Page 61 of Wild Flame

“Guilty,” Malik repeated. He straightened to his full, intimidating height, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “And what exactly do you think is about to happen, Princess?” he challenged.

I glared at him, but he didn’t so much as flinch.Fine.If he wanted to make me say it aloud, I would. “You are about to announce Priya as your betrothed.”

His eyes flared, but his expression gave away nothing as he stared back at me. Another tense second passed before he finally turned his attention to the queen, who waited just out of earshot, and he nodded to her with a tight smile.

Without another word or glance at me, he strode for the small dais that had been erected at the front of the ballroom. A steward quickly motioned to the musicians. Once the music halted, he called the room to attention. Everyone quieted and turned to face the dais.

The queen had moved away to stand at the base of the dais with Zara, who was beaming with excited anticipation. Amir was nowhere to be seen, and I wondered if he and his twocompanions had already found somewhere else to be for the night.

Malik waited until everyone had quieted down before speaking. “As many of you know, it is tradition for new monarchs to choose their Hassai on the night of their coronation. I intend to continue that tradition tonight.”

Excited murmurs broke out among the guests, and I wasn’t the only one that glanced, none too subtly, at Priya, where she stood beside her father. She had her eyes glued to the king as he spoke, a self-assured smile on her too perfect lips.

I noted several gazes were watching me as well, and I felt sick as I placed a hand on the pillar, suddenly needing it to steady myself as Malik continued.

“I see no need for preamble.” He grinned, effortlessly charming as always. “The woman I have chosen as my Hassai, to be my wife and your future queen, is . . .”

I held my breath along with the rest of the room. The name rang out loud for all to hear.

“Princess Leida Ivar.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Silence reigned. It wasn’t until I heard the murmurs and felt all eyes on me that I realized he had just said my name.

My name.

Princess Leida Ivar.

There was a rushing sound in my ears. I couldn’t have heard him right. It . . . it was Priya he was supposed to . . .

My arm was grabbed firmly, and I was being escorted up towards the dais. I glanced over to find Nilfren at my side, smiling at the faces of the astonished crowd as we passed. He shot me a look, and I finally remembered who and where I was. Though I was still half convinced I was dreaming. There was no way Malik—the King of Zehvi—had just announced that I was to be his betrothed. That he intended tomarryme.

The queen looked stunned, and excitement filled Zara’s face as I passed her, and when I finally met Malik’s eyes and saw the look on his face, I knew.

He had done just that.

I burst into my chambers with my emotions in shambles and feeling like I couldn’t catch my breath. I just needed a moment. A moment to think, to breathe, and calmly consider what in the Nine Realms had just happened?

After Malik’s announcement, it had been nearly an hour of standing by his side and trying not to resemble a stunned statue, as I was forced to accept congratulation after congratulation. All the while masking the turmoil and confusion I was feeling inside. Some of the courtiers’ faces held genuine excitement, others' confusion, and still others barely concealed hostility or anger, but I had hardly taken any of it in. Too consumed with the fact that my life had just been turned on its axis with absolutely no warning.

Hedidtry to warn you, part of my mind insisted, remembering when he had pulled me aside just before.

When I had finally managed to escape the assessing eyes of the court, I had come straight here, dodging Nilfren and Leif’s and even Zara’s questions as I went. I was nearly running by the time I reached the corridor, decorum and propriety be damned. I was so out of sorts that, for once, even my mother’s censuring voice couldn’t penetrate the fog.

Now I stood in the center of the room and tried to take stock of what had just happened. Malik Kathar—King of Zehvi—had just announced to the world that I was to be his betrothed. He intended to marry me . . . and one day . . . one day I would be his queen.

No.The refusal came hot and fast in my mind and would not settle. Then:How? Howhad this happened? I mean—I had known there was something between us. Our interaction in thegarden last night was proof of that, and I suppose he had singled me out in public and in private on many occasions . . . but I had never thought—

My agitation was such that I found myself beginning to pace, and I had to force myself to stop. It struck me then that my maids were not here. My whirling mind latched onto the thought like a lifeline, and I glanced around.

Surely even if they had not been expecting me to return from the ball so soon, someone would have informed them, and they would have been here to attend me by now? But neither Hilde nor Astrid were here. The room was empty.

That was when I came to the second realization that there was something else different about my room.

All of my personal things were gone. My brushes and bottles of perfume were no longer laid out on the vanity, and my trunks no longer sat at the foot of my bed. Striding over to the wardrobe, I opened the doors and found no dresses hanging inside.

Where were all my belongings?

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