Sharp words rise to my tongue, but when I see his mouth twitch, I realize he’s made a joke, one meant to put me at ease. A small smile touches my own lips.
“Do you really think they’re still there?” I ask.
“No. They will have left by the balcony by now.”
“Unless they can’t make their way past the pianos.”
He lets out a chuckle, a sound deep and low enough to reverberate through my chest as well. “I’ll have it all removed tomorrow,” he says, “so you can be restored to your own rooms.”
“Thank you.”
“And I will be sure your things have been delivered.”
My smile falters, but I recover it before he notices. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
He inclines his head and moves deeper into the room, giving me the first chance to look around. The wall sconces have already been lit, and yet the space is a dark, brooding one filled with shadows cast by imposing furniture, the largest of which is a curtained, four-poster bed nearly buried in crimson and gold brocade pillows, all of them swathed in silk and velvet. One particularly dark corner of the room is stacked to the ceiling with what appears to be wooden chests.
In short, it’s exactly what one would expect the room of a dragon king to be. It even smells faintly of smoke,though it’s overlaid with the stronger scents of leather and sandalwood.
I look back to the king to see he’s already shrugged out of his armored coat and is working at the shirt beneath. He lifts a brow as he catches me looking.
“Did you want to bathe first?” he asks. “I assumed you wanted to wait for your meal.”
Bathe?
Oh, stars.
“I do,” I say. “Wish to wait for my meal, that is. I will wait here.” I fairly leap to a thick-legged table tucked in the corner. “Right here.”
His gaze lingers on me a moment longer before he turns toward a door I assume leads to the bathing chamber.
“Wait,” I say, a thought only just now occurring. “Are you not hungry?” He only requested a meal for me, not one for himself.
He glances back. “I ate seventeen cakes.”
“Seventeen?” I stare at him. I ate a single sorbet in that time!
“I am a dragon, Princess.”
“Of course.”
He disappears into the bathing chamber, and I begin trying to collect my thoughts.
Him staying in my chambers was scandalous enough, but to be brought to his so openly, to have his hand upon me in front of the guards…I press the back of my hands to my cheeks in a futile attempt to cool them.
It’s for the best, I tell myself. News that I’m staying here will spread quickly through the staff, and that will only help drive home this fated flames business. The king said it was the only way his subjects would accept a human ruler,so this is good. Preferable, even. I sit at the table, my eyes fixed on the bathing chamber door.
Did he take any clothing in with him? I didn’t see any. What if he intends to come out in a towel?
What if he intends to wear nothing at all?
A knock at the servant’s door sends me flying to my feet. A meal will be a welcome distraction. When I open the door, I’m surprised and delighted to see a face I recognize.
“Cora,” I say, “how lovely to see you again.”
Beaming, the girl curtsies. “Same to you, Your Highness.”
I stand aside so she can bring the tray in. “Did you have a good tour of the palace?” she asks, but no sooner have the words left her mouth than she winces. “My apologies, ma’am.”
