Chapter Eleven
Serin
“Well, that was refreshing,” Nira said, wiping a hand down her face, swiping off the water that had just splashed up at her. “Seems like progress. I mean, nothing like how your lake water responds to you, but still workable.”
It’d taken an immense amount of concentration just to make the water spatter Nira, and she’d only been standing a foot away.
“I guess.”
“I think now that you know you can, you will be able to do more. Confidence will make all the difference. The first time I picked up a sword, I felt like my shoulder might fall off, it was so heavy. But once I learned how to hold it and swing, there was no stopping me.”
“It must feel so powerful to know how to defend yourself like that.”
“It does. I worked hard to make myself a weapon. Trust me, it’s necessary out there…”
“Could I become a weapon?”
“Well, being able to drown a man on dry land seems pretty badass. But if you mean learning to fight, yeah, I think any woman can learn. Even scrawny ones like you.”
“Scrawny?” I asked, looking down at myself.
I’d never given my body much thought before coming to the palace.
It was on my mind a lot now. Mostly because of the new sensations I’d been feeling.
The pain, sure. But more than that, the unfamiliar fluttering and pulsing and heat.
That said, I was also more aware of my shape than I’d ever been.
I was taller than the average servant at the palace.
But I was long and willowy compared to Nira’s curves, strong arms, and thick thighs.
“I guess it’s all that swimming. And all that duckweed or watercress you must eat.”
“I’ve come to love bread,” I admitted, gesturing over to the half-eaten loaf Vishen had brought up for breakfast.
“That might help put a little weight on you. But, sure, I think you could learn to fight. Maybe even wield a light sword.”
“Could we start?”
“Today?”
“Now?”
“Sure. I might have to lend you something to wear. You’d trip over that skirt.”
With that, I was led into Nira’s room—which was nothing like I’d anticipated.
It was smaller than Jet’s, of course, but in just a few days, she’d made a home of the place.
There were plants in crocks along the windowsills.
Fresh flowers were in vases. She had some handwork sitting on a table in the middle of the room—brilliant pinks, yellows, and purples creating some sort of beaded tapestry.
Perhaps most telling of the space, though, were the many pillows and blankets on the bed, and the overflowing piles of fruits and vegetables on her dresser.
Clearly, the life she knew before the palace was cold and hard… and maybe lacking in food.
What would happen to her (and this safe haven she’d created for herself) when I went back to my lake? Would she be ripped away from this new life she was clearly enjoying?
Guilt stabbed into my side, making me press a hand there as Nira went to her wardrobe to grab me something to wear.
But I couldn’t stay.
This wasn’t my life, my fate.
And more importantly, my lake wasn’t here.
Even if I decided to stay— to what?—become a princess and eventual queen, I couldn’t.
I would waste away. Sure, the water being brought in was helpful, but my soul was crying to swim in the cool water, to listen to the frogs on the shore, to feel the ripple of the water when a dragonfly touched the surface, to feel a fish graze my leg.
“Did I lose you?” Nira asked, making me snap back to the moment and reach for the pile of clothes she held out to me.
“Pants?” I asked as I unfolded them.
“I’m assuming you’ve never worn them before.”
“No.”
“Well, there’s a time for everything. You’ll either love or hate them. But they are what you need to wear for practice, so get them on.”
I yanked the clinging material up my legs under my skirt before pulling off the dress and putting on another tight garment that had a strange little shelf built in that my breasts nestled into.
“Trust me,” Nira said when she caught me adjusting myself into it, “you’re going to like how they keep things in place. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to swing a sword and your tits swing with it.”
“I, um, I’m not sure mine are capable of… swinging.”
Nira inspected the breasts in question and nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. How does it feel?”
“Naked.”
“You’ll get used to it.” She reached into a scabbard to produce an impossibly shiny sword half the size of her body.
“I’ll be training with that?”
That got a snort out of Nira as she went into the dresser and brought back a wooden sword that was half that size.
“This is what you’re training with.”
“Is that a toy?”
“Yep. I made it when I was small. But it’s the perfect size for you to learn with.”
With that, she led me into Jet’s office for more open space, taught me how to hold the sword, then led me through many slowed-down drills, our bodies moving almost like a dance as I learned how to control my movements and the sword as I transitioned from one position to the next.
It wasn’t long before muscles I hadn’t been aware of before started to ache, but not in the way they had when I’d been unwell, not in a sick way.
