I have just slipped on my heels when a knock sounds. Leaving my room, I cross into the outer chamber and open the door.
Koen towers above me, dark and striking in ceremonial finery that sharpens the lines of his body. His jaw is all hardangles, his black hair brushed neatly back, though a single lock dares to fall across his brow. His golden eyes—oh stars above, those eyes—catch the torchlight and gleam like fire.
For a moment, I forget how to breathe.
His eyes take me in, and his expression shifts to awe.
“Serenya…” His voice is a whisper, almost reverent. “You are…mesmerizing. Like something out of a dream.”
Heat floods my cheeks. I try for a witty retort, something light to break the intensity of the moment. “Well…you clean up decently yourself. Almost like a real lord.”
His lips twitch into a grin, golden eyes gleaming. “Decently? That’s all I get? I spent hours letting some poor servant wrestle me into this cursed tunic, and you give me ‘decently’?”
A laugh slips out of me, the kind I didn’t realize I’d been holding back. “Would you prefer unbearably handsome? Because I don’t think your ego needs any more feeding.”
He chuckles, low and warm, the sound curling through me like firelight. “I’ll settle for unbearably handsome. Especially if it keeps you staring at me like that, little shadow.”
A flutter goes through me, heat pooling low as my gaze drifts to his mouth before I can stop it, lingering a heartbeat too long. My eyes flick back up to meet his. The world narrows to the curve of his smile and the warmth in his eyes. I swallow hard, fighting the pull to go to him, the wanting that’s becoming hard to hide. I look away, but the warmth blooming beneath my ribs refuses to settle.
He straightens, offering his arm. “May I escort you, Your Highness?”
“You may,” I reply softly, slipping my arm into his.
Together, we begin the long walk to the great hall, Gaius a silent shadow at our backs.
The silence between us is not uncomfortable, but it is weighted. Every step hums with unspoken words. By the time the towering doors rise before us, my chest is tight with everything I cannot hold back. I can’t wait for the banquet. I can’t let him walk into this moment not knowing.
Before the guards can open the doors, I gently tug him to a stop, still linked to him by the arm.
“Koen, wait.”
------------? ? ? ? ?------------
Koen
Her voice stops me cold.
Not just my name, but the way she says it. Urgent. Fragile. Like it costs her something just to speak.
I turn to her, pulse thundering in my ears. She’s staring at me as though she’s standing on the edge of a cliff, deciding whether or not to jump.
“Serenya?” I breathe, my throat tight.
Her hand trembles where it clings to my arm. She swallows hard, her gaze locking on mine as though she’s bracing herself.
“There’s something I need to tell you before we go in. I–I can’t…” She takes a breath like she’s trying to calm her nerves.
My heart stutters. Can’t what? Can’t let me go in without knowing? Can’t keep hiding what she feels?
Or am I a fool for hoping that’s what she’ll say?
I want to believe it. Every stolen glance, every flicker of softness in her voice when she forgets her walls. All of it flashes through me like lightning. But doubt claws in just as quickly. What if it isn’t what I think? What if I’ve only imagined it, twisted kindness into something more because I wanted it so badly?
The great doors burst open. Light spills through, gilding her hair in fire and silver. A herald’s voice bellows our arrival, echoing down the corridor, drowning her out.
She freezes. Her lips close. The moment shatters.
For a heartbeat, fear crushes me. Maybe she wasn’t going to say it. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she was about to tell me something else entirely.
