‘Raleigh.’I put the comb to his chin and tilted his face to look at me.‘You’re allowed to feel.’
He stopped.Simply stopped.Stopped shaking, stopped breathing.For a moment he could have been truly dead.Then he closed his eyes and let out a long steady breath.‘Style it however you like.I trust you to do a good job.’
I pretended not to notice his glistening lashes.
Raleigh’s trust in me was unfounded.I barely knew how to style my own hair, let alone a man’s.Growing up, Johanna had always been the one to pin my braids, and since arriving at Castle Rostenburg I’d worn it loose, never bothering to do any more than brush out the knots.I tried to channel Moira as I ran the comb along Raleigh’s part.His hair was naturally stiff, and it didn’t take much to shape his fringe to its usual style, but I couldn’t quite match the effortless perfection Moira managed to wrangle every evening.Luckily he would never know.
‘It’s done,’ I said.And then, ‘Don’t touch it!’
‘Sorry.Thank you.’He looked down, a sigh wisping past his lips.‘I’m sorry,’ he repeated, and this time I knew he wasn’t speaking about his hair.
I stepped away from him, roiling with shame.‘I’m the one who should be apologising,’ I said.‘I was too forward.You’ve already made it clear how you feel and here of all places—’
Raleigh stood, and then to my surprise folded me into his arms.My breath stopped, my body alive at his embrace.I melted into him, burying my face in his chest, clinging to his back.I could feel his nose in my hair, his own fingers buried in the fabric of my dress.
‘Someone may be watching us,’ he finished with a whisper.And the moment shattered.
Do I need to pretend to be in love with you when we’re alone too?
I no longer knew where the pretence ended and the real Raleigh began.He was the one who said he didn’t love me.He was the one who said he had to lie to the Queen.But this, here, wrapped in his embrace, it hadn’t felt like an act.
I didn’t want it to be an act.
In time Raleigh drew away but held me at arm’s length, as though delaying the inevitability of letting go.His bare hands on my naked shoulders felt illicit.Every nerve in my body felt like they had condensed into those two spots.I wanted to push the emotions away, but I had to cling to them, painful as they were.I had to hold on for the sake of our lie.
‘I think I’m ready.’
I forced a smile, and hoped it was comforting.‘We’reready.’
My skin felt even more bare when Raleigh took his hands away to seek out his coat and gloves.But the contact wasn’t lost for long.Fully dressed, he bowed playfully, ever the gracious escort, and held his arm out for me.‘Shall we?’
So I linked my arm with his, and prayed this wouldn’t be the final time.
Twenty-Four
THE PALACE HAD COMEalive in the time it took for Raleigh and me to dress.Droves of vampires roamed the halls.Some were clearly entranced, with vacant faces and unfocused eyes, while others held themselves with a cool elegance, eager to crane a look at the prodigal prince and his besotted bride.It felt as though they had all been lying in wait, watching from the shadows on our arrival, and now that it was too late to turn back, they had emerged from the dark.A reminder, perhaps, thatshewas always watching.
The ballroom was magnificent beyond words.There were more mirrors inside, filled with the glittering reflections of a thousand candles.They illuminated the dancers to their full resplendence, men and women dressed in centuries of fashion, waltzing in the modern style.Each dancer was beautiful in their own ethereal way, elegant to the point of eeriness.One final enormous mirror crowned the ballroom, worth more, perhaps, than the rest of the palace combined.
Mine was the only face reflected back, alone in an empty room, arm linked with nothing but air.
‘Why are there so many mirrors?’I asked Raleigh as he led me through the crowd.The rooms were spacious enough without the need to resort to illusions, and I was fairly confident the Queen didn’t use them to preen at her reflection.
‘For safety,’ Raleigh explained.‘It’s not always easy to tell human from vampire, and at a ball like this I doubt evenshewould know everyone by sight.The mirrors help us spot any hunters who might have slipped inside.’
‘I thought you could smell human blood?’Most of the books I’d read mentioned this, and it lined up with what I knew of his heightened senses.
‘Once the banquet starts it’s impossible to sift through the smells.’
A pang of dread jabbed at me.‘The banquet?’
‘Raleigh.’A venomously sweet female voice rang out behind us.Was it her?I wondered.
But Raleigh bit out a smile, spun us both to face her and said equally sweetly, ‘Seraphina.’
I found myself facing a woman who was almost as tall as Raleigh, her dark hair piled high in two buns at the top of her head.Her gown looked like a player’s costume, with dramatically bulging sleeves I couldn’t imagine having graced any other court since the Reformation.‘Is this the bride I’ve heard so much about?’
‘It’s the bride no one should have heard anything about,’ Raleigh replied, matching her wide smile.‘Tell me, cousin, have you seen Her Majesty tonight?’
