She glanced around at the dense forest, at the fog starting to roll in from the other side of the Wander. They were getting closer to Yaar and anyone could stumble upon them. If she didn't look the part, it would be entirely questionable. The people Aziel was protecting deserved a fighting chance—even if it meant having to punch herself a couple of times to divert attention away from thehidden kingdom.
She curled her hand into a fist and with a deep sigh, looked down at the whites of her knuckles. Glancing at him one final time and receiving an expectant look in return, Nymiria closed her eyes and scrunched her face.
Forcing the thought of what she was doing from her mind, Nymiria drove her fist into her face once, twice,threetimes before falling to the ground and releasing a growl of pain. "That is one of the stupidest things I have ever done in my life." She opened her eyes to see Aziel staring at her with a perplexed expression on his face. "What? If you want to laugh—go ahead and laugh!"
"I'm just surprised you actually did it."
Nymiria grumbled curses under her breath as she shuffled to her feet, eyes narrowed into a look that could kill. "Youaskedme to."
Aziel only shrugged and stepped towards her. "One last thing." She prepared to roll her eyes, but upon seeing the gleam of a knife pointed at her brow, she stilled. "Do you trust me?" He asked.
"Not in the slightest."
He smiled, incisors flashing ominously in the haze of the morning sun. Nymiria shivered. "Good girl. Now close your eyes." She did, trying her best to ignore the heat spreading through her at the closeness of their bodies, forcing away the reminders of her dream when his gloved hand curled around the back of her neck and drew her closer, tilting her face up so that he could see her better.
The knife did not hurt at first, it was just a hot line going down the side of her face. But as soon as he took the blade away from her skin, the metal was replaced with something warm and soft. Her eyes fluttered open, stomach dropping when she realized that his lips were covering the cut he'd made above her eye.
There was no pain at all. Everything simply felt…warm.
At the feeling of the flush crawling over her skin, Nymiria took a step away from him, brows furrowed as she watched him wipe her blood from his lips. They stared at one another, neither of them moving until Aziel finally cleared his throat. Nymiria glanced away, turning to face the remainder of the forest.
"Does it hurt?" He asked.
Nymiria touched the warm liquid spilling down her cheek and shook her head.
Aziel gave a single, curt nod and started walking, his hands clenched at his side. "Good."
With her tattered clothing covered by Aziel’s jacket, blood crusted to her face, and mud caked on her feet, she certainly looked the part of damsel in distress.
Nymiria found it hard to believe that anyone had searched for her, but upon seeing Dorid’s Huntsmen rushing towards them at the edge of the woods, her stomach hollowed out. They all reached for her, all of them demanding to be the one to escort her to the king, but Aziel refused them all with a vicious growl and a lethal look that had them running with their tails tucked between their legs.
Aziel clutched her closer to his chest, weaving through the throng of servants, guards, Huntsmen, and rangers who had all gathered to get a good look at her—to see with their own eyes that she had, in fact, been taken captive. They wanted to see her in order to make their own assumptions, to gather their own conclusions.
She did her best to ignore the whispers and the questions, but pretending to be unconscious was becoming increasingly harder the closer they got to the palace.She could feel the darkened atmosphere shifting around them, the same way it always did when Camalia was near. Her scent permeated through the grand entrance, her voice akin to that of someone dragging a utensil down a plate.
Nymiria shuddered, peaking out of one eye just enough to see Aziel’s face harden, his gaze undoubtedly locked on the woman who greeted them.
“Put her down.” Camalia snapped.
Aziel stiffened, his grip on her only growing tighter. “She’s unconscious.”
The clacking of heels against the floor made Nymiria’s stomach drop, fear settling into her bones at the thought of Camaliaknowing,somehow, that Nymiria hadn’t been held captive by the Mimic at all.“I didn’t ask you anything about her current state. I said toput her down. You are not allowed to touch her.” Shebit out quietly, her tone just as sharp as the dagger-like nails she filed relentlessly. “Need I remind you of our agreement, Aziel?”
Aziel turned his head to the sound of boots entering the foyer, golden helms glistening in the crisp morning sun. His stomach sank, already knowing where they’d take her if he allowed Nymiria to go with them.
A stolen courtesan was not a common occurrence, but it had happened before. When Aziel was younger, he remembered his mother tending to one of the girls that had been plucked off of the street during her day of freedom. The courtesan had been viciously attacked, taken against her will in more ways than one. As if her experience had not been enough to wound her mind, she was thus examined and sterilized immediately.
The sterilization process was not gentle. It was noteasy. And the aftermath, living with the thoughts of a future you could never have was the most harrowing part of the healing process.
The anger never went away.
“Dorid’s men will take her to him. Put her down.” Camalia insisted, her impatience evident in the bite of her tongue.
Aziel looked down at Nymiria, his grip nearly bruising. “I believe that we should convene together. There is much to discuss and Nymiria’s experience is rather important for all of us to hear.” He glanced at the guards. “Even them.”
Nymiria listened with bated breath, her fingers tightening on the lapel of Aziel’s jacket. It was taking too long for Camalia to respond and with each second that passed, Nymiria began to feel slightly nauseated.
Finally, once the guards had stopped mere inches away from them, surrounding them, Camalia spoke. “Fine. I will have them escort you both to the receiving parlor. His majesty is indisposed at the moment.” She paused and Nymiria couldfeelthe heat of Camalia’s gaze, the ire that burned deep in their depths. She did not need to open her eyes to know that her disgust with Nymiria’s existence was more than evident to all of those in the foyer. “What happened to her head?”
