“What are you doing?” she laughed.
Her eagle came swooping in through the open window then, and Dorian flinched to the ground as though someone had just swung a sword over his head.
“Sweet fucking Arbina,” he cursed as the beast landed on Nyssa’s outstretched arm.
Aydra’s laugh echoed down the hall.
“Dorian, he’s not going to hurt you,” their older called out as she waited on them.
Dorian scrambled to his feet, still avoiding the great bird when it soared back out the open window, evident that it had only flown in to scare him. Nyssa shook her head as Dorian straightened his jacket and ran his hands through his fluffy hair as they crossed the space to Aydra.
And when Nyssa got a good look at what her sister was wearing, she really wanted to go back and change.
She was dressed in a stunning black mermaid dress with a high slit, long flared sleeves, and her waist cape. Some of her hair was pinned back, her great golden crown sitting in the ginger locks.
Nyssa had never felt so underdressed.
“I should really go change,” Nyssa said when they reached her.
Aydra gave her a once over. “I think this is fine. You don’t?”
“I mean, Dorian is wearing this, and you’re wearing—“
“It’s me,” Aydra said as though it were obvious. “I’d dress like this to breakfast if it wasn’t frowned upon. And your brother is becoming as obnoxious as I am.”
“I will be taking that as a compliment,” Dorian interjected.
Aydra smiled and fluffed his hair, to which he faltered off balance and tried to tame it down out of her grasp.
The banter eased Nyssa’s aching heart, but Aydra still caught her look of embarrassment and smiled softly. “Come on,” she said, nodding towards the hall where the pair had just come from. “We have a little time. Show me what you have. Draven went to meet our guests at the walls. I’m sure between him and Nadir, they’ll hold up arrivals.”
Dorian grinned down at Nyssa. “Nadir? That’s the one—“
Aydra eyed him with a lazy brow, and Dorian simply chuckled behind her back. “Right. To play dress up, then.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
AYDRA CHOSE ONE of the cream-colored dresses Nyssa had stored towards the back of her wardrobe. Nyssa had picked it out at market a few weeks earlier. It had long flaring sleeves that tickled the floor and gold trimming on all the hems. It fit snugly around Nyssa’s torso, with a square neckline that showed a little of her pillowed cleavage. Aydra had stepped back and told her she would be breaking every man’s heart that week, and Nyssa had blushed when Aydra pushed her crown in her hair again.
“Today is a smoke day,” Aydra said as she looked over Nyssa one last time. “What does that mean?”
“That we’re breathing,” Nyssa choked out, her nerves starting to surface as the moment they would be presenting to all of Haerland drew nearer.
Aydra pressed her hands to Nyssa’s cheeks and smiled. “Breathing, sister.”
Rhaif was waiting on them for announcements when they arrived. He shot Aydra a look, obvious he was annoyed that they were late, but Aydra didn’t say a word to him as she stood by his side.
The Council and members of court filed on either side of the carpeted walkway stood upon announcements of the royal family. First with Dorian and Nyssa entering and standing in front of their smaller throne chairs, followed by Aydra and Rhaif.
Nyssa kept an eye on the way her sister twisted the ring on her finger a few times the closer they reached the steps to their chairs, and when she met Nyssa’s gaze, she gave her a quick wink before whipping the cape around her waist to the side and settling onto her throne.
Dreamers mingled in groups, their whispers hushed as they waited for their guests. The air was thick with anticipation, and even Rhaif seemed to be nervous. The noise of his heel tapping anxiously on the stone echoed in the room.
“Glad to know someone can still strike fear into your poisonous veins,” Nyssa heard Aydra mutter to him.
“You will behave in front of them,” Rhaif said, glancing at Aydra, and Nyssa noted the stark command in his gaze, looking as though he could control her with such a request.
Nyssa stifled her snort, but it seemed Aydra could not.
