Princess Lavinia wraps her arms around my shoulders while practically squealing with startling glee.
“It is so wonderful to meet you!” She holds me at arm's length and looks me up and down. "Oh, you poor thing. You look absolutely wretched. Let me take you to my room and get you cleaned up.” She's dragging me, and I don't dare argue, but I give Raiden a look that I hope says, “What the fuck? Help me!”
“Livvy, I don't know if …” he starts, and why does him calling her by a nickname send a pang to my chest?
“Nonsense. She's coming with me. You want to clean up and put something a little more comfortable on, don't you, Arina?” she asks, but it's not a question. I look back to Raiden for something. Anything. He just lifts his shoulders apologetically. I don't know much about interacting with royalty, but I don't dare defy her.
“Don't worry. Raiden can find us some treats while we have a little girl time,” she tells me, tugging me forward insistently.
She is oddly kind for someone who just found her fiancé in a boat with a strange woman. Maybe too kind. I don't think I'm in any danger. Raiden would have stepped in if I were. Wouldn't he?
I know nothing of other kingdoms and their customs, but it doesn't make sense for him to go through all the trouble of keeping me alive just to let his fiancée murder me. But maybe that was his plan all along. Maybe I'm a wedding gift.
My mind is running away, sending me flashes of the different ways this beautiful fae might end my life. But she doesn't.
She drags me across the glimmering deck of the ship. From this height, I can see the ocean on all sides, going on forever. We pass a couple of crew members, one of whom is flying, hovering from place to place like it's nothing.
I don't have time to gawk because Lavinia pulls me through a door and into her lavish room.
She draws me a warm bath in her tub, filling it with oils I've never smelled in my life. They bring me a sense of serenity as I rinse away the salt that's dried on my skin and in my hair. She is being so nice, and I almost feel guilty for the seed of hate sprouting in my soul.
Lavinia chatters at me from the other side of the slatted wooden partition as I bathe and then change into the dress she's provided me with. She could be spilling her deepest, darkest secrets, and I would never know because I cannot hear a word she's saying. I'm too distracted, too overwhelmed by everything, to make sense of her.
The clothes are loose and flowy, and unlike anything I'm used to wearing. The peach material is so light that I feel exposed when I step out from behind the divider.
She clasps her hands together in front of her. “You look amazing!” Somehow her words don't make me feel any better.
I give her a small smile. “Thank you.”
Lavinia's face has sympathy written all over it, and I think she might finally be about to tell me to stay away from her man, but I try to beat her to it. I want to explain myself. Tell her that I actually hate her fiancée, and give her all the reasons why, which includes him never once mentioning he was engaged.
“I didn't reali—"
“You must be so tired,” she interrupts, and I nod. “Here, rest in my bed.” She leads me to the large, plush bed and untucks the blankets, gesturing for me to climb in.
“I couldn't,” I protest, but she puts her fingers to my lips to stop me.
“Shh. Raiden and I have some business to discuss, and I'm a princess. You are forbidden to tell me no.” She puts her hands onher hips until I climb into her bed, and oh my gods, it is the most comfortable thing I have ever touched.
The cool silk fabric against my warmed skin is soothing, and I don't want to upset her by arguing.
“Very good. Don't worry, I'm sure Raiden won't let you out of his sight for long.” She winks at me, and then she's out the door. She is undoubtedly the strangest female I have ever encountered, and I don’t trust her for a second.
My stomach chooses this moment to remind me that all I've had to eat the last few days is a couple of apples, and Lavinia had sent Raiden to bring us food, which he never procured.
The last thing I want to do is get out of this skiesblessed bed, so I try to endure the empty cavern that is my demanding stomach. It's not like I haven't gone to bed hungry before, but for some reason it's harder knowing there is food readily available. And after a while, I recognize that without food, I will not be sleeping.
I don't bother with shoes, thinking I'll quickly track down some small snack and head right back down to sleep in the world's most comfortable bed. But I do strap my dagger to my thigh, just in case. The slit in my dress goes almost to my hip, which means I can easily access the dagger if needed.
What I don't expect to find is the princess and the rebel discussing their business out in the open. They're huddled next to a pile of crates. Lavinia sits on one, while Raiden has a foot propped up on another, leaning above her. A smile crinkles his eyes, and she throws her head back in a melodious laugh that drifts on the wind to me.
Something in me snaps at the sight of them. And then his eyes flit to mine, and his smile fades.
I can't catch my breath. My muscles tighten, and the ache in my chest coupled with the nagging hunger pangs is impossible to ignore. I don't think I've ever truly been jealous of anyone in mylife. At least, not for romantic reasons. Or maybe not romance, but attraction? I don't know. But I think that's what this is.
All I do know is that for some godsdamned reason, I would kill for him to look at me even a fragment as kindly as he was just looking at her.
I turn and run back to Lavinia's room, frustrated at the foolish tears that are stinging my eyes and threatening to fall.
