Page 45 of War of Her Heart

“She said I should get to know you before you become one of my ladies,” she said as she peeked around me into my room.

It took everything in me not to slam the door in her face. Celine had already made a remark about this to me when she told me I had to come with her to the Night Realm. I had thought it was her just trying to get a reaction out of me, but hearing Nathara say it made it so much worse.

But I couldn’t refuse. I had to play the part until Calum got us out of this.

“What time should I be ready?” I said as I tried to muster up a smile.

“Noon,” Nathara said before looking me up and down and continuing. “Please tell me you’ll look better than you do right now after you get ready.”

Gods help me.

“I’ll try to fix myself up tomorrow for you.”

Without responding, she turned around and walked back down the hall.

Bitch.

After clearing the air with Sebastian and actually feeling like we were in a good place, a place of understanding each other a little better, I didn’t dread dinner as much as I usually did.

Nathara had gotten in my head with her remark earlier, so I took my time getting ready for dinner. I wanted to be as beautiful as Bronwen, and as much as I hated to even think about her,Celine. Their eyes practically glowed with the vibrancy of their shades of blues and greens while my eyes were dim and dull. Their hair was both so different, yet both so alluring. I envied their distinct looks as I had nothing to compete with them.

It shouldn’t have bothered me. There was nothing to compete for as I had the one I wanted, and he had never made me feel less than beautiful. But a part of me wanted others to think I was beautiful.

I removed the ribbon that I always used to tie my hair up. It was a habit I had formed ever since Astrid used to fix my hair when I was a faeling. It gave off a look of innocence, which never bothered me before, but being here—surrounded by goddess-like ladies—I wanted to look like them.

As a few strands of hair fell in my face, I ran my fingers through them and tucked the right side behind my ear.

I shuffled through the drawer in the desk where I had placed a few of my personal items in until I found the small bag of makeup I had. It was nothing more than a few eyeshadows and lip stains that my father had brought back from his travels with Calum’s father over the years.

No one had ever taught me how to correctly use makeup, so I taught myself. A little eyeshadow to bring out my eyes—if that was even possible—and a soft pink on my lips.

I looked through the dresses in my closet but none of them compared to the ones in the garment bag I had hung in the back of the closet.

And I had never felt as beautiful and sexy as I did in the purple dress at the last dinner I attended. Bronwen had helped me choose a few more at the seamstress’s shop that day. The purple dress, a couple black, and a dusty blue that seemed to be eerily the same shade as Sebastian’s eyes. The seamstress must have chosen the color as a nod to the sky as I’m sure she wasn’t thinking of her Sovereign when making the dress.

The black dress I had chosen for tonight was sleek, revealing, and no doubt would put everyone’s eyes on me. I just hoped I got the reaction I was wanting.

Yara knocked on my door at the same time she had done every night before dinner. When I opened the door dressed the way I was, her eyes widened with shock. I was sure she had expected me to be dressed as I usually was.

She shook off the look and gestured for me to follow her. I’m not sure why I was always escorted. I knew the way to the dining room, and I knew the time they liked to have dinner—right after nightfall.

I didn’t mind Yara’s company, though. Even with the silence, her presence was comforting.

She didn’t lead me like she had always done. Instead, she kept my pace and stayed right beside me.

You look beautiful,Yara signed as she floated down the hall.

She thought I was beautiful. Yara’s reaction was exactly what I had been wanting. And I felt my heart warm at her comment. If no one reacted to my attire at dinner, I wouldn’t mind, as Yara’s compliment was enough.

As I walked into the dining room, I began to regret wearing such a revealing dress because I was the second to arrive, coming in after only Sebastian.

He was standing at the window, staring out into the garden, but turned around when he sensed a presence was in the room with him. His eyes were looking on the ground but began to shift up slowly while his mouth hooked into a half smile.

Sebastian was taking his time, soaking in every detail of the dress . . . of my body. All the insecurity I had went away when his eyes met mine because the look he was giving me told me how badly he wanted me. How beautiful—how sexy—he thought I was.

He opened his lips slightly as if he was going to say something to me before he closed them and returned to his crooked grin.

Was he . . . speechless?

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