Page 185 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
But damn it if I wouldn’t be walking down the aisle tomorrow.
Just as sleep overtook me, I felt Zandyr sighing heavily into my hair.
“You didn’t promise me,” was the last thing I heard before sweet oblivion took hold.
This wasn’t the calm, comforting sleep I’d become accustomed to since we’d started sharing the same bed. My dream of floating on a cloud quickly morphed into a miserable labyrinth. I ran for my life, a growl chasing me through the darkness.
A roar bellowed through the walls, rattling my mind.
“She should have been dead by now. They should have all been bleeding at our feet,” the voice bellowed. It sounded so distant, yet so familiar. But I’d never heard such venom in it before, I–
I woke with a start to an empty bed as the first rays of sunlight entered the room, bathing it in a warm glow. I only had the chance to place my hand on the indent of where Zandyr’sbody had been before Leesa knocked and entered, ready to start the preparations.
Zandyr’s side of the bed was cold.
Chapter
Sixty
EVIE
I’d never had nerves like these in my entire life.
These weren’t the leaden, vengeful jitters that had engulfed me before my first wedding. I no longer had to endure the weight of the loved-up mask I’d been forced to wear as Leesa fluttered behind me with combs crafted with mother-of-pearl and hairpins that ended in golden pearls.
No, these nerves were, dare I say it, light. Flutters of excitement dancing in my chest, whirling in my stomach, making my knees shake.
My reflection in the mirror had a glimmer in her eyes and a quirk to her lips. I looked eager. Thrilled.
The old me wanted to curse myself for it. Had I not learned the things I wanted most had a way of being snatched from me?
I shook my head, earning a curt tsk from Leesa. Nobody could snatch Zandyr away even if they tried. The man was lethal grace incarnate, he could probably fell the entire palace if he so chose.
And I was marrying him.Me.
The Lost Daughter who’d been dragged back to Clan life by her hair, bloody and scared, more feral than courtly.
Yet here I was, smiling at myself in these white undergarments adorned with pearls on the straps, imagining Zandyr’s teeth dragging them down my shoulders.
A shiver raced down my spine and my cheeks colored. I was two lascivious thoughts away from squirming in my seat.
Patience. I needed to be patient.
That’s what wedding nights were made for, right? Though a part of me was miffed that the circumstances had forced us to wait so long. I’d had big plans for my last days as a fiancee. From the way Zandyr’s eyes caressed me every time we were in the same room, his plans were even bigger.
But I’d had to recuperate after the kidnapping ordeal. Now I was healed, my energy returned, though there was still a dullness in the connection with Zandyr. The flickers I got were still brimming with that same curious dread. Sprinkled between them were waves of…affection? I couldn’t name the emotion, but it was comforting and delightful.
Perhaps his unease would vanish once we passed this day. Whoever had dared come after me wouldn’t do it at my second wedding again, would they?
I’d strapped my switchblade bracelet on my wrist just the same. It didn’t go with any of the golden jewels Leesa kept putting on me, but I couldn’t see myself without it now. That little blade that nobody had thought could do real harm had saved me so many times. Small, but deadly. Powerful.
A bit like me.
The one whowouldn’t be interesting past the wedding night. Who’d been forbidden from learning magic. Who’d been squirreled away in the mountains.
Here I was, looking like the queen I would become. Perhaps, someday soon, I would feel like her, too.
Even the bruises had receded. What was left of them had been hidden by whatever paste Leesa brushed onto my face, making it glow. Nobody would be looking at my nose anyway. My eyes had been lined with black and gold kohl, making them appear bigger and mysterious.
