Loosening the high arrangement she’d crafted, she encouraged some of her hair to drape down over that area to mask it.
“We should rouse Brenna,” I said. “The king will be waiting.” Everything was waiting.
How had the time flown by so fast? I felt like I’d just arrived at the castle, that I’d fled the throne room with devastation burning through my heart. Everything had changed since then.
I’dchanged. I was forged in a fire of my own making, and I welcomed the knowledge that no matter what the fates delivered today, I will have tried.
Dread thrummed through my veins. I kept steeling myself, reminding myself that there was still time. Not to back out of this but to compose my thoughts and my body for what would happen next.
As Vexxion had said, a storm was coming. It would crash across this world and when it was over, everything would be changed. If luck and fate and my heart had a say, it would be changed for the better.
We softly opened Brenna’s door, finding her sitting in a chair, staring out the window.
“So strange,” she said, her voice sounding funny.
We joined her and peered down.
Reyla and I both gasped.
At least thirty Lieges had gathered on the bridge. They stood in a cluster, staring toward the castle with their long,tattered robes fluttering around their skeletal frames. None had dropped their hoods. Only the wretchedness of their souls fell from the thick folds.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Brenna asked, glancing our way with splotchy eyes and tears tracking down her cheeks. Darkness saturated the front of her deep green nightgown. How long had she been sitting here, crying? She snorted out a breath. “I doubt they’ve come for the wedding.”
Or perhaps they had. Had his minions arrived to provide protection?
Tremors gripped my heart, making the beats too fast, relentless. Chills kept seeping into my bones, twisting them to the point of pain.
“It’s time for you to get ready,” I said, brightening my voice and doing all I could to slow my heart and my too-fast breathing. “Your wedding’s about to start.”
“I don’t want to marry Ivenrail.” She gave me a stark, horrified look. “Would you?”
Frankly, no. “You adore him.”
“You do,” Reyla echoed.
“He cares for you,” I added.
Reyla jerked her head in a nod. “He does.”
Most of all, I couldn’t kill him until this woman had taken her place in the throne room.
“Come along,” I said, urging her to rise with a hand beneath her elbow. “Reyla, help her get undressed while I draw her bath.”
The Lieges remained where they were, staring toward thecastle. I couldn’t hold back my shudder. His gathering minions were not part of my plan.
While Brenna sobbed, we hustled her through the motions. Who could blame her for dreading this? She didn’t know her future husband planned to drain her today, but the thought of marriage to that fiend would be almost as bad.
We dressed her in her gorgeous wedding gown, arranged her hair, and painted her face to cover up her tears and dismay. Then we took her out to the sitting room to wait for someone to come tell us it was time to leave for the throne room.
She continued to cry, and I had to craft a spell to keep her make-up from drizzling down her face to stain the fabric of her dress.
I dropped down in front of her, taking her hands and squeezing them. “You have to stop crying. You must remain strong.”
“I can’t.” Her teary gaze met mine. “I don’t love him. I tried to pretend, but I can’t. I never will.”
Reyla joined her, her body dipping down the sofa cushions. “Think of the bright future you’ll have by his side. He’ll place a crown on your head, and you’ll become his queen.”
“I don’t want a crown. His horrible collar that he insists I must accept. And I don’t want to be a queen,” she said with strength in her voice. “I love someone else, and I only want to be with him.”
