Page 107 of Of Sword & Silver

38

KYRIE

The water’s so warm, the scented soap so decadent, my body so languid and relaxed that getting out of the tub is likely impossible.

I did need the nap.

Embarrassing to admit, even to myself, like I’m some overextended toddler who needs to be put to bed lest she completely melt down at the worst time possible.

I glance at the clock on the end table for the hundredth time since Dario’s servants filled the bath for me.

The worst time possible is nearly at hand.

“Kyrie?” Caedia calls, then knocks.

“Come in,” I say.

She’s already through the door by the time I’ve spoken, and I grin at the dryad who clearly barely cares about little things like human ideas of politeness and definitely doesn’t care about nudity.

Caedia stands over the tub, staring at me with her luminous, otherworldly eyes. Her silky blonde hair’s been curled and falls in soft waves around her face, and her sage-green gown glimmers in the candlelight.

“You look stunning,” I tell her.

“I want you to be careful tonight,” she says immediately.

I raise an eyebrow. “Of course I’ll be careful. What’s… what’s wrong?”

She turns, pacing along the edge of the tub, the silk of the custom gown we barely had made for her in time whispering as she walks.

“I don’t know. There’s something… off. I can feel it—” She stops talking, and when she pivots to glance at me, her eyes are glowing with her innate magic. A shiver goes up my back at the sight. “I don’t know, though. I’m not a seer like Lara. Promise me you’ll be careful. Promise me.”

“I promise,” I tell her.

“Good,” she nods, some of the glow in her eyes dying. “Because I didn’t work as hard as I did on taking care of you to have you die tonight.”

I snort, unable to stay straight-faced. “Unlike the man you healed just to break his bones again?”

“He was a special case. I learned a lot about bones. You deserve to live, Kyrie. He deserved to suffer.” She shrugs a shoulder, then breezes back out the door while I softly laugh.

Caedia might be the scariest of us all.

I’m glad she’ll be with me when it counts tonight.

Water sloshes around as I stand, stepping carefully out of the tub and drying off. The dress we had made for me lies across the bed, sparkling in the low light.

White silk, opalescent beads. Nearly completely sheer to the waist, with delicate beading that will barely conceal my breasts and a full skirt with a slit all the way up to my hip.

I’ll stand out in it, that’s for sure.

“Need help?” Lara asks from the doorway. “Feeling better?”

“Are you worried?” My hair drips on the rug. A second later, a whisper of magic rushes over me and my hair dries in near-perfect ringlets. “That’s a helpful spell.”

“I made that one up a few years ago during that winter that never seemed to end.”

“Clever.” I purse my lips, finally looking at her. She’s in a blue so deep it’s nearly purple, her smooth raven hair half up in an elaborate braid. She has her mask on already, and the silver sets off the crimson-red stain on her lips. “You look pretty,” I tell her.

Lara gives me a girlish grin. “You think?”

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