Page 55 of Crown of Briars
At my side, my fingers curled into fists. She was afraid of me. Afraid of what I might force her to do.
As always, she believed me to be a monster.
“I told you once before that I would not touch you without your permission,” I said. “And I meant it.”
Her brow creased, as if this was confusing to her. It was bewildering that I wouldnotforce her to my bed.
It was getting more and more difficult to keep my frustrations at bay. “Why does this shock you?” I hissed, barely leashing my words.
“Because we are married. And, until we consummate, the marriage is not valid. Did you not say my presence here was necessary, that it had something to do with the shadows? If your situation is flexible enough to allow you to avoid consummating, then why bother going through the ceremony with me at all?”
My head reared back at the bluntness of her words. Was she being earnest with me?
“Dear wife,” I said, unable to keep the amusement from my voice, “are youencouragingme to bed you this evening? Because if that is what you wish, I can certainly make arrangements for it.”
She blushed again, her mouth forming a tight line as she glared at me. “No.I am merely questioning the validity of our marriage. I came here to wed you. We have not completed the necessary steps to make this lawful.”
“Ah.” I leaned against the doorframe, thoroughly enjoying watching her squirm. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, avoiding my gaze. “So you are only concerned with the legality of our union. That is all.”
“Yes,” she bit out. “That is all.”
“And this has nothing at all to do with your curiosity regarding my body?”
She blanched, looking downright horrified. “No!”
I grinned. “You aren’t the least bit curious?”
“I am familiar with the male anatomy, thank you very much,” she said curtly.
I raised my eyebrows. “Are you, now? That’s surprising.”
Her blush spread to her ears and neck now. What a thoroughly strange thing these human bodies did.
“Besides,” I went on, “I am not human. I have wings and atail. Does it not interest you whatotherparts of mine might be different?”
Her eyes dipped below my belt, then jerked back up again, as if she hadn’t meant to look.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
She scowled at me. “Why do you enjoy mocking my embarrassment?”
“Because you make it so easy,dannahla.”
I hadn’t meant to use the term of endearment; it had slipped out on its own. But when Sybelle’s eyes widened, I realized my mistake.
Not only that, but she clearly knew what the word meant. This confirmed my suspicions that she understood more of the Agnarrish language than she let on.
Instead of addressing it, I pretended not to notice. If she wanted to play the part of the ignorant human, so be it. No need to draw attention to the fact that I just called herdarling.
I stretched my hand to the open door. “After you.”
She shot me one last look of loathing before striding into my rooms. I trailed after her, surveying the space with a fresh perspective. The fireplace was bigger, and the walls in my room were black marble instead of cream. But overall, it looked much the same as the queen’s suite.
Sybelle was eyeing the bookshelves in one corner of the room, her head tilted as she tried to read the spines.
“They are in my language,” I supplied, wondering if she would finally admit she knew Agnarrish.
She whirled to look at me, then cleared her throat. “Oh,” was her only response. She fingered the orange necklace at her throat, a habit I had seen her do before. I wondered if it meant she was nervous.
