Page 115 of Crown of Briars
I wasn’t sure how that conversation had ended, but I was achingly curious. Had Tislora submitted? Or had Varius stormed from her chambers, fuming? He hadn’t seemed upset when he’d shown up in the bathing chamber… Then again, finding me asleep in the hot springs might have lightened his mood.
I cringed as I braided my wet hair into a long plait down my back. Stones, I was an embarrassment. I thought of Tislora and her dark and elegant grace. I could see why Varius had been attracted to her.
But me? Compared to the unseelie, I was pale and frail and bland.
I wasnothing.
A hollow feeling settled in my chest. Varius might beattracted to me in some way or another. But he could never love me. Too much deception had come between us, and I could hardly compete with someone as stunning as Tislora. He had only defended me out of duty because we were married.
That was all.
Besides, I still had to track down the rose jewel. Now that I knew that grasping the black stone had silenced the ringing, perhaps I could do the same thing with the rose.
And maybe it held the key to ending the Necro Shadows.
But what if destroying the Necro Shadows means Varius dies?If I destroy the source of his magic… could it possibly kill him, too?I couldn’t stop these questions from rising in my thoughts.
I shoved them aside. His shadows were different from the Necro Shadows. Surely, there would be a way to destroy one without the other.
But I knew one thing for certain: however I managed to vanquish the shadows would require me to betray Varius.
Because either I would have to kill him or destroy his magic completely—neither of which would be forgivable.
There could be no future for us at all.
It would be best if I pushed that fantasy from my mind entirely.
I was poringover a letter from one of my captains when Sybelle finally emerged from the bathing chamber. I cut a quick glance her way, then looked away immediately, my face heating.
The scrap of fabric she wore covered even less of her body than that damned towel.
The quill I gripped in my hand snapped in two. This human was tormenting me. Ruthlessly.
She started climbing into the bed—my bed. She froze when she noticed a letter on the comforter. “What is this?”
“It was on my desk,” I said, struggling to keep my voice even. “I assumed it was for you.”
She lifted the letter and turned it over, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Did you read it?”
I stiffened at the accusation in her voice. “As you can see, the seal isunbroken. But I appreciate your demonstration of trust.”
“Sorry,” she muttered quickly. After looking over the letter once more, she stuffed it under her pillow. I frowned but said nothing, though I was deeply curious as towhothe letter was from. The insignia did not belong to the Earthen Court. Who could she be writing to?
Hot anger flooded me as I envisioned her penning letters to a lover from another court. But I quickly shoved the thought away before it drove me mad.
Sybelle eased into bed, shifting to make herself comfortable. Her movements caused the lace fabric of her gown to ride up, revealing an alarming amount of alabaster skin. When it hitched up again, this time rising high up her thighs, I averted my gaze, gritting my teeth.
I tried not to think of her rolling around in my sheets. Of how they would smell like her now. Her skin. Her hair.
She’s right,I told myself.She’s your wife. There is nothing wrong with this.
But that wasn’t true. Therewassomething wrong with me lusting after a human whom I was using to break my curse. She was a means to an end, and there was no future for us. No matter how aroused she made me, or I her, this would only end in pain for both of us.
Because, in order to break the curse, she had to die.
It was the only way.
I cleared my throat and focused on my letter, re-reading the same paragraph three times without retaining any information.
