“You’re never getting another chance at a woman like her because there are no other women like her,” Bala said. “Go.”
Nadir gave her a look, lips puckering as he obviously weighed his decision. “What if I fuck this up?” And his voice was quieter than she expected.
Bala gripped him on the shoulder. “Then you die,” she said, and Nadir huffed a laugh. “Either way, she will be the death of you. At least enjoy the risk.”
Nadir shook his head as he straightened. “Bala with the voice of reason,” he muttered, giving her a small smile. “Right, so bread,” he said, snapping and hitting his fists together with a sway of his arms.
“Bread and pastries,” Bala said with a raise of her glass. “The true key to her heart.”
Nadir nodded as he stretched towards the door, and she called out, “Have fun,” to him. He flipped her off over his shoulder, disappearing through the door just as Dorian spotted her from inside.
Nadir only gave him a clap on his shoulder, not bothering to stop to talk, and Bala started towards the Prince.
“What was that about?” Dorian asked.
“Your sister seduced him,” she said simply.
Dorian grinned. “Thank the Architects,” he said. “I hope he ruins her.”
A soft chuckle escaped the Venari. “I’m sure they’ll both be thoroughly devastated by the end of this. What about you? What are you doing out here?”
“I am…” Dorian paused, his gaze catching sight of his Second down the hall, and Dorian looked back to Bala with a recognizable tenseness in his eyes. “…I’m off to find out what the fuck his problem is,” he declared. “And you?”
Bala frowned at the way Dorian looked at his Second. She had thought it was odd that the Belwark had not been following him around as Lex did Aydra, but she thought maybe it was because Dorian had told him not to. He’d been so aloof that she’d not even been properly introduced to him.
She wasn’t even sure she’d seen more than a glimpse of him in the courtyard.
“Not sure,” she decided to answer, leaving the drama of Dorian and his Belwark alone as her eyes flickered down the hall to the Belwark that had been on her mind all night. “Might call it a night soon. Get some rest.”
“By yourself?” he asked.
“That depends,” she said upon seeing Lex sitting on a window bench further down the corridor.
Dorian followed her gaze, and then he clanked his cup against hers. “Yes,” he told her as he started away. “Have fun, Bala,” he called back over his shoulder.
Bala shook her head at him and made her way to the alluring Belwark that she’d hardly been able to tear her eyes away from the entire night.
“You look stunning,” Lex called out as she approached.
Lex sat on the wall bench beneath the grand alcove windows, pipe in her hand and a cloud of moons-illuminated smoke surrounding her. She was leaned slightly out the open arch window pane, the chilly air coming in, her foot in the bench, legs spread. Her wispy bangs curled into her eyes as she lifted her chin.
Bala eyed the low cut, loose, semi-sheer shirt Lex wore, the gold embroidery on the lapels that covered her petite breasts, the high waisted band around her middle, the loose black pants tucked at the ankle over the oddest shoes Bala had ever seen Lex wear.
Of course, she’d only ever seen her in her armor or gambeson. This attire… this showed off a side of Lex that Bala had fantasized about.
Lex’s wide eyes lifted deliberately over Bala as she came closer. “I didn’t see you dance,” Lex noted. “Shame. You would have lit up the floor.”
“Suppose I wasn’t approached by the right partner,” Bala said, pausing on the other side of the alcove.
Lex exhaled her smoke out the open window, and Bala tried not to let her see her shift.
“Is this Aydra’s suit?” Lex asked.
“It is,” Bala answered. “We don’t exactly need garments like this in the Forest. Just for youproperroyals,” she teased.
Lex’s lips quirked upwards. “Proper… You should dress like this more often. You might grow a taste for it.”
Bala leaned her back against the wall. “I can see me walking around in this piece now. It’d be ruined within the hour from the dirt.”
