Page 102 of A Dance of Water

She did not remember, but she understood.

"You drugged me to invade my body and my spirit, to watch a private moment…" Luella stood and met the King’s gaze. The rain beat against the walls of the castle. "All you had to do was ask, and I would have agreed without you having to drug me."

Smoke filled the room as a rumble started in Vale’s chest. Quickly, she turned, heading for the door.

Luella waited for them to stop her, but in the wake of her soft admission, they were silent.

The rain drowned out the sound of her footsteps as she left.

33

NOTHING COMPARED TO YOU

AZ

Az knew he should not be in Lu’s room, but her face haunted him, blue eyes wide with hurt—the way she had lain among the soft cushions in the King’s sitting room, unresponsive.

Tharen had closed his eyes as he worked, hands waving over the soft rise and fall of her chest as she dreamed. The Prima’s words had made Az want to dig the knife a little deeper into his wrists, if they were true. His icy eyes had grown dull as he stared at them all, proclaiming,Her spirit feels dead.

If Lu died, so did Az.

His bare feet thumped on the ground as he paced—never soft and gentle, like she was. His fingers pressed into the skin of his wrists, a habit he had taken up to remind himself of all the ways he wasn’t good enough for her. He promised her he would not hurt himself again, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t imagine it, pretend that under the worn sleeves of his shirt, fresh lines were cut into his skin.

It was quiet and still within her bathing chambers.

She had been in there for a while,he mused.

The glass doors of the balcony rattled as thunder boomed. The snow on the grounds was melting, leaving puddles of white sludge mingling with dirt and ash.

He huffed, the sight reminding him of them. He was the dirt and ash that would mar Lu’s pureness if he dared to touch her.

And that was why he had pulled away from her when she reached out to him for comfort.

Az scrubbed his hands over his face, the weight of her looming over him—a burden, but a welcome one. He didn’t have to touch her, kiss her, domorewith her, to keep her safe.

A sudden crash resounded from within the bathing chambers, and Az jolted into action.

Thinking of nothing but her, he ran to the door and threw it open, heart in his throat at what he might find inside…

Lu, his Lu, lay nude and shivering on the floor. Her eyes were closed, limp fingers dipping in the surface of the water as she lay near the edge. Her pale skin seemed to reflect the soft glow of the candles in the room, playing with the blue ripples over the bathing pool.

"Lu," Az called. He did not remember kneeling by her—everything was a blur—but he must have, for his hands held her slim shoulders gently as he bent over her. The fabric of his pants was soaked by the puddles of water on the ground. What had happened here?

"Angel, Lu. Please wake up. Don’t do this to me," he pleaded, hands smoothing over her body. She was cold. He held a hand over her nose and mouth, feeling her soft but steady exhales.

Finally, her striking blue eyes opened, and he could breathe again.

Bleary eyes, half-lidded and confused, blinked up at him.

"Az?" Luella mumbled. Her fingers were skimming along the surface of the water, and the surface seemed to respond to her touch, gently lapping against her hand. "What… happened?"

He found a towel lying over the back of a stool, and he took it, wrapping it around her nude frame. He patted along her shoulders and stomach, drying her off. "I don’t know. I heard a crash."

Her small hands curled around the towel, pulling it tighter against her as she shivered. She made no move to get up, no sign that the cold floor bothered her—but it bothered him.

Az gathered her up, tucking the towel around her small waistand thighs as he held her against his chest. She let out a pleased sound as she curled into him.

Her eyes drifted to the bathing pool, and a soft tremor ran through her. A bolt of lightning crashed outside, the strike sounded as if it were right outside the walls.

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