“Is our food not up to your human standards?” Karwyn said, interrupting her thoughts. He pointed his fork at her full plate. “Or is it perhaps too rich in taste compared to your mediocre nourishments on Earth?”
A retort lay on her tongue, but Lora knew he was only goading her for a reaction. “You didn’t ask me here to discuss my food preferences, so what is it you want?” Being this close to him,alone,unsettled her more than she’d like to admit.
“Maybe I want to spend some quality time with my last relative,” Karwyn said before a cruel smile stretched across his face. “While I still can.”
The cling of her fork against her china plate echoed through the room as Lora dropped it. “I’m tempted to throw myself out the window just to spare myself another minute of your dreadful company,” she retorted.
Karwyn’s smile didn’t crack. “I am sure your poor mother would not be happy about being pulled to the grave early because of her daughter’s stupidity.”
An image of her mum, a hand on her chest as her heart gave out, filled Lora’s head, and she fought hard to keep the pain away. The fire inside her was waking up, filling her body with lava she wished she could throw at hercousin.The word still made her sick. She pushed it out of her mind. “What is it you want?”
“Well, little cousin, so nice of you to ask. I have heard you have been enjoying Rhay’s after-parties quite a lot.” Karwyn leaned in from across the blinding silver table. “As your older cousin, I am merely concerned with the kind of company you might come across. I think it is only reasonable to have you escorted from now on.”
So he wanted her watched even more than she already was. Brilliant. Lora had taken advantage of her chance to walk around the palace these last few days, but she hadn’t found anything of note yet. Rhay kept her too busy to do much exploring. It seemed since Amira’s departure, the fae was in desperate need of a distraction. Had her window to spy already closed?
“And who will have the honour?” she mocked.
Karwyn smiled knowingly. “Layken,” he said loudly.
The door opened swiftly, revealing a fae with dark brown hair and lazuli blue eyes. He was wearing a guard’s uniform, but even without the telling clothes, Lora already knew who he was.
She had more than one reason to hate him. He was the one Eyden and Lora had been following the night the young fae had been captured in front of their eyes. He’d also had a hand in her own capture at River’s Point. Something told her Karwyn knew very well Layken had been the one to trap her that day. Lora hadn’t seen any of the other guards who had been present the day she had been captured. Had Karwyn forced them to keep quiet?
Layken stepped into the room, a hand resting atop the sword sheathed at his side. “My king.”
“I trust everything is going according to plan?” Karwyn asked.
“It is.” Layken was stone-faced.
“Good. Please escort my cousin to her training session with Rhay.”
Layken moved away from the door while Lora glanced at Karwyn, who raised his eyebrows in dismissal.
Getting up, she pushed back the silver velvet chair and started towards the door. When she walked by Layken, she heard Karwyn say, “And Layken, please tell my shadow I will need to have a conversation with him later.”
Layken didn’t respond as he signalled for Lora to keep walking, but she was sure he would follow the king’s every demand. Being trailed by a guard would make Lora’s mission more difficult than it already was. But as she walked through the palace hallway, another thought pressed to the forefront of her mind.
Who the hell was Karwyn’s shadow?
* * *
Rhay wasn’t in the training room when Lora got there, Layken following her closely. Taking a seat on the wooden bench, she stretched her legs. Layken leaned against the wall, waiting. He didn’t look all that happy to be here either. Maybe following her wasn’t the most exciting job for someone used to capturing fae in Chrysa for Karwyn to experiment on.
Now that she thought about it, Lora couldn’t remember seeing him in the palace since she’d been allowed to walk around. Had he been busy stalking innocent fae in Chrysa?
“So, what’s it like being a guard?” Lora asked carefully, testing the waters.
Layken’s sharp gaze focused on her. “What are you getting at?”
“It was a simple question. Do you enjoy being a guard?”
“It has its advantages.”
“What do you like about it?” Crossing her legs, she leaned her head against the wall. The memory of Layken pressing a blade to her throat was vivid in her mind. “Making arrests?” she sneered.
Layken’s expression remained blank as he stalked forward, towering over her. “I’m good at it,” he said. A subtle smile appeared on his face, and Lora had to fight the urge to smack it off him. “As I’m sure you remember.”
“Is that how you got the gig of watching over me? Sounds like a demotion to me.” She thought she had him, but his smug grin widened.
