Bellinor delivered a fierce glare Rul’s way before softening his gaze on her once again.
“Don’t concern your pretty little head with that, my dear.”
Before she could argue, there was a loud clatter, and she jerked around to see a servant with its hands at its sides, the silver tray that had carried the desserts on the ground at its feet. Something that could certainly be seen as an accident, but these weren’t normal servants. They were automatons created from le Voile. She had never seen one so much as spill a drop of wine, let alone create such a commotion.
When she whirled back to the table, Bellinor’s face was a mask of fury; if someone could kill with a look, then the servant would have been dead right then and there. Rul was wide-eyed, with that same uncomfortable smile he’d been wearing since the tremor, like something terrible was moments away from happening and he wanted to spare her the worry.
“Get out,” Bellinor hissed, and the servant seemed to awaken, grabbing the tray and hurrying from the room.
Everyone was silent for a long moment, as if Bellinor and Rul were trying to come up with some sort of excuse for the bizarre behavior, but Isabelle was quicker.
“What is going on?” she asked, standing and pressing her palms to the table.
She stared Bellinor down, trying to hold steady as she awaited an answer. A creeping sensation tingled her nerves, a deep-seated dread coming to life after she’d been lulled into complacency.
“Take her to her room,” Bellinor said, the order directed at Rul, though he continued to meet her gaze.
Rul stood, coming around and placing his hands on her waist, but she shook out of his grasp, backing up to the wall until her arms pressed to the cool stone. She had no hope of fighting them off, but their strange reactions frightened her, their unwillingness to answer her questions raising her alarms.
Had she imagined everything? The tenderness and care they seemed to show her? Rul saying he loved her? Goddess, had it all been a trick?
Whatwere they trying to hide?
“Please, just tell me what’s happening,” she begged, glancing between the two as Bellinor stood, approaching her from one side while Rul did the same from the other.
“You need to trust us,” Bellinor said, extending a hand, which she refused to take.
“No! Tell me what’s going on,right now!” she yelled, her voice echoing up to the high ceiling.
Bellinor grabbed her arms, and she struggled, to no avail, Rul coming up behind her and hugging her tight.
“Sleep, Isabelle,” Bellinor whispered. “It’s for your own good. We will keep you safe.”
Her eyelids grew heavy, her body slumping into Rul’s as the room went dark.
CHAPTER 20
ISABELLE AWOKE WITH A jolt, gasping in a breath as silk caressed her skin. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was in her room, a half-finished painting of a new still life sitting on the easel and a fire crackling in the hearth.
But she wasn’t alone, Rul’s sly grin back to normal as he held her in his arms.
“Get off of me!” she yelled, but he refused to let go, squeezing her tighter until she could no longer squirm in his grasp.
“Please, sweetheart, just let it be. There’s nothing you need to worry about. I promise.”
“Just tell me what’s going on!” she gasped, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, her anxiety soaring.
She was helpless, but not in a way that made her mind deliciously numb. No, she was just as vulnerable as when she was a child, deemed too weak for her father to tell her the truth about her mother, so she had to hear the whispers from the people of the town.
She had no power, no strength, had given up her Goddess for thesedemonswho kept secrets from her, who refused to explain what was happening.
Suddenly, Rul went rigid, blanching as he let out a low groan and rolled onto his back. He grabbed at his stomach, the lights flickering erratically and the hearth extinguishing in a puff of smoke.
Isabelle got to her knees, crouching over him and pressing a palm to his cheek as he grimaced in pain.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice pitched high with panic.
Everything was out of control, the room trembling around them as she held onto Rul, his eyes squeezed shut and his jaw clenched. She took his hand in hers, and he gripped her so hard that stars dotted her vision, her fingers screaming in pain though she made no move to escape his grasp.
