My heart pumped furiously, and I had a sudden urge to tackle the captain to the ground. Before I could even twitch, the beautiful man arched a single eyebrow. Unfazed and maybeeven a little amused by the threat to his life. Then those gray eyes settled on me, and they blazed brightly, burning into a shimmering silver the longer I stared into them.
I rose slowly, the weakness in my legs forgotten, entranced by him. His eyes endless depths of silver I couldn’t break free from. Not that I wanted to. No, I wanted to get lost in them and never find my way out. To know everything they had seen and everything the man behind them had ever felt.
He was so tall I had to keep my head bent so I could keep eye contact, even standing to my full height. I couldn’t pull my eyes away, not when his returning gaze sparked with the same intensity. Then the strange man stunned everyone, me most of all.
He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. To. Me.
Oh, fuck.
I froze. This was it, my life was forfeit. Gods, I hoped Wista would get Eleanor out, because I wouldn’t survive this. Not when this man, this strange and beautiful man who emerged from the lamp, knelt before me.
Not King Terym.Me.
Everyone took a collective breath, all of us waiting for the king’s command to slay not only me but the man who defied his monarchy by bowing to another.
Then the man spoke, his voice so deep and gravelly it sent a slow sensuous shiver crawling over my skin.
“Life Provided on the sun’s longest day.
A true witness to the Taker of Death.
The one to Wield the utmost Strength.
She who has remained true to the Giver’s virtue.
On the twenty-fifth turn of the sun, bleed pure.
Under the rays of her truest form, thrice a wish you shall receive.”
The man raised his head, and those shimmering silver eyes held me captive once more. The harsh silence following his words choked me. I didn’t understand what they meant, couldn’t focus enough to try. My heart was beating too fast, my breathing too shallow. Darkness hovered on the edges of my mind, those silver eyes the only thing keeping it at bay. The king would slaughter me. Slaughter us. Slaughterhim. Although I hadn’t spoken a word to the man before me, something in my chest told me I couldn’t let that happen.
The lords shuffled and twitched, and the slight creaking of the soldiers’ armor spoke to their own unease.
Still, Terym said nothing. Did nothing.
“Please stand up,” I breathed when I couldn’t take it anymore. Perhaps if he stopped, the king could be persuaded not to kill me.
The beautiful man’s gaze remained on me, and he slowly rose to his feet, the expression slashed across his harsh features unreadable. A blank mask I couldn’t pull away from, not when those silver eyes swirled with such intensity.
“Well, now that’s out of the way.” Terym spoke in that monotone way of his, giving no insight into his feelings. “Let us test that theory. Adelia, my dear, you must make my first wish.” He pushed past Gensen, despite the captain’s protests, to stand beside me, far too close. His arm brushed mine, and I recoiled, unable to help my body’s reaction. It hadn’t been like this before. I had been wary of him, but I could stop my reaction most of the time. Now, there was something very wrong with his proximity.
The beautiful man’s nostrils flared slightly, but he didn’t move. Didn’t speak. His gaze never straying from mine.
The humming vibration no longer came from the lamp in my hand but from the man before me, a quiver disturbing the air. My heart still raced in echo to it, as if desperately trying to synchronize with the strange beat. My hand twitched with thesudden urge to reach out and feel that beat beneath my palm. Feel his chest. His heart.
I inhaled deeply, trying to curb the desire to touch him, but all it did was fill my nose and lungs with that heady scent. Floral and woodsy. It grounded me, and the fog taking over my mind cleared a little.
I blinked, coming back to myself. I was so lost in the man’s eyes I hadn’t responded to the king, couldn’t even recall what he’d asked.
Terym made a noise deep in his throat, one of impatience, and my attention darted to him. His jaw was clenched, and he ground his teeth, fists balled at his side. He was angry. No—furious.
I audibly gulped, immediately dipping into a low curtsy and bowing my head in supplication. I hoped it would be enough to appease his ire. “M-my deepest apologies, my king. What is it you would like me to do?”
“Make my first wish. I wish for an army, one that never tires, that’s unbeatable!” Terym’s demand was a vise across my chest, squeezing so tight I struggled to draw breath. Hisfirst wish. He wanted me to make his first wish.
The beautiful man’s words echoed in my mind.Under the rays of her truest form, thrice a wish you shall receive.
That’s what he said when he knelt before me. The strange man, who had been held inside the lamp, would give me three wishes. Three wishes the king demanded for himself.
