I search Jonas’s face for any hint of humour, as if he might be pulling my leg. But there’s nothing.
‘It was a massive scandal,’ Jonas continues. ‘Korvane was furious. Every heir to the throne has had the same dark brown eyes for the last, well, Gods know how many generations. And then Kyor went and pulled that stunt. He had priests and priestesses from all seven Gods perform the charms, so it’s irreversible. Kyor will be the first blue-eyed Morathkian king for centuries.’
I can but gape. Those icy-blue eyes – the ones that have haunted both my sleeping and waking dreams since I first saw them two nights ago – belong to fucking Prince Kyor? That touch that caused my skin to nearly melt belongs to the man I despise more than even the king himself?
The knots in my stomach twist so tight I can barely draw breath. I don’t want to believe it. With my whole heart, I want Jonas to be lying, but I know he’s not. I knew I recognised those eyes somehow, but I couldn’t place them, convinced that the last time I saw eyes that shade, they belonged to a woman. And I was right. Kyor’s eyes are the exact shade of the irises that looked up at my mother and told her to save the babe instead. The blue eyes that flashed when the queen sent me a fleetingsmile as I stood at my mother’s side, uncomfortably aware of the blood that was pooling on the ground by our feet.
‘Are you all right?’ Jonas brushes my arm. ‘You look pale.’
Of course I look fucking pale, I want to snap at him. This is the man responsible for ruining my entire life, and I’ve beenlustingafter him. A mixture of fury and disgust rises within me, and not just because of our past.
This ball is in celebration of Etta’s name, and he is a Rettling gifted with the honour of competing, when dozens – if not hundreds – of others were rejected. Yet he’s here, drunk and talking of death. Whatever powers he may have been blessed with, even Zara has more right to win this thing than he does. What canhepossibly need?
I lift my glass, desperate to ease the dryness in my throat. As the champagne bubbles touch my lips, those blue eyes lock on mine for a second time. My pulse soars and I will him to look away, but he doesn’t. No, this time he holds my gaze completely. Adrenaline floods through me. No matter how much I want to tear my eyes away, I can’t. My mind and my body are locked in conflict.
Finally, I let my lips shift into a snarl, letting him see all of my fucking hatred for him.
In answer, his own lips tip up in amusement. My hatredamuseshim? My jaw clenches and I refuse to look away. Refuse to show him even an iota of deference.
But the prince, it seems, is not in the mood for a staring contest across a crowded room. Instead, he drops the champagne bottle to his side and starts walking.
Straight towards me.
Chapter 16
‘Uh, Rose?’ Llinos’s voice is a whisper, but it’s perfectly loud enough for me to hear the panic within it. I give her hand a squeeze and then release it. I want my hands free for what comes next, but I let one hover close to the dagger’s pommel.
Benny stiffens next to me, but it’s Jonas I’m most aware of. His fingers graze my hand as if he’s considering taking hold of it, only to pull away as Kyor approaches.
‘Kyor,’ Jonas says, his voice neutral. ‘I am glad you made it back for the Retterheld. People were starting to worry you wouldn’t return in time from the Northern territories.’
Kyor doesn’t so much as acknowledge Jonas’s presence. His attention is all on me, his icy-blue eyes staring me down, breaking contact only to scan my body in a tortuously slow sweep that lingers on my hips, my thighs and – it feels – every one of my curves.
‘Have you spoken to my father?’ he asks casually. ‘He’s no doubt dying to see you again, Kultavaris.’ The emphasis he puts on the worddyingsuggests that I’ll be the one seeing Mortidem sooner rather than later.
‘I haven’t yet had the pleasure,’ I fire back as flatly as I can manage.
‘No. From what I recall, pleasure is something you’re lacking in,’ he says, his eyes glinting.
I bite back the retort on my tongue. He might be untouchable here, surrounded by knights and lords – people I’m sure would happily givetheir lives for his – but I’m not. Besides, what I have to say to him doesn’t need an audience.
When he finally realises he’s not going to get a rise out of me, he looks around at Jonas and Benny. He nods his head at Jonas. ‘Sensible of you to pick this one to fuck first, given she’s not going to survive the first trial. The Retterheld has no place for flowers. Graveyards do though. Which is exactly where she belongs.’
His venom works to knock the breath from me, and though fury rises sharp and hot in my chest, not a single word makes it past my lips.
‘Okay, that’s enough.’ Benny places his hand on Kyor’s shoulder. ‘I know you’re a prince and everything, but your manners are shocking. And in case you haven’t realised, tonight is meant to be fun.’
Given how Benny had no intention of making the night anything more than business only minutes ago, I should find the comment amusing. But I don’t. I’ve only just made these friends, and now they’re being forced to make an enemy of one of the most powerful Rettlings. For me.
The air grows taut as Kyor’s eyes narrow on Benny. ‘I know you.’
‘Probably from one of these tedious things,’ Benny replies drily, the same way he had to Jonas earlier. ‘Now, did you want anything else, or are we done here?’
Kyor’s lips twist as his attention shifts back to me. ‘You are racking them up, aren’t you, Kultavaris? Can’t say I blame you. Might as well get as much fun in as you can before you meet Mortidem. Maybe I could join you one night, too? I guess it would have to be soon. You know, with the trials coming up. So … is it a together thing, or one at a time?’
A sound rumbles from Benny and his fingers flex as though it’s taking all his restraint not to hit the prince. And from the way the corner of Kyor’s mouth twitches, he sees it too. It’s all just a game to him.
But if he truly wanted me dead, he could have done it at the temple. So why didn’t he?
