Page 21 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

I spent all night mulling over Kara’s words with a decanter of alcohol and Nico and Declan as my voice of reason. It was because of their convincing I was standing here now. I wanted to spend time with Lennox, I wanted to mend what had broken between us, and I wanted us to become friends again, but I wasn’t confident she did.

Declan had insisted I had become too soft when it came to Lennox.Where is the male that delighted in lighting her fire?I was still here, but I was afraid to push her in fear of breaking her more. But Kara was right. I had pushed her before when she was broken, I could do it again.

For Lennox, I would do it.

Knocking on her door was the first step.

She had been here a week and I hadn’t been able to lay eyes on her. And whose fault was that? I had run like a fucking coward.

Before I could lose my nerve I knocked.

The door opened in a flash of golden hair.

Lennox’s hair hung in loose waves, appearing longer than it had before, brighter too against the dark blue of her gown. Her gown—goddess above, it clung to her hips and breasts, leaving little to the imagination.

“Luka—you’re back.” The only hint of surprise she showed was the slight raise of her brows.

I swallowed. “I am.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, furtherpushing up her breasts. I forced my eyes upwards. “I realized before I left I didn’t tell you where to find the training facility. I’m sure you found your own means of training, but if you’re interested there’s a private training room with everything you could ever need located on the uppermost level of the palace.”

Her eyes roamed over my body before she nodded. “Okay. I might have to wander up there.”

“Okay.” I knew I should have turned and left, I had no reason to linger, but I couldn’t make myself pull myself away from her, not when I finally had the opportunity to look at her again. To talk to her.

“I was going to go for a walk.” I ran my fingers through my hair, her eyes tracked the movement. “Do you want to join me?”

“I—I can’t.” My chest deflated. “But—um, maybe another time.”

“Another time,” I murmured.

She gave me a sad smile before closing the door.

11

LENNOX

My thighs burned as I trudged up yet another set of winding stairs. I’d be too exhausted from the stairs to work out when I finally made it to the private training room Luka had promised me.

Eventually, I made it to a landing with a door. Thank the Goddess, I don’t know how many more stairs I could handle. I pushed open the large wooden door, revealing an open loft space. The room took up what had to be the entire east wing of the palace. Windows surrounded the room on every side, basking the room in sunlight.

The space wasn’t fancy by any means. The training facility at home was all sleek lines and steel, but this one—it felt well-used, the floors and walls were all made of well-worn light wood materials. A square training mat sat in the center of the room. A wall of weapons occupied one wall, a row of targets on the opposite side. It was nothing special, it was similar to the general training facility I had been using since I arrived, but this one was private. And that's all that mattered.

No more prying eyes as I trained. Just the way I liked it.

I made my way over to the collection of weapons; I had mydaggers strapped to my side and I grabbed my sword, Minerva, before I left. But my fingers itched towards the intricate daggers thrown about in the collection of weapons.

“You made it.” I jumped at the sound of the familiar voice behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I turned to find Luka stalking toward me. There was something different about him today. Yesterday when he showed up in my room he seemed—diluted. He lacked all his normal confidence and charm when he appeared at my door, I had almost thought it was a dream. When I said no to his proposal of a walk I expected a rebuttal, some kind of antic to rile me, but he said nothing. Instead, he turned with his head hanging without another word, leaving me wondering if I had broken him after all. Today he appeared back to normal. The glimmer in his eyes had returned as did his swagger in his walk.

“I’m here to train, why else? I’m the one who invited you after all?”

I bristled. “And you happened to show up to train at the exact same time as me?”

“It’s not a coincidence, Lennox. I asked your ladies maid to let me know when you headed here.”

“You can’t be serious? You’re having me followed?” My hand closed tighter around the dagger in my palm. The decorative edge biting into my skin. I’d have a word with Krissa later about sharing my whereabouts with the prince, or anyone for that matter.

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