He wanted to ask her why she had wielded that heat against him. About how she even possessed that ability in the first place. Did it have anything to do with the visions plaguing her? Oh, yes, he knew about the visions. He knew his kirei was a very strange creature, indeed.
A woman who saw visions though she was no Oracle.
A woman who could wield the Lord’s holy fire though she was no Shepherd.
But she was just so proud, his Seraphina. Soperfect.
Her pride was like oil to the fire still smoldering in his heart in the wake of that passionate kiss they had shared before all her court.Passion. Against all odds, the most beautiful woman in all of Avirel had shownhimpassion.
And now she was back to pretending as though he was unworthy of sharing mere space with her? He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to knock her down a peg, to wound her enormous ego just a little.
Softly, mercilessly, he pointed out, “I just mean that you seemed to be enjoying it.”
Her reaction was immediate. Visceral. She recoiled from him as if he had slapped her. Her mouth tumbled open, though no sound emerged. Speechless. For the second time in his knowing this infuriating woman, he had rendered her speechless.
But he saw in her eyes the truth, shining there like a beacon. He was right. Shehadenjoyed it. And she clearly didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Do not flatter yourself, Crow,” she seethed, her flush flaring all the brighter. “You know we must do these things for show. For the sake of the people. To present a united front.”
“United by our lips?” he asked, delighting in the way she squirmed as he twisted that knife a little deeper into her wounded pride. There had been no need for them to kiss on the mouth; his cheek peck would have sufficed. He knew that.
Obviously, she knew that, too.
When she scoffed and looked away, pressing deeper into her seat as if trying to escape him, he sat up and finally relented. There were things they needed to discuss—things of pressing importance.
Her strangeness. What happened outside the cathedral. The reinforcements he would be leading to Arlund.
But he knew he would be getting nothing out of her now. Not until she had time to lick her wounds and convince herself that he had forgotten all about the feel of her fingers tangling in his hair and her soft mouth crushing against his.
Perhaps he could hurry that along a bit?
Remembering how she had smiled for Kyn at talk of her decoy carriages, he cleared his throat and rumbled, “That was clever, you know, what you did with the decoys.”
But rather than soften for him, smile, or relax even a little, his kirei merely shot him a withering look, clearly trying to fell him with her gaze alone. “There’s no need to patronize me further, Aldric.”
Aldric.
She was starting to call him Aldric now instead of justCrow.It wasn’t much, but he would take it. Not that he cared. Not that it mattered. Not that it made a bit of difference.
There was just something oddly nice about knowing that at least one person remembered he had a name. Not the Crow. Not “boss.” Not “monster.” Not “Your Highness.”
Just…Aldric.
Chapter fourteen
Seraphina
“And to think: all that ridiculous chaos over a mere pickpocket,” Duchess Edith murmured in her ear for a third time, as if reminding her that her people hadn’t been rioting against her—merely a boy with sticky fingers—would make her feel better.
But it didn’t.
Her nerves were frayed. Her mind was now a tangled snarl of worry and fear. Her cheeks hurt from pretending to smile at all the wedding guests stepping forward to offer their congratulations and gifts. Her only comfort was the fact that, while seated upon her throne, at least her feet were no longer aching.
But it was a small comfort.
Voices. She was now hearingvoiceswhile awake and aware rather than caught in a dream or vision. A dark voice. A cold voice. A voice that taunted her and said she could not save him. Who? Aldric?
Discreetly, she slipped the Crow a sidelong glance where he sat on a matching throne to her right. But when she caught the gleam of his one-eyed gaze and realized he was watching her in turn, she swiftly looked away. Her attention drifted to where Alyx and his black-scaled usuru, Soot, cavorted together before the warmth of the hearth.
