The moment I sank beneath the surface, pain detonated across my skin. Not hot, but a cold slicing frost that seemed intent on settling deep in my bones. Although I did not admit it aloud, I did not let one single sound escape me in complaint. Instead, I locked my teeth together taking in deep breaths to distract myself.
Penny knelt beside me, dipping a cloth into the water, scrubbing dirt from my skin. Although whenshe reached my neck, she handed me the cloth allowing me to clean it myself.
“You are shaking,” she observed as she leant back on her heels, giving me space to wash the scar. Her eyes never left the puckered pink of my neck.
“I am cold,” I lied.
“Elves can smell lies,” she told me, as her hands reached for shampoo pouring the lavender smelling liquid into her hands.
“Well then, I must reek.” I mutter as she moved to sit behind me, lathering the soap into my hair pushing it deep into my scalp using her nails.
I had no intention of ever being fully truthful. That would have left me more vulnerable than I cared to be. Lying was a way to survive, and it had worked so far.
Gradually, the moon silver ceased its assault on my skin. The sting turned into a dull, manageable ache.
When Penny deemed me clean, she wrapped me in a robe softer than anything I had ever felt against my skin. Her hands guided me to a vanity in the farthest right corner, sitting me down and beginning her work.
As she worked, her words drifted from my physical appearance to the running of the Obsidian court. Rules and instructions fell from her lips, who I could and could not be seen with, how I should behave and when I should speakor keep my mouth shut.
Penny made a point to tell me I was not to contradict the King in any way and to do as he commanded without complaint. Hearing those words made my blood run cold. The King was not so different in his expectations after all, he wanted obedience. Complete and unwavering.
“I suspect I will fail before I begin,” I mutter as she sorted through gowns that she pulled from a carved wooden armoire, muttering about fit and fabric.
“You will learn, we all do. The King is not someone who is easily dissuaded from his wants,” she replied, laying another potential gown on the table. Tapping the precarious pile as if willing it to stay and not topple onto the floor.
The day had quickly turned from morning to late afternoon and by the time Penny was finished, I did not recognise the person in the mirror before me.
She had dressed me in a powder blue gown with a square neckline trimmed in lace. It was a vain attempt to cover the scar on my neck, at least partially. A corset laced up my back, left looser than Penny preferred after my complaints of pain.
My hair lay loose and glossy, longer than I remembered it being, and Penny had decided not to put makeup on my face. Claiming that enhancements would come later, once I had settled in.
It was my skin that startled me most. Freed from mud and grime for the first time in years, it was clear, pale, and almost unmarred. Save for the scars and bruises that mapped mytragic history. I looked almost as I had done when I was first sold at nineteen years old.
Almost normal.
Although a scowl formed on my lips as I looked in the mirror once more. This illusion would not last. Clean silk and polished hair could not erase what I was or why I was here.
When the Fae King finally chose to claim what he had purchased, I doubted that moon silver and lace would save me from whatever he intended to carve me into.
Chapter Four
The summons came in the form of a single knock. One sharp rap against Penny's door. Precise and deliberate. It cleaved through the quiet like a blade, making us both jump.
Penny’s hands tightened briefly on my shoulders, a fleeting gesture of comfort she would likely deny if confronted. Then she smoothed the fabric at my waist before she crossed the room, opening the door to reveal the same two guards who had dropped me off before stood to attention, awaiting further instruction.
Both peered inside, their eyes landing on me as if they could not quite believe I was the same girl they had dropped off hours ago. To be honest, I would not have believed it if I was them either.
“The King summons her,” the taller one said. Now that I had somewhat relaxed, I was able to study them properly.
The taller of the two was striking in a way that felt almost unfair. Blonde hair shaved at the sides, the remainder braided tightly down the pack of his head. The points of his ears were smaller than TheKing’s but unmistakably Fae. His skin was pale and pearlescent, as if it reflected the fae light around us, his eyes were an amber so bright it resembled pure melted gold.
If he hadn't been a guard; in the palace I was being held captive, I would have said he was attractive. Here, he was just another blade The King could hold at my throat.
The second guard lingered half a step behind. Silver hair cropped close to his scalp. His blue eyes avoided mine entirely, looking at every part of the room rather than me. Despite his perceived nervousness he still held himself as a warrior, his hand lingering near his sword.
Penny turned to me, adjusting a loose strand of hair with meticulous care. Her fingers drifted down to fiddle with the neckline of my gown. Attempting once more, to coax the fabric higher over my throat.
“Remember the rules,” she whispered.
