Touching my chin, he gently guided my face so I had no choice but to look at him. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. It took every shred of my willpower to stop myself, but, trust me, waiting will be worth it. I’ll make sure of it,” he said with a flash of heat in his eyes.
That made me feel a fraction better, although my ego was still recovering. “That’s a bold claim, Your Highness.”
His face broke into a smile. “I stand by my words.” He took a step towards me, closing the distance between us. “Does this mean you agree to keep seeing me?”
Acutely aware of how close he was, I felt a fresh wave of heat strike my core.What is wrong with me?I needed to get away from him so I could think properly again. “Yes. I’ll keep seeingyou,” I said, shrugging off his jacket and handing it to him.
“Excellent,” he said with a boyish grin. “Until then.” He leaned in and chastely brushed his lips against my cheek.
“Until then,” I echoed, watching him retreat with a marked spring in his step.
I folded my arms and leaned against the doorframe. I didn’t know what had come over me tonight, but I blamed it on the wine. A decent night’s sleep was all I needed and I’d be feeling like myself again. I was certain of it.
***
A pounding in my head and a commotion outside my door.
I wasn’t sure which of these things thrust me out of myveryindecent dreams about Tarben first, but I was far from happy about it either way.
At first, I attempted to muffle the noise by burying my head beneath a pillow, but the racket persisted, urging me to reluctantly abandon my cozy bed.
Shrugging into my dressing gown, I trudged over to the door, each step reverberating in time with the throb in my head.
When I swung the door open, chaos greeted me.
Servants hurried up and down the halls, looking distressed. Amongst the flurry of activity, I spotted Runa. Her face matched the color of the sheets draped over her arm. The dusting of freckles sprinkled across her nose and forehead made for a stark contrast against her ashen complexion.
“Runa,” I called, my voice coming out as a rasp. “What’s happening?”
“It’s terrible.” Her voice wobbled. She made her way towards me. “They found a dead body on the castle grounds. Lord Hywell has been murdered.”
Chapter 19
The blood rushed to my head. My eardrums pounded against my aching skull. My stomach plummeted to the floor.
Lord Hywell had been murdered?
Not entirely sure what to say or do, the first words that trailed out of my mouth were, “Are you sure?”
Gripping my arm tightly, Runa pulled me back into the bedchamber, dark from the shut drapes and stale with the smell of sleep, and shut the door. “His body was found in the early hours of the morning,” she said with a slight tremor in her voice.
I blinked at her, still not able to process what I was hearing.
In hushed tones, she continued, “His body was mutilated. Someone tortured him and removed all of his fingers.” She grimaced. “What was left of his body was dumped by the kennels. Anders found it this morning.”
While she spoke, she wrung her trembling hands and her widened eyes darted around the room. She appeared as rattled by the news as I felt.
“But…” In my struggle to pluck rational thoughts out of the fog that was clouding my brain, I was lost for words. An image of the bleary-eyed, ruddy-skinned man I had met the night before came into my mind. He was in such high spirits without a care in the world, it seemed.
Then I remembered—
“Livia! Divine goddess…” I covered my mouth with my hand—an involuntary reaction to my realization. She would be devastated.
Runa made a low, sympathetic sound. “It’s hard to believe. But it gets worse.”
Dropping my hand, my eyebrows shot up. How could this news get any worse?
Reading the question in my face, she went on, “They’re saying there was a strange symbol carved into his body, and there are whispers…” She looked over her shoulder and lowered her voice once more. “There are whispers that it’s witchcraft.”
