire, quickly followed by adoration that makes my chest ache.
For the first time, I can’t pretend that the look in his eyes is only for the sake of our ruse. Whatever heat has entered his gaze now belongs entirely to me.