A promise rang in those words, and I sensed he wasn’t referring solely to the dance floor, but also to the playful banter we’d exchanged. In that moment, I acknowledged that a part of me already yearned for our next encounter.
I stayed at the party for another hour before excusing myself. It had been a long day, and I feared my decorum was about to fall below acceptable standards.
The king remained behind with Nevander, while Tarrin escorted me back to my guest suite.
Once we were well clear of prying eyes and ears, Tarrin stopped and turned around to face me. He took me in, searching for evidence of what Amos had done.
“I’m fine,” I said.
Rage filled his eyes. “Nothing about what happened to you tonight wasfine,Nyleeria.” That rage dulled to shame. Shame that he hadn’t been able to protect me, that he hadn’t fulfilledhis duty.
I laid a hand on his arm. “Tarrin, we knew something like this could happen. Possibly worse.”
He placed his hand over mine, and I could see thoughts of retribution simmering in him. Without another word, he turned, and I continued to follow him down the hallway.
Chapter 25
Coping
Arms crossed, I stood in my guest suite, looking out at the star-flecked sky, the warm air drifting across my skin through the open windows. Behind me, the door creaked faintly as it opened before soft footsteps came toward me.
“Lady, you need to bathe,” a female said from behind me.
“Not tonight.”
“Lady, you really sho?—”
“Not tonight,” I said, refusing to move from my vigil of the stars.
She sighed in resolve, then fussed over the room for a few minutes before murmuring something about a morning bath as she closed the door behind her.
Once I started fighting my eyes to stay open, I turned away from the window, finding that the stranger had transformed the room. Normally, I would have marveled at the fire orbs now floating about the space, but I was more interested in the nightgown she’d laid out on the turned down bed.
As I made to change, a soft, tentative knock came through the door.
Tossing the gown back on the bed, I huffed, readying myself totell her, in no uncertain terms, to leave me alone. But the instant the door opened, revealing the king, a relieved sob escaped me, and my knees buckled as I fell forward into his arms.
“Shh. Shh,” he soothed as he held me close. “Gods above, you’re freezing, Nyleeria.” Scooping me into his arms like he’d done that first day, he looked down at me with deep, almost desperate concern. “Stars, you’re shaking.”
He was right, the terror had finally caught up to me.
Keeping me cradled in his arms, he sat us down on the couch. I leaned my head against his chest and allowed his warm, steadying presence to envelope me. As I relaxed into him, I could no longer fight back my tears, finally cracking. The king moved a broad hand to clear them away but stopped when I flinched.
A deep furrow creased his brow. “What did he do to you, Nyleeria?” he whispered, his voice a mix of tenderness and calm fury.
I shuddered from the memory and my trembling intensified. “He—” I started, but terror stole my voice. I wanted to tell him,neededto. I couldn’t hold the memory alone. “He bound me”—my hand slid to my throat, feeling the band that was no longer there—“and demanded answers. It was like he was in my mind, all around me. Then he…” My voice cracked, and more tears fell. I wiped at them with the back of my hand, angry at their existence, at how they conjured the phantom breath that prowled along my cheeks in search of quarry it could turn to ice.
I shook my head, trying to dispel the feeling. “He locked us in a dome, then wrapped me in bindings of fog. When he didn’t get what he wanted”—I swallowed—“he turned the bindings into ice that burned like fire and tightened them out of anger—there was nothing I could do. The spark begged me to unleash it, but I forced myself to stay calm and coaxed it back to sleep. I didn’t scream or show fear, it’s what he wanted, and I couldn’t risk my powers coming out. But it…it hurt too much, and a tear betrayed me, and as it slid down my cheek, he said”—a gulping sob left me—“he said,Now, now, Nyleeria.None of that, then leaned in and blew on me, freezing the tear in place.”
“Oh, Nyleeria,” the king said, wrapping his arms tighter around me. I was shivering so hard that the movement transferred to him.
“I didn’t know what to do,” I said, looking up at him, “so I tapped into the part of me that understands his power. I accepted winter for all its beauty, yielded to it, and”—I paused, not wanting to relive it, but I forced myself to move on, move through—“the tear thawed. The rage in Amos’s eyes when he saw it…I thought he was going to kill me. He tightened the band around my neck until I couldn’t breathe, and I took comfort in knowing it would be over soon. Then a flash of light filled my blackening vision, and I was on the dance floor alone. I don’t know how or why.”
“It was Caius,” the king said. “Once he’d realized what was happening, he broke through whatever shield Amos had up. It shattered, and you fell from about ten feet to the ground. No sign of Amos, just you.”
It made sense now why my body ached so much; a ten-foot rag-doll drop isn’t for the faint of heart.
A few heartbeats passed before the king said, “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you.”