In an, I don’t know, strong way. It felt good to know there were muscles there and that they were strengthening and learning how to help me protect myself.
“Okay. Don’t move,” Nira said. “I’m going to grab your magic water.”
With that, she left the room, but I moved myself through the sequence again, smiling to myself as it went more smoothly than the one before.
I was still smiling as I saw a movement in my periphery, ready to get praise from Nira. But it was Jet standing there. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking like he might have been there for a bit. Watching.
I don’t know why, but the thought of that had more of those little sizzles coursing across my skin.
“Good form,” he said, his voice thick. “Got a wardrobe change?”
I straightened and waved down at myself. “I borrowed from Nira. I didn’t have anything else to wear.”
“Yeah, we’re going to need to remedy that. Immediately.”
“You seem serious.”
Jet sighed hard. “I had a meeting with my father this morning. He is insisting you join the royal feast. Which is in three days. You need a gown appropriate for a princess. And knowing him, he’s also going to demand you be a part of the tournament and the ball.
He’s big on the whole ‘united front’ thing right now. ”
Some part of me swelled in excitement while the other part deflated in anxiety.
“I wouldn’t even know what to do at those events.”
“That’s why you’ll have me. If I need to step away, you will have Vishen and Nira close by if you need to ask questions. The feast just involves eating. The tournament involves watching. The ball is the only one where you might need to speak to others or dance.”
“Dance. I don’t… I’ve never…”
“Well, you never did all this before, and you learned. You can learn to dance.”
“Will you teach me?”
Jet swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’ll teach you.”
“At this feast…”
“Yeah?”
“Will Grimwood be there?”
Jet’s chest expanded, and I knew I had my answer. “Most likely, yes.”
“Will I need to interact with him?”
“I don’t know. He’s supposed to be your father. It makes this… complicated.”
“And he is thinking I am still drugged.”
“Precisely. And if he found out you aren’t still drugged, he might react. Quickly. Before I get a chance to shore things up for me. For us.”
“So it would be best if he assumed I’m still mute.”
“Yeah.”
“But how would that work? Wouldn’t a prince have questions about his wife and her inability to speak?”
“I think perhaps you’re giving the bastards in the Dark realm a bit too much credit. None of these powerful men give the women in their lives much thought at all. He would assume that so long as you were pretty and fulfilling your wifely duties, I would have nothing to complain about.”
“But what about everyone else? All the other guests?”
“That is where being a princess comes into play. You can be as unusual or eccentric as you wish. If you don’t speak, people would brush that off and assume you think you are too important to speak to them.”
“I hate that.”
“But you’re not you,” he reminded me. “You are Gemma Grimwood—a selfish, entitled, conceited bitch. Only the four of us will know any different.”
That was fair.
It wasn’t me.
It was a part I was playing.
And I’d met the real Gemma Grimwood. She was someone who would think everyone else was beneath her if she had the title of princess.
“Okay. I can do that. I hope.”
There was a soft knock at the door before Vishen moved inside. “Bad news.”
“What now?” Jet growled.
“Your father sent word. He wants you and your wife at dinner tonight to discuss the feast.”
“Great. Well, it looks like you’ll have a little rehearsal dinner tonight,” he said, looking at me. “Whatever you do, just don’t speak, and things will be fine. I will cover for you.”
“I can do that.”
“Can you send Nira to find her something to wear?” he asked, looking at Vishen, who rushed out of the room. “Not gonna lie,” Jet started, his gaze grazing over me, “I like this look.” His voice went a little gravelly at the end, and it made my insides go liquid.
“It felt like being naked when I first put it on. But I’ve gotten used to it.”
A little growl escaped him as he sucked in a breath so deep, his whole chest shook. Before I could try to understand that, he cleared his throat and straightened.
“Come on. Let’s get you hydrated and bathed while Nira gets you something to wear.”
“You’re going to bathe me?” I asked as I moved beside him, my brows pinching at the idea even as my belly wobbled.
“Is that an invitation?”
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Vishen and I will bring water up for a shower. Maybe tomorrow we will get you enough water from your lake to fill the tub.”
I didn’t mean for it to happen, but a moan escaped me at the idea.
Up so close, I saw the way Jet’s eyes darkened.
“Is the water… pleasing for you?”
“Pleasing?”
“In a sensual way?”
“I’m not sure I understand.”