“Briar Deslionne of Ryrn?” A stiff voice asks.
I turn, suspicions peaked as I take in the stranger in front of me. He’s dressed in simple, clean clothes typical of a public servant. His brown eyes rake over me, taking in my coarse appearance and dirtied trousers. I pinch my forearm behind my back, trying to distract myself from the shame his judging eyes have sparked.
“You are?” I ask.
“I bring a message from Her Highness, Princess Fera. She requests the pleasure of your company and your betrothed this afternoon,” the man says. “I’ve come to escort you.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, eyes flaring with nerves. She can’t possibly know I’m here. “How?”
“The details haven’t been disclosed to me.” The messenger looks impatient. He looks over me again, with clear disdain this time. “I’ll give you some time to refresh yourself.”
I tug at the hem of my tunic at his words, cheeks hot. I don't look like the princess Fera knew when were young. If she saw me, then she recognized me despite my grungy clothes and greasy hair. The thought has my face burning. I leave the messenger outside the Diamond, clearly uncomfortable at his surroundings, and head upstairs to freshen up. Inside the room, I now share with Kane, I take a strangled breath in front of the mirror. My cheeks are streaked with dirt, pores clogged by the polluted air. I have no hope for fixing my hair; I forgot to bring a brush with me, and I've simply been pinning it up at the base of my neck since. If I showed up like this at the palace, in front of an old friend, I would be humiliated.
Suddenly, I hear the door click open and quiet footsteps. I don’t have to look to know it’s Kane. I feel him inside me when he’s near. I splash cold water on my face, hoping to hide my flushing from him. Kane sags down onto the bed with a sigh. I can feel his eyes on me, watching while I do my best to scrub my face.
“What’s the occasion?” He asks.
I pause, patting my face dry with a rough towel. "The princess of Verstad has requested you, and I join her for the afternoon," I say. I can hear the trepidation in my voice.
"Has she?" Kane cocks a brow, and my blood stirs. "How in the world do you always fail to remain inconspicuous? Do I need to magic a disguise over you?"
I press my lips into a thin, unhappy line. “We have to go. If we don’t, there will be rumors. It will draw even more attention.”
“Alright,” Kane sighs, rising. His black eyes glitter mischievously. “But you’ll owe me a favor. I usually make a point not to join mortals for lunch – unless they’re on the menu.”
I pale at his words, but I can’t deny the stirring of excitement I feel in my core. Dangerous, I think giddily, Kane is dangerous. “The messenger is downstairs,” I say, trying to hide the tendrils of want seeping through my body.
After the first night, I spend with Aiden, Kane demanded I move into his room. I was nervous at first, but Kane never spends nights with me. Once, I imagined I saw him on a rooftop as dawn spilled over the horizon, but he was gone in an instant. I wonder if he avoids being alone with me on purpose. I mull over this as we head outside to the messenger. He starts when he sees the tall, lean Kane looming over him. I feel a seed of satisfaction at the messenger's frightened response to Kane. I don’t suppose he believed I truly was betrothed to Death. But Kane exudes a sense of power and darkness. It’s something I’m finding myself addicted to.
“Lead on,” Kane says. He doesn’t bother to ease his tone to put the messenger at ease. I like that too.
Kane and I are silent as we take a nearby carriage towards the center of Verstad, where the palace awaits. I pick nervously at a stray thread on the knee of my trousers. I never imagined I would ever be in a position to meet my equal and feel so completely inferior. Fera is nice in her own way, but all the royals know she’s a gossip. I can only imagine what she’ll say when she takes in my appearance – or what my family will think when they hear of it. For all I know, they could have gotten wind that I’m staying in the slums of Verstad with three men. I blush furiously, stomach roiling with nerves.
“After you,” Kane says. His voice breaks the oppressing silence inside the carriage and shatters my thoughts. I glance up sharply, shocked that we’ve already made it to the palace. He tilts his head, eyes boring into me. What are you waiting for? He seems to ask. Who is this princess to intimidate you?
I slip out of the carriage as regally as I can manage. I straighten my shoulders, staring up at the white facade of the palace. Four massive towers jut up from the main palace, and a glass dome in the middle serves as the roof of the palace proper. Gold filigree glints off the fixtures of the towers and the statues decorating the palace walls. The palace of Verstad is meant to be luxurious, to ooze wealth and power. But I've felt it looked like a boxy prison since I was little.
“The princess is in the conservatory,” the messenger says, gesturing for us to follow him.
“It’s
