Page 21 of War of Her Heart

Without overthinking my retort, I said, “And what was the vision with your leather outfit? Battle or sex dungeon?”

Bronwen’s mouth fell wide open. “Oh, I like this Violet,” she said as a smile grew on her face.

“I’d like to wear pants. Not leather pants. I think leather would be a little extreme for my first pair,” I said.

“You’veneverworn pants?” A look of both shock and pity replaced Bronwen’s smile.

“Mountain Realm. Remember?” I said while motioning to the dress I was wearing.

“It makes me sick just thinking about that misogynistic place.”

“It’s not that bad,” I said while thinking back to the life I had in the Mountain Realm. With Calum, I wasn’t held to the same standard as any other female in the realm would be. For the most part, I could speak freely and spend my days doing what I wanted. But I knew if I wasn’t with Calum, I would have had a completely different life.

I would be either betrothed to a male and spending my days preparing to become his wife, which meant learning how to care for a house, or I would already be married and doing everything possible to give my husband babies.

And honestly, neither one of those things sounded like something I wanted to do.

“Violet, it’s quite possibly theworstof the realms.”

“You’re saying that while we are standing in the Night Realm. The realm where your literal nightmares come to life,” I said while narrowing my eyes at her. How could anything be worse than what lurked in the darkness in the Night Realm?

“I would rather take my chances fighting demons than have to submit to a husband,” Bronwen said before she turned around and began looking through her closet again. Her words had hurt in them, like this issue was personal and something might have happened.

“How about this?” She turned around and held up a pair of black pants with pockets on the sides and a black long-sleevedshirt. They still looked like I was going to battle but at least they weren’t leather.

“Those are fine,” I said while grabbing the clothes from her. I went to her bathroom to change. Luckily, other than the height difference—Bronwen had several inches on me—we were the same size. I folded the bottom of the pants so they wouldn’t drag on the ground. I stood in front of the mirror and just stared at myself. I had never seen myself in clothes like these. They were so simple but so different. While the neckline of the shirt was high, so I wasn’t revealing anything, it was skintight. Between that and the pants, you could see every curve of my body.

I wanted to throw that dirt-colored dress in the trash.

“Violet, are you okay in there? I can get you a dress if you’d rather wear that.”

I opened the door, and Bronwen’s face lit up. “Damn, Violet! I never would’ve thought you looked like that under all that fabric,” Bronwen said as she moved her hands around, exaggerating the curves of my body.

Bronwen also gave me a pair of black boots to wear because she said my shoes would “ruin the look.” I asked her if we could avoid seeing my father on our way to the carriage because he was already upset about me going to town, and I thought my clothes would put him over the edge. I also didn’t want Calum to see me, but I couldn’t tell Bronwen that. At least avoiding my father meant avoiding Calum also.

Adar was waiting for us at the carriage. He was leaning on the carriage, looking the opposite way but Bronwen must’ve said something to him mentally because as soon as we got down the stairs he started fussing as he turned around.

“I’ve been waiting out here for damn near half an hour. What took—” He stopped mid-sentence when he saw that I was in Night Realm attire. Adar closed his eyes and started rubbing his head. “You’re just asking for trouble aren’t you, B.”

“He’ll get over it,” Bronwen replied as she walked past him and climbed into the carriage. I guess Adar really cared about my father. Must be someCommander Honor Codeor something.

I quickly climbed into the carriage after Bronwen. I was too excited about going to the city to wait another minute. I sat next to Bronwen while Adar sat opposite us. He wouldn’t stop staring at me, like he was trying to figure something out about me. I wished I knew what he was thinking. I tried to ignore him by looking out the window, but I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.

Bronwen must’ve noticed because she kicked him. “Adar, will you stop? You’re creeping her out.”

“If my staring is bothering her, how do you think she is going to handle the city?” he shot back. They were talking about me as if I wasn’t there. I wasn’t sure if they thought they were mentally communicating or just that they were so caught up in their conversation that they didn’t care that I could hear them.

They continued to argue for the rest of the ride, so I just looked out the carriage window at the woods we were traveling through. The trees were very slim and looked like they were dead. There wasn’t an alive plant in sight. No greenery. No flowers. A fog covered most of the space between the trees, making it hard to see further into the forest. It was odd. It looked how I pictured the Night Realm, but it was nothing like the path we traveled down to get to the castle a few days ago.

When the carriage stopped, I waited for Adar and Bronwen to exit first. The city had a long road with buildings on either side. The outsides of the buildings were different shades of deep blues and grays. The windows and doors had wrought iron details, similar to the castle’s. Faeries in conversation with each other walked past us, not even glancing our way. I guess that was why Bronwen made me change. A Mountain Realm fae in Mountain Realm attire would cause attention this deep in theNight Realm, and I’m sure they wouldn’t be welcoming with open arms.

“So Violet, how do you know what a sex dungeon is?” Bronwen’s break of the silence took both me and Adar by surprise.

“What?” I asked.

“I mean I wouldn’t expect a modest Mountain Realm lady to know what a sex dungeon is.”

Adar whipped his head around as he waited for me to answer. Why couldn’t she had asked me this when we were alone?

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