I’veneverbeen so mortified. I keep my eyes on the ground as I frantically, hopelessly, try to straighten my hair and my dress. Cyrus turns his face to Devin’s voice, still blindfolded. His hair mussed from my roaming fingers.
Devin races across the room, eyes shooting back and forth between us. When he lingers on me for a long moment, scanning me head to toe, the heat beneath my skin is enough to set myself on fire.
There have never been any rules around kissing or touching the King. But in this instance, there doesn’t need to be. The tension in the room is enough to suffocate me.
“Are—” Devin begins and snaps his mouth shut. Tries again. “I thought at first perhaps you two were fighting…” He looks back at all the obstacles on the floor.
“I, uhh,” I swallow to clear my throat. “It was a…trust exercise, of sorts.” To get myself out of this situation I walk past them and begin to frantically pick up all the remnants of our so-called game. “I’ll clean it up and be on my way.”
“Take the blindfold off,” Devin murmurs to Cyrus, so low Ibarely catch it.
I drop the chalice from the collection I’m holding to my chest, a new wave of humiliation racing through me as I pick it up, scurry to the table, and set everything down.
“I’ll see myself out,” I blurt and make for the doors, barely scraping my gaze over Cyrus’s back and Devin, who meets my gaze.
“Guards,” he motions to the several who slipped in just after him.
They escort me out.
Thirty-Four
- LYRA -
“Here,” Marcella flashes me a vial in the moonlight shortly after she’s snuck in through my window. “This may be of use to you.”
“What is it?” I ask, turning it in every direction to test the liquid within.
“Dragonblood.”
I stop twisting it. “And what would I need it for?”
“If you get injured during the trials, it can speed up your healing. Or…perhaps if you needed to dull the visions.”
I hold it back to her. “I don’t want it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I risked a lot to get it for you, the least you can do is say thank you,” she grumbles, sashaying past me and taking a seat on the windowsill.
“What if it makes the visions worse? Or stronger?” I challenge.
“It won’t. The magic in dragonblood should counteract your Seer magic.”
Sighing, I lower the vial to my side. Taking a seat next to her, I mumble, “Thank you.”
“Keep it hidden. Wear it as often as you can, especially at the next trial...” She gives me a long look before her eyes narrow. “What’s going on with you?”
As I slip the vial’s necklace over my head, I respond, “What do you mean?”
“You seem…” she gestures up and down at me, “more rigid than usual. Is something bothering you?”
I laugh, looking down at my fingers as I fidget with them. Even though I’m mortified Devin caught us, I’ve found myself brushing my fingers over my lips. Reminiscing about how Cyrus felt pressed against me. “Tonight at dinner with Cyrus…”
She leans forward slightly. “Yes…?”
“It’s the first time I’ve felt like I have a chance here. That I might actually be someone he’ll consider choosing.” I clench my fingers still and look at her. “We kind of got…carried away?”
“What do you mean by carried away?”
My lips thin, trying to find words that aren’t too descriptive. “We…kissed.”
