Page 47 of Crown of Briars
The last thing I needed was for him to see the wordsmean old codger.
Varius tilted his head at me. He did that often, I noticed. It made him look more predatory. “Is everything to your liking?” His gaze flicked to the desk behind me.
“What is that?” I asked, desperate to distract him before he discovered my letter. My voice was far too loud, so I cleared my throat and gestured to the bathing chamber. “That hole in there. What is it?”
“You haven’t used it yet?” His eyes roved over me, his brows knitting together. “Do humans not… bathe as often as the fae do?”
My cheeks flushed, and my jaw went slack. “It’s… it’s abathtub?”
“A hot spring. There are caves below ground with rivers of heated mineral water. Part of the magic of the castle is that the springs can flow through our pipes, no matter what level our rooms are on.”
“Hot springs,” I repeated, feeling remarkably stupid for not figuring that out. The hole had just looked sodarkthat the idea of climbing inside seemed undeniably insane.
“It’s quite relaxing. I highly recommend it.” He leaned casually on the doorframe, his arms crossing to accentuate the thick muscles of his biceps. Today he wore a sleeveless tunic open at the chest, which, I gathered, was the style for the male royals. His trousers came just past his knees, clinging to his toned legs, and, once more, he was barefoot.
I realized my mouth was still open, so I clamped it shut and jerked my gaze back to his face. A smirk played on his lips as if he’d noticed I’d been staring.
He seemed so… at ease. As if our conversation yesterday hadn’t happened at all.
“For the record,” I said in a clipped tone, “Ihavebathed since arriving. Enzira and I… Well, there was a communication issue, and she ended up bringing me buckets of water for bathing. Which was fine, of course. I just… didn’t know there was an alternative.”
“Why didn’t you just ask her?”
My mouth formed a thin line. “It is… difficult to ask for things. I am still a stranger here, surrounded by strange creatures.”
“And do you think one of us will harm you if you ask a simple question?” His voice turned sharp, and thin shadows appeared at his feet, revealing his anger.
“No,” I snapped. “I only mean I am a stranger here and don’t quite feel comfortable bothering everyone with my confusion and my needs. Do you honestly expect me to become acclimated to this infuriating enchanted castle after only a few days?”
“Of course not.”
“Glad we are in agreement, then,” I muttered sarcastically, turning away from him to close the desk drawer, hiding my incriminating letter from view. Then I busied myself with opening my trunk at the foot of my bed. I sifted through severalgarments until I found a clean shift, then straightened and found the king staring at me, his expression inscrutable.
My eyebrows lifted. Why was he still here? “Well, I’ll just be testing out the hot springs.” I gestured to the bathing chamber.
He arched a single eyebrow, half his mouth curling in a smirk. Too late, I realized my statement sounded an awful lot like an invitation. My face heated. “I mean—I don’t—what Imeantwas, I’d like some privacy. So, please tell me why you’re in my rooms, or get out so I can bathe in peace.”
His smirk vanished, and his nostrils flared. “You dare speak to your king in such a manner?”
“You aren’tmyking.”
He stepped farther into my room, shadows swelling behind him. “You are my wife and a resident of the Shadow Court.Mycourt. So yes, Iamyour king.”
My chin lifted at the sharp tone in his voice. “But I am not your subordinate. You hold no power over me.”
His lips curled into a sneer. “Bold words, coming from a human whose spine I could snap like a twig.”
Fear twisted in my gut, but I forced myself to stand up straighter, looking him directly in the eye. “Go ahead and kill me, Wraith King. See how well you do with those shadows if I’m dead.”
It was a bluff; I actually had no idea what my presence did for the shadows. But he had alluded enough for me to infer that I was important.
At least important enough not to kill.
He bared his teeth at me, fangs gleaming as a low growl built in his throat. It seemed to rumble from the very floor beneath my feet, and it took all my willpower not to stagger back a step. The shadows behind him darkened as if made of ink, spreading and thickening until almost all the sunlight from the windows was blocked out.
Still, I held my ground, hands forming fists at my sides. Iwould not be cowed. I would not falter. Varius was a bully and nothing more.
He wouldn’t hurt me.
