“Where did you go?” I asked her, feeling bewildered. “What were you doing?”
She studied me for a moment before opening her two front paws. She was holding a mouse.
It squeaked and got free from her grasp, jumping off the table. Luna chased after it until she caught it and ... ate it. It made me feel slightly nauseous.
“Don’t ever let Io see you do that,” I told her as she happily crunched on her prey. It looked as if it might be time to upgrade Luna’s food to bigger game.
After she’d finished with her meal, she shook her head and sneezed. Silver flakes flew out from her body. “You have to stop making a mess or Xander is going to toss you out the window,” I said.
No.
I wasn’t sure if she was saying no to not making a mess or to him tossing her. Maybe both. She crawled up into her enclosure. Xander had removed the interior ramps and shelves and it was now just a big wooden box with some bedding on the bottom, which seemed to make her very happy.
My maid, Parthenia, entered the room. “Were you just talking to yourself?” she asked.
For a moment I wondered which answer would make me seem less like I was descending into madness. I settled on the one that didn’t have me conversing with a lizard. “Yes. I was.”
“I have your dress,” she said, holding it out so that I could see it. It was a deep, dark purple. Purple dye was ridiculously expensive and they had used so much to make it this shade.
“It’s so beautiful!” I breathed. I reached out to touch it, and the silk was so light that it felt as delicate as a spiderweb. “Io has excellent taste.”
“She does,” Parthenia agreed with a smile. “Go and bathe and then I’ll help you get ready.”
The last thing I wanted to do was go to this party. I had other more pressing concerns, such as figuring out how to sneak out of the palace without my extremely observant husband realizing it. I hurried through everything, my mind racing as I tried to think of a way to go to the woods south of Troas.
I would also have to formulate a plan on how to actually catch and kill a terawolf.
Parthenia told me about a silly argument she’d had with her husband the previous night, and I only half listened as she helped me dress. She got out the black pearl necklace that Xander had gifted me at our wedding. She had acquired a new hair ornament for me, a silver comb with black pearls along the edges, which she used to draw my hair back from my face while leaving the rest of it hanging down my back. I turned my head slightly to see the comb in my mirror. It almost looked like a tiara.
Then she handed me a ring that had three black pearls on it, and I put it on my right hand. I still wore my Chalcidian steel ring on my left. I glanced down at my wedding ring—it seemed to pale in comparison to the other jewelry I had on.
But it was the only one attached to the vein that ran to my heart.
Xander greeted us when he entered the room, carrying a length of purple cloth over his arm. I guessed that Io had made us match again. He headed into the washroom while Parthenia finished. She asked if I needed her to return tonight to help me undress, but I had watched her carefully as she had twisted and turned the fabric so that it hung the way she wanted it to. I could undo it myself. I told her to enjoy the city celebration with her husband.
“I hope he’s ready to apologize to you,” I said.
She smiled. “I’m sure he will be. He is fond of romantic gestures.” She put a hand on her swollen belly and wished me a good night and then left.
I found myself envying her again for what she had.
Up until the moment when my own husband walked out of the washroom. I shakily stood up. That shade of purple on him—it had the effect of making his hair somehow even darker while his eyes practically glowed golden.
Like a terawolf’s,a mischievous voice inside me whispered.He would happily devour you if you only asked.
I waved my hand toward him. “It’s ... very purple.”
Very purple? Had I actually just told him that his tunic was very purple?
“Io did it on purpose. She wanted us to make a statement. Only royals wear this color. We’re supposed to remind everyone who should be the next king and queen of Ilion.”
My breathing hitched as regret darkened my soul. Even when he was named king, I would never be his queen.
He walked over to me, wearing that charming smile of his, and I nearly collapsed at the sight of it. So, so handsome.
“Do you know how many soldiers I could feed with that dress?” he asked playfully.
“We can sell it,” I immediately offered.
