Page 60 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
Rihanwasthere.Ofall the people she’d expected to see at the symposium, he was certainly not on Nesrina’s list. He grinned at her, and she returned a small smile, focusing instead on the conversation with the king. Between Rihan’s furtive glances and Kas’s continual staring at the side of her face, the confusing tumble of emotions within her had her wishing she could scream and run away from the entire event.
The king’s speech was a blur, though Nes did recall a sweet story he shared of having met his queen at the symposium over a dozen years before. She wanted to ask Kas if he’d been there, but when she chanced a glance at him out of the corner of her eye he was staring daggers at Rihan, and she couldn’t capture the lord’s attention.
Then the speech ended, and Kas disappeared to meet with the king, leaving her oddly bereft without his confusing presence at her side. Standing in the hall with Rihan’s damp hand pressed against the exposed skin of her upper arm, she wished Kas would hurry back.
Had this man truly excited her a few weeks before? Oh, how fickle she was.
“You’re looking beautiful, as always,” Rihan whispered, leaning in close.
“I’m going to take a leak.” The other guard, stationed a few feet away, disappeared down the hall and around a corner.
Nesrina couldn’t help but wonder if he’d heard Rihan, or if his departure was planned in advance.
“Have you missed me?” Rihan’s low question vibrated through her, filling Nesrina with a strange sort of apprehension in place of the butterflies that he, at one time, called forth from her stomach.
She gave him another small smile and avoided the question entirely.
Rihan lifted the clammy hand that had been pressed against her arm for far too long and grazed her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. She shrank away from his touch. It feltwrong.
It wasn’t until he licked his wide lips and leaned in, sliding his hand behind her neck to tug her closer, that she let out a gasp of protest, one that he took for excitement. Rihan mashed against her unwilling mouth, and Nes yelped, shoving him away.
“What the fates?” he whispered tensely.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“Who is he?”
“I’m sorry,what?” This time Nes’s “sorry” held no note of apology, as incredulity lifted her brows.
“Whose bed are you warming now, Nesrina?” he hissed her name, all venom, the charming man she’d once spent time with gone in a flash. “Got yourself a new soldier? No? Oh, ho! The duke himself?” Rihan cornered her and, hulking, backed her toward the wall.
“How dare you?” She darted to the side, spinning from beneath him and positioning herself in the center of the hallway. It took a moment to find her words with his aggressive presence bearing down on her. But when they came, they were laced with poison. “First of all, don’tevertouch me without my permission. Second, I haven’t seen you in weeks. We’ve been apart longer than we knewone another. And you think it’s appropriate to greet me so familiarly? To attempt to kiss me in a hall, mere feet from the king and—”
The door across from her swung open, and the duke she was about to name emerged, accompanied by King Hethtar.
“We leave now,” the king boomed at the guards.
When the second one had returned, Nesrina couldn’t be sure; shehoped his reappearance was recent.
King Hethtar said something about dinner and wine, but she wasn’t listening.
Rihan’s sharp glare pierced her uncomfortably, until he spun and followed the king away.
Her cheeks burned, and her breathing was shallow. She hadn’t been done reaming him out. Cut off mid-tirade, her surplus of energy balled in on itself.
“Let’s go,” Kas barked, plucking a cord of anxiety within her, already wound so tight it nearly snapped.
Nesrina ground her teeth as she followed the duke from the public building.
The Elk & Heron was only a few blocks from the opening dinner—the one they skipped. Walking double-time to try to keep up with the long-legged lord burned off some of her ire. It fizzled and popped, disintegrating wildly.
Rihan Sarma’s a cad.“That absolute arsehole,” Nes grumbled, expounding on her thoughts, and earning a quick over-the-shoulder glance from Kas as she pounded up the stairs of the inn.
At their room, Kas procured himself a large glass of whiskey and poured her a glass of wine. Not in the mood to chat, she curled up in a chair by the fire, sipping her drink as he stomped around, ice clinking in his glass.
Can I catch a break?Nesrina wondered morosely, taking another sip. She pursed her lips.Sticky.This was too sweet and not at all what she wanted.
He continued his pacing.Clink, clink, clink. She wondered how many grumpy men she’d be forced to deal with over the course of the symposium. Hopefully the first evening was not a sign of what was to come.
