“Maybe it’s full of tabors, only they’re the size of your mother’s fox father.”
He rolled over on top of her. “You sure liked that wolf you rode on.”
“Gorgeous creature. I would have thought his fur was rough but it was silky smooth. Why don’tyouhave furry skin?”
He kissed her neck. “I could—” His head came up. “Someone is coming.”
“Besides you?”
Laughing, he rolled off her. “It’s Zeon’s footsteps.”
At the knock, Mekos got up to answer the door.
Zeon was there, resplendent in a silver-and-black robe, and he stepped inside. “I apologize for intruding but I’ve been talking to my son. He’s adamant that I tell you something before we meet for dinner.” He looked at Aradella. “Your cousin, Sojee’s daughter, is involved in this. She—”
Aradella gasped. “Not again! She’s to be sacrificed, isn’t she? Those two have no other use than to be sacrificed for something. Sothat’swhat this is all about.” She looked at Mekos. “We need the mask. This time you and I will worktogether.”She looked back at Zeon. “Where’s she being held? Who sent her there? Olina?”
The two men were staring at her with identical expressions of astonishment. Aradella was talkingveryfast.
“Or did she get on a ship with the men from Selkan? Sojee will be blamed for this! This will keep the islands apartforever.” She looked back at Mekos. “We need Perus so we can leave this minute. Those girls are idiots! They’ll be dead soon.” She stopped talking and glared from one man to the other, silently asking why they weren’t doing something.
Zeon swallowed. “She’s here,” he said softly. “Bree is here.”
“Of course she’s the one,” Aradella said. “Shay would be so obnoxious they’d release her.”
Mekos looked at Zeon. “Why is her cousin here?”
Zeon was looking bewildered—and a bit afraid. “She’s going with you. To Abicis.”
At that, Aradella backed up against the bed. “All right,” she whispered. “I’ll marry Nessa. That will be better than spending even a day with one of my cousins.”
Mekos opened the door and Zeon gladly hurried out of the room.
When they were alone, Mekos turned to Aradella, ready to say that things couldn’t be as bad as she thought they were. But he saw a princess. Not the woman he loved, but a stranger who had glassy eyes and an unreadable expression.
“I’m sure it’ll be all right,” he managed to say. “She’s Sojee’s daughter so surely—”
Aradella stepped past him. “I must get ready for dinner.” To his consternation, she went to the wardrobe that held clothes for them. Earlier, she’d happily chosen their robes. For him, she’d pulled out a black garment. “Like your hair.” For herself, she chose red with sparkling swirls of rose gold.
But now Aradella ignored the gown on the chair, went to the wardrobe, and removed one of light brown, then she went to the bathroom and shut the door.
Mekos sat down heavily on the bed. Right now, more thananything in the world, he wanted to talk to his father. Or better yet, to Kaley. He needed someone to explain what was going on.
But contacting them was too risky. In theory, no one knew where they were. If Queen Olina was searching for them, no one should have to lie.
In minutes, Aradella came out of the bathroom—and he was shocked by her appearance. Her hair was pulled back tight against her head, and she had on a thick robe that was huge on her. Was it made for a man? The color was so bland that it seemed to make her disappear. Worse than the clothes was the deadness in her eyes.
“It’s how she expects me to look,” she muttered. “I am ready.”
If he’d heard the voice unseen, he’d say it wasn’t Aradella’s. In fact, he wasn’t sure it was human. Maybe one of the stone statues was speaking.
“I’ll be ready soon,” he murmured and picked up the robe she’d chosen for him. He didn’t go to the bathroom as he didn’t dare leave Aradella alone.
They didn’t speak as a guard ushered them to the dining room. Zeon and Bree were waiting for them.
Mekos hadn’t seen Aradella’s cousin often and she was certainly beautiful. She had on a blue dress that clung to her perfectly proportioned body. Her thick dark hair was fastened up on her head and looked like it was about to tumble down to her shoulders. She was totally perfect—and boring, Mekos thought. He couldn’t imagine her sitting on top of a wall and watching a giant lizard snap at a Never. Nor could he see her caring for the injured Ian. Or riding a wolf as she ran to save someone’s life. She definitely wouldn’t sink a knife into an evil woman. And she wouldn’t—
He realized that Aradella was watching him as he stared at Bree. He might not know a lot about women, but he could almost read her mind. Aradella thought he was entranced and awed by the beauty of Princess Bree. “She isn’t—” he began, but Aradella briskly walked away, her chin up in a defiant position.
