“You insist.” I lifted one eyebrow. “Truly?”
“Well.” She gulped down a swallow. “I?—”
“Out of my way,” I barked, reaching around her to knock again.
“What do you want?” Lorant snarled from behind the panel. “I have businessto attend to.”
“See?” Calista said. “The king does not wish to be disturbed.”
“That was Lord Lorant.”
“I distinctly heard the voice of our king.” She latched onto my arm. “He’s busy. You must return to your rooms. Come now. I’ll help you dress for dinner with the queen.”
“I’mthe queen.”
She stilled, her face going florid. “I’m terribly sorry. You are. My mistake, my queen. But still, you must return to your rooms and leave King Merrick to rest. He remains inside his room from dusk until dawn and he’s quite specific. No one is allowed to enter.”
“Because he’s cursed,” I shouted, wrenching away from her. “Split into two people and this is why you never see Merrick between dusk and dawn or Lorant from dawn until dusk. I’m going to break this curse, and if you try to get in my way, I’ll…”
She blinked, her gaze unfocused. “Please.” Her tone came out more pleasant. “Allow the king to rest. I’m sure the queen mother will be thrilled to see you at dinner.”
She would not.
“I’m not dining with Erisandra tonight.” I slammed my fist on the door. “Merrick?” I knew very well he was gone, locked up inside Lorant for now. “I need to speak with you.”
Lorant swung the door open only wide enough to poke his nose through the gap. “I’ll see you shortly in the tower.”
“You’ll see me now.” I shoved the door wider and latched onto the front of his tunic, dragging him out of the room and down the hall. Inside my own suite, I shut the outer door in Calista’s face while she sputtered, Moira and Faelith hovering behind her.
“I may need a new lady-in-waiting,” I snapped as I hauled Lorant into my bedroom and closed that door as well. “Calista’s impertinent. I’m going to replace her as soon as possible.”
“Now this is the queen I knew you could be, Wildfire.” Lorantswept his arm out and dipped forward in an elegant bow. “Would you like me to snap her neck? Stab her in the back one night when she’s sneaking from her room?”
“She sneaks from her room? Where’s she going?”
“She and one of the high lords keep meeting up in the parlor to…” He grimaced. “I don’t remain nearby long enough to find out.”
“Good for her.” A stunning revelation, but why not? That was the least of my concerns. “I’ll give her one more chance. Don’t kill her.”
“As you wish.” He strolled to the bed and peeled back the top blanket, stroking his fingertips across my pillow. When he looked over his shoulder, his sneering drawl teased its way down my spine. “If you wanted me in your bedroom, you only had to ask.”
“We don’t have time for that.”
His sultry gaze swept across my frame. “There’s always time for that.”
With a growl, I nudged him to the side. After yanking the covers back up over my pillow, I snatched the ball off the bed, spinning to face Lorant with it held aloft. “Look, look!”
Farris flopped his tail where he lounged on the foot of the bed with only one eye half-open. He’d ignored the ball since I took it back from Erisandra, reinforcing my belief she’d glamoured the book to make it appear like a toy. No wonder Farris kept dropping it by my feet. Silly me thought he wanted me to throw it for him when he must be able to see through her spell. My nyxin was smart.
Very smart.
“Your pet appears too tired to play.” Lorant’s gaze flicked to the closet. “I suggest you dress in your leathers and climb the steps to the tower. Practice calling the nullification power. I’ll join you as soon as I take care of a…delicate matter.”
“What delicate matter?”
“Something you don’t need to worry your mind about now. You need to practice commanding shadows tonight as well. We haven’t even started with your lightning, but I believe we’ll have time for some practice with that as well. Perhaps you wish to use it to carve that L into the floor?”
“Where are you going?” I shouldn’t be focusing on this now, but,assassin. Wait. “You’re going to kill someone?” I cried out loud enough to make Farris lift both eyelids to look my way.
