Page 42 of Crown of Briars
“Damn it all!” she hissed, stomping her foot in frustration.
I couldn’t keep hiding like this. Clearing my throat, I murmured, “It doesn’t quite work like that.”
Sybelle jumped and let out a soft squeak of surprise, her hand covering her mouth as she stared at me with wide eyes. “Stones, how long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to know the castle is toying with you.” I leaned against the stone wall and flashed her a grin. “You are making it too easy.”
“I—I just—” She sighed and let her hand fallagainst her thigh. “I just want to get back to my rooms. Why is it making it difficult for me?”
Ignoring her question, I gestured to the jar in her hand. Her eyes fell to my long, black claws, and I sensed her pulse quickening. “Why do you need that?”
If it weren’t for my fae senses, I might have missed the faint blush that crept across her cheeks. “Birch root is known to cure severe headaches.”
My eyebrows lifted at the obvious lie. “Is it, now?”
“Yes. My people have been using it for centuries. Is that a problem?”
I cocked my head, assessing her. Her free hand fisted her skirts, and she kept biting her bottom lip. “Do you have a headache, wife?”
She swallowed. “I haven’t been sleeping well.”
I smirked at that, remembering our midnight rendezvous in the library. There was something odd about the way she was speaking, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. “If you need better accommodations, all you have to do is ask. In fact, it’s probably time to move you over to the queen’s suite. Right next to mine.”
Her face drained of color. “N-No. That won’t be necessary. I’m quite comfortable in the guest quarters.”
I took a step up so that we were practically at eye level. Her breath hitched at the nearness, but she did not flinch away from me.
“But you are not aguestany longer, Sybelle. You are my wife.”
Her breathing was sharp and ragged now. Fear emanated from her in thick waves, and I marveled at this. When I revealed my true nature and yelled at her in the library, she did not fear me. But now, she did. Why?
Was it the prospect of sleeping in a room that shared a wall with mine?
“I will not touch you,” I vowed to her. “I swear it. Not unless you invite me to. You will still have your privacy.”
She let out a huff that sounded somewhere between a cough and a laugh.
My eyes narrowed. Did she not believe me? “What is your objection to this? Does it disgust you to be so close to a creature like me?”
Her jaw slackened, and indignation flashed in her eyes. “Of course not!”
“Then, what is the issue?”
“I don’t—” She took a breath and tried again. “You’re right. I do like my privacy. And I have… appreciated how secluded the guest wing is.”
Yes, so you can wander about as you please,I thought. What had she been looking for when she’d stumbled into the library that night?
“Your maid, of course, is free to move to the east wing as well,” I added. “And I will see that Enzira will come, too.”
“You know Enzira’s name?” she asked in surprise.
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Aren’t there hundreds of servants in this castle?”
I chuckled. “The minds of you humans are so fragile. We live for thousands of years, dear wife, and so it is not as easy for us to forget our people’s names.”
Her brows knitted together, and something akin to disappointment crossed her face. But I couldn’t fathom why.
