Fists clenched, I step back.
“You needn’t be afraid, little one.” He passes me to sit down on the bed.
My breath stills. I can’t see my sisters hiding beneath it, but I know they’re still there.
“I merely wish to discuss a few things I found odd about your arrival, as delightful as the surprise may have been,” he purrs.
“I’d really rather have a bath and change my gown first,” I laugh nervously. “I am in such a state after my journey through the woods.”
“Of course. Don’t let me stop you.” With a grin, he leans back on the bed. Water sloshes into the bath behind me. When Maeve steps up to my laces and begins untying them, what’s about to happen suddenly hits me.
I jump away from Maeve. “My lord, you cannot be in here while I bathe!”
“Why ever not?” he chuckles. “You’ve come here to marry me, haven’t you?”
“Yes, b-but…” Maeve continues unlacing my gown. But she’s slow, like she doesn’t really want to. “It’s just not exactly proper for you to see me before?—”
“Enough with the nonsense. Lying doesn’t suit you.”
I look up to see his grin long gone. “My lord?—”
“I saidenough,” he snaps. “I know why you are here, Dahlia.”
Goosebumps cover my arms.
“Tauren sent you here, didn’t he? You didn’t escape. You’re a princess!” he laughs cruelly. “Princesses don’t survive on their own in the woods. My guards would’ve dragged you to my throne room in pieces. There’s barely a scratch on you.”
“I stole a horse,” I blurt. “We didn’t stop once.”
“Your wedding was over a week ago. You didn’t stop to eat or sleep all week? What about those berries you claimed to have eaten? Or did they magic their way into your saddlebags?”
My throat tightens.Damn it.
“You do not need to look so afraid, dear child.” His voice softens. Maeve slides the gown from my waist, and I instinctively cover my breasts. His eyes harden on them anyway. “Really, it does not matter if Tauren sent you here as some sort of last ditch plan to ‘rescue’ his sister.” My breath catches. “I will still marry you regardless. You’re here now. That’s all that matters to me.”
I hug my bare chest tighter. When Maeve moves to untie my bloomers, I twist my hips away and shoot her a desperate look.
The look she returns is just as desperate.
“You must undress for your bath, bride.” Elheart’s voice cuts through me.
“Fine.” My eyes water. I drop my hands from my breasts to remove my bloomers myself. I don’t have a choice. If Maeve doesit, she’ll find my hidden daggers, and I can’t risk her reaction giving us away.
Fingers shaking, I slide the concealed belt over my hips at the same time as my bloomers.
When I look back at Maeve, she’s holding back tears.
“It’s alright,” I whisper to her. “I know he’s not giving you a choice here either.”
With Elheart’s gaze searing into my skin, I don’t waste a second to lower myself into the bath. The water laps around my shoulders. It’s warm, but it does little to stop me shivering.
I keep my gaze low while Maeve applies lotions into my hair. She’s slow again, and I wonder if she’s deliberately taking her time in the hopes that Elheart will get bored and leave.
He doesn’t.
“I wonder,” he purrs once I’ve been dressed in a soft blue gown and moved to an oak vanity. He’s still on the bed, having done nothing but leer at me this past hour. “Did Tauren ever tell you the full story?”
Maeve slides a brush through my hair. “What story?” I rasp.
