So at odds with the light complexion of his skin and white hair falling down around him.
He pauses once he’s descended the steps onto the same plane as us. When he lifts his smooth, angled jaw, his back straightening as he holds his gloved hands behind him, his attention is set stoically on the distance beyond us.
Devin bows low, and we all awkwardly follow suit in a staggered delay.
“King Cyrus. These women come from all over your kingdom and have agreed to the terms set forth before being accepted into this courtship.” Devin fishes something out from a pocket. When he unfolds the paper, he takes a few steps back and motions for the first woman. “Willow from Mossmead.”
The first woman, dressed in a sunflower-yellow gown, walks up and curtsies, batting her eyelashes before Devin motions for her to wait at the other side of the room. One by one, he calls each woman and states their name and town.
Aelia’s smile is dazzling when she bows before King Cyrus. As she lifts and walks to her place with the other women at the far wall, my heart drops into my stomach when I realize who’s next.
Me.
Devin announces, “Lyra, from Kilamber.”
Fighting against the shaking in my legs, I walk to the king and bow before him, clenching my dress in my trembling hands as I stare down at his pristine boots. When I look up at him, towering above me with power rolling off him in waves, the white shade of his irises pierce into my soul. I might have flinched. It’s like staring into another being entirely.
Swallowing back my roaring fear, I dip my head again and make my wayto the wall. By the time I turn to watch Marcella’s introduction, she’s already walking my way.
Devin then turns his attention from King Cyrus to us. “Now that the king has been formally introduced to each of you, he will select one woman and dine with her tonight, while the rest of you dine together. My king?” He looks back at King Cyrus.
With an expression cold as ice, the king prowls forward, his arms still behind his back as he regards us. Those fierce eyes flick from face to face, and pause when they find me. Down from my face to my feet, then back up, before he looks at Marcella and lingers for a long while.
He turns back and leans into Devin to whisper, sending our group of women shifting uncomfortably in the silence. Devin nods, eyeing us as Cyrus speaks to him.
Devin holds out a hand and motions to step forward. “Aelia, you have been selected.”
The blue-gowned beauty beside me steps forward, a squeal held back by her smile.
Five
- LYRA -
All of us watch Aelia sweep off with Cyrus to another door where they disappear. But rather than jealousy, all I can think of is Devin’s introduction of me.
Lyra from Kilamber.
Another sliver of who I was—am—given back to me.
I press against the wall of ice surrounding my thoughts, hoping to find a weak spot that I might discover more. But it’s too solid.
It’s been well over an hour since Devin promised my memories would start to trickle in. But with his warning against overwhelming my memories, and instead letting them come of their own accord, I stop searching for more answers.
Perhaps pushing too hard will make them come even slower.
Lady Bethany escorts us all out of the throne room with soldiers flanking us. The woman with short brown hair I’m behind skips a few steps forward to walk beside another. “Aelia told me she wouldn’t shy away from bedding him. If she does, she’s already won before we’ve started.”
“Shh, Stella!” the other woman hisses and swats her. “Keep your voice down!”
Stella has the sense to lower her voice. Though, not enough that I don’t pick up on it. “Sorry! But doesn’t it concern you that we may already be at a disadvantage?”
“No, because the king would never bed a woman so casually on the first night. And I doubt he would be so willing to take on a wife who would give herself so easily.” The other woman nudges her back behind her in line as we turn a corner into a hallway.
Lady Bethany and the guards are holding open the double doors to the dining room. We slip inside, make our way down the stairs, and take our seats from earlier.
One of the doors on the opposite wall from which we came opens, and servers spill in with golden plates piled high with steaming food. My mouth waters as one server places a delicious serving of cooked fish, rice, and vegetables in front of me.
“Enjoy your dinner and drinks, girls. Afterward, you will be escorted back to your rooms for an early night of rest. In the morning, we will meet back here,” Lady Bethany announces as she takes her seat at the head of the table.
