"You'll find that some of the others are old-fashioned and will think it rude to address you by your first name. We follow our alpha, and you are his mate," Syn replied matter-of-factly. "If you are determined to pursue this mad idea of eating together, make sure to include a vegan option. Eiran is a stag shifter." Syn laughed darkly. "I can't wait to see how long it will take before Tenebrys tries to kill him tonight. Eiran might appreciate a good final meal before that."
And with that mysterious pronouncement, Syn disappeared into the kitchen, still chuckling under his breath.
31
The château had a ballroom and a feasting hall. Delphi had looked at both for a long moment before deciding to use a dining room that must have once belonged to the staff. It was a shorter walk to the kitchen, and it was still one of the grandest rooms she had ever eaten in.
While food was cooking, Delphi had gone back to her original room connected to the old laboratory to bathe and hunt down clean clothes. When she opened the wardrobe where she had stored her pack, she found it hung with shirts in soft fabrics, decorative waistcoats, finely tailored pants, and silk undergarments. She had only just bathed and was still uneasy about touching them in case she got them dirty.
"How can magic do all of this?" she murmured, finally giving in to temptation and running her fingers over the rich fabrics. Her fingers snagged on one and seemed to stick, so she pulled it free.
It was a silk dress, simple with no ridiculous bows or other nonsense. It had small buttons running up the front, and a set of ties at the back that could be adjusted for comfort.
The color made the fire in Delphi's chest glow. It was a dangerously dark red, the kind of red that would have made her flinch to even think of wearing, even if she could have afforded the dress.
It was the same red that they had dressed the witch in when they had burned her in Montcrillon, and Delphi had always associated it with danger. She remembered the crowds so clearly that day, their eager, bloodthirsty faces salivating over suffering. There had been very few women, and all of them high-born and therefore untouchable, but there had been a lot of men who loved to see any woman with power suffer. Dressed in the rags of boys' clothes, Delphi had been the only child.
"Fuck all of you ignorant bastards," she snarled and put on the dress. Delphi did up the buttons and ties, and stared at her reflection. The red in her hair glowed brighter as she unraveled her braid. She was going to redo it and then decided against it. She rarely left it out, but tonight was special, so she arranged the loose waves over her shoulders.
Delphi couldn't wear her old boots with such a dress, so she hunted through the cupboard and slid out a large drawer she hadn't noticed before.
Inside was a pair of black leather boots, so soft and shiny they didn't look real. They weren't proper work boots. They had a short heel, a pointed toe, and delicate lacing that rose to the calf. Only nobles would have such impractical footwear.
It didn't stop her from pulling on a pair of soft black socks and trying them on. She stood up slowly, unsure, and after a few trial steps, she realized that she could walk in them easily.
Delphi struggled not to feel like a little girl playing dress up until she remembered the way Syn and Tenebrys insisted she was a queen. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, with her horns, loose hair, red dress, and defiant smirk, shefeltlike aqueen. Queen of the Wild Things with fire and magic in her blood and a beast in her bed.
This is who you have always meant to be, the voice said inside of her.
Delphi swallowed down the lump in her throat. "Yes, it is," she whispered to her reflection. She straightened her shoulders and went to find her king.
Delphi heardthe shifters arguing before she could see them. It was strange to hear voices raised when there were usually none.
"How can we be sure she isn't some plant sent by Plagues to finish us off?" one voice growled.
"Because she is Narcisse's spawn, you lout," said another more cultured one. "After sending Kesari's mother here, do you really think Plagues would risk it?"
"If she is a witch, she could have enchanted Tenebrys to believed they are mates."
"No magical enchantment in the world could make a knot appear on my dick if Delphi wasn't my true mate, Nahir," Tenebrys replied impatiently.
"I still don't like it."
"You don't like anything, Nahir," drawled another voice. "Being miserable is your natural state. She belongs to Kesari, and no parentage can ever change that. Maela was one of Plagues's most loyal assassins, and when she met the king, none of it mattered for either of them. You shifters and your mating rituals are impossible to counteract in that regard. She won't ever betray us, because whatever loyalty existed in her past now belongs to Kesari. Youknowthis. You just want to be obstinate."
Delphi had heard enough. She pushed open the doors to the room and declared loudly, "Where the fuck is my mate?"
Seven pairs of eyes turned on her. She smiled at Syn and Felix. Both of them were cleaner than she had ever seen them and were dressed in shirts and pants that fit their uniquely shaped legs. The château hadn't only been making clothes for her, it would seem.
The other three she didn't recognize, but they were all powerful, huge, and stunning to look at.
Delphi found Tenebrys, dressed in all black. He looked her over, his eyes glowing with a primal, animal intensity that never failed to send a shock of lightning and lust through her veins. If he kept looking at her like that, if they made it through dinner without her ripping his clothes off, it would be a miracle.
Tenebrys closed in on her, and she crooked a finger at him coyly. He leaned down and kissed her. Little shocks of hot desire burned her lips, and she had to remind herself that they had an audience. She reluctantly drew back.
"Do they always argue this much?" she asked him.
"Unfortunately, yes," he replied, a big paw moving to rest on her hip. "Maybe we should skip dinner. Leave them here to bitch at each other, and we can go and find some peace and quiet."
