Page 50 of Beyond Those Gilded Walls

I bolted upright, splashing water onto the floor. The door remained closed, but the knob stayed in its half-turned position, unlatching the door so he could push it open at any time. My voice did waver this time as I spoke. “No, I am fine, Tallon. I’ll be out in a moment.”

Creeping, the door opened an inch. My breath caught in my chest and I pressed my legs together as I drew my arm over my breasts, covering myself the best I could before he opened it the rest of the way. He did not say anything.

“Do not come in here,” I warned. Despite my earlier feelings, the lust I’d allowed myself to get lost in for a moment, I did not want him in here. Did not want to see how he’d react to my naked and wet body. Did not want to discover if he could read my attraction for him across my face.

“As you wish.” He was no longer teasing, and the door pulled shut once more with a sharp click. His voice was muffled by the door. “I’ll be waiting out here.”

I did not reply, instead sinking back into the rapidly cooling water as my heart came down from the thundering pace it’d set. Without a doubt, he knew exactly what I’d been doing, and what he was doing. Another game, another mark in my tally of losses. Sloshing the water as I leaned forward, I turned the taps on once more so I could splash the ice-cold water across my face. I needed to remember my place, and more importantly, I needed to remember Tallon’s place—particularly his place beside the Coward Prince.

For the rest of my bedtime routine, I focused intently on my task rather than letting my mind drift to Tallon again. Nothing good would come from giving in to the attraction I felt for him. Nothing good would come fromhim.

When I finally had the nerve to reenter my room, Tallon was sitting on the chair by the window, ankle across one knee and reading a book from somewhere. I looked around, but as before, there were no bookshelves in my room. He looked up when I closed the bathroom door behind me, shutting his book and standing.

Wordlessly, he ushered me to sit down in the chair. It was still warm from his body, and I fought back the shiver that threatened to roll down my spine. I watched silently as he set his book down on my vanity, trading it for my hairbrush before returning to my side. He held it up in a silent question, and I hesitated a moment before nodding.

I knew there was more to it, as I could find no reason Tallon wouldwantto brush out my hair for me. It was a part of his games, and I just had yet to see how it fit. Until I did, it was better to play along carefully, gathering as much information as possible. I bit my tongue to keep from asking, not wanting to ruin the tenuous moment. Despite knowing there were hidden motives behind the gesture, no one had ever offered to brush my hair, not even my mother, and it was something I was disinclined to pass up.

I couldn’t fight back the shivers as he ran the brush through my hair, his fingers grazing my neck as he lifted the hair off my shoulders. It was calming, the slow repetitive movements, the warmth of him against my neck and back.

Too quickly, it was over, and the relaxed stupor he left me in was fogging up my mind. He tapped my shoulder gently with the brush. Coming around in front of me, he held his hand out, pulling me from the chair and then guiding me to the bed. I followed without a fight, still not fully aware of what was happening. Had there been magic in the brush, another trick of his to make me complacent? I didn’t want to know. My body had never felt so relaxed before, and I had never felt so warm.

“Our time is up, Odyssa.” He smiled, pulling the blankets up over my body. “Rest well, and I shall see you this evening.”

I blinked at him, opening my mouth to reply, but he was already at the door, pulling it closed behind him. Settling back into the pillows, I fell asleep on my next breath.

That night, I had no nightmares, though the feeling of gray eyes lingered throughout my dreams.

When I woke as the evening bells tolled, my mind was muddy and unfocused from a sleep that was too restful. It made my body feel heavy and almost worse than it had when I was exhausted.

I also had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind, as though there had been something I needed to remember from my dreams, something that had happened while I slept, but I could not cling to it long enough for it to fully form before it slipped away, burned out of my mind by consciousness.

It wasn’t an uneasy feeling, I decided, just the feeling I’d forgotten something important, so, intent on making it through this next party and continuing to confront Tallon about the treatment, I turned my mind elsewhere.

ChapterTwenty-Five

The next night passed in much the same fashion, and as the party tonight began to wind to a close, I was nearing the end of my limited patience. Two more parties had now passed since the night in my room, and it was as if I were walking around in a haze. By some miracle, I’d avoided any further mistakes during the parties, but the only clear memories from the ballroom were visions of my hands holding a tray and weaving through bodies, all the while feeling Tallon’s gaze on my back.

It worried me, how easily I could forget everything around me when I had his attention. It terrified me, how much I liked having his attention.

The haze only cleared when I stepped into the kitchens after the party was over.

Without the letter tucked in my dress to remind me, I’d been afraid the urgency of getting the treatment would be swept up in the extravagance of the parties and the bustling of trying to remain unseen by the prince, but it hadn’t. It had fallen to the back of my mind, but unlike the first nights here, the castle hadn’t swallowed up the thoughts entirely.

Perhaps it was good they fell slightly to the back of my mind; it prevented me from making yet another mistake born of impulsive anger.

But now, two parties had passed since Tallon had requested patience. Tonight, during our rendezvous in his rooms, I would ask again. I needed to know what progress he’d made, if he’d delivered the letter, and if he’d learned Rhyon’s fate.

As I cleaned up the remaining dishes and set them out to dry, I pondered his responses. I needed to know, but I also feared what would happen if he confirmed what I already suspected and that my youngest brother was dead. Tallon was many things, including intentionally elusive and obnoxiously arrogant, but throughout all our interactions, he did not seem cruel.

“Have a good night,” I murmured to the others.

Elena raised her head from where she sat, cleaning up her polishing supplies. “Willhebe waiting for you again?”

I hesitated in the doorway. “Who?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t play stupid. Tallon was waiting for you last night, and the past two nights he has barely taken his eyes off you. We’re not fools, Odyssa.”

There was no explanation I could give them that would suffice for their curiosity. And more, there was none I wanted to give them. They had not earned my secrets, nor my trust.

---