“You’re quiet today,” he said conversationally, slipping his fingertips into the top of the sock and peeling it down her calf and foot. It was the barest of touches, and a sound she’d nevermade before came from her throat at the cool touch to her burning skin.
He clearly noticed because his movement halted for the briefest of seconds before he continued removing the sock and then shifting to the other one.
“You were hurt,” he said, his tone low and menacing. “By our own people.”
“They’re not my people,” she said, her voice hoarse from the screaming.
He tilted his head as he watched her, hands resting on his thighs now. “They’re not?”
“Why would they be?”
“Because you are their queen,” he said slowly, as if this were obvious. “Are you sure you are all right? Did you hit your head?”
But she wasn’t the queen. Not yet. Right?
She lifted her arm, tugging on the torn sleeve of her tunic to see her skin clearly. The Mark was there, vivid black against her warm skin tone.
“We are married?” she asked, eyeing him.
“Of course we are married, wife,” he said, the corner of his lips turning up in a rogue smirk.
“I don’t have a Union Mark,” she countered, eyes narrowing as she studied her hand to be sure.
“We opted to do things our own way,” he replied, pushing to his feet and reaching for her. “Let’s go home, and we’ll have Niara look you over.”
She studied his outstretched hand, his fingers so close to her. Too close. But in dreams, it didn’t matter, right?
So she slid her fingers into his waiting palm.
Chapter 20
Kailia
Laying perfectly still, she kept her eyes closed, letting her senses tell her about her surroundings. She was warm. A plush and soft mattress beneath her. The weight of blankets or furs atop her. The smell of fresh air. The barest brush of a breeze along her cheek. The rustle of movement told her she wasn’t alone. Footfalls. A door closing.
She wanted to lay there and go unnoticed a little longer, but the pressure in her pelvis told her that would not be an option much longer. She needed a bathing chamber.
Slowly cracking her eyes open, she looked up at a ceiling with open beams running across it.
Her heart rate increased.
Gaze darting to a wall, she found a window with a view that told her she was not on the ground floor. The walls were painted a calming shade of blue the color of the sea.
Her chest squeezed as her breaths came faster.
Then silver hair and eyes filled her vision, Cethin leaning over her.
“It’s okay, Kailia,” he coaxed, holding her gaze. “You’re safe.”
She broke his stare, looking past him to another wall. The same color blue, there was a painting of a beach at night, the moon reflecting on the waters.
“I know you’ve never been here. That you don’t know where you are, but we’re safe.You’resafe,” he repeated.
Slowly, she brought her gaze back to his, finding him still watching her intently.
A small smile formed on his lips. “Staying so quiet never serves you, tiny fiend.”
“Where are we?” she asked, the words raspy. Her throat was so dry. How long had she been sleeping?
