Page 78 of The Rose in the Shadows

He was grinning when I finally lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. He pulled his tunic, stained with my blood, over his head, and opened the door, beckoning in a guard.

“Get her dressed and return her to her room,” he commanded. “When you’re done, bring me her ladies.”

“No!” I shrieked, fighting against the guard that unlatched my wrists and lifted me. “Leave them alone. It was me! Punish me!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

By the time the guards deposited me back in my suite, healers were already waiting. I had fought to leave, to return to that office and defend Nessira and Geia, but the nurses had forced me to drink a potion that left my body heavy and calm. Then, they mended my injuries, fused the cut skin back together once more, and gave me something for the pain. It would scar me, they warned, but I already knew that. No amount of magical healing would fix what had happened. Not all scars were visible after all.

So they would serve as a reminder of the retribution that waited for me.

“I hate him,” I finally whispered, unsure if I was talking to Clay or myself.

Like the nurses, he, too, had been waiting for me. His clothes were rustled from his own fight to get back to that office, and I didn’t know how he had got from his room to mine, but I was grateful he was there. His skin was paler, a shade I hadn’t quiteseen him wear before, and his eyes, though still glowing gold, were haunted. It reminded me of the night in his rooms when he told me of his mother.

“I’m so sorry, Thea,” he whispered again.

I struggled to sit up from where I had been laid gently on my belly, hissing in protest as the tight, still healing skin pulled. He was at my side instantly, gently touching my shoulder and urging me back down.

“Don’t,” he breathed. “You should rest.”

“It’s not your fault,” I told him, my voice so hollow it was nearly unrecognizable.

Clay grunted but said nothing as he softly pulled my hair aside from where it had fallen across my back. The nurses had pulled it out from its curls and removed the diamond chains that had cut into my forehead. They’d dressed me in a thin shift, cut low across the back so the fabric wouldn’t bother the tender skin. Clay had ordered them out when they’d finished their work, and I was grateful for it. It was wrong of us to be here together, especially with my being in such little clothing, but I doubted Zion himself could convince Clay to leave me now, and truthfully, I too would fight back against Hyrax if he demanded my prince to go.

“Will they be okay?” I whispered, unable to think of anything but the image of Nessira and Geia in that room.

Clay sighed. “I believe this is not the first time he has summoned Nessira to him.”

My blood boiled.

“He’ll likely focus more of his attentions on her since Geia is young.”

Was that better? No. There was no version of possibilities that ended well for either of my ladies. And that was my fault. I’d condemned them to this fate. If I had fought harder to controlmy powers, if I’d just let him do whatever he needed to, I could have kept them safe.

“It’s not your fault either,” Clay told me, sensing the direction of my thoughts.

“How is it that no one has done anything to stop this, to stop him?”

Clay shifted and ran his fingers in small, comforting circles over my shoulder. “Kings aren’t so easy to control.”

“Kings can be removed from power,” I insisted, as magic swarmed angrily throughout me.

Clay’s eyes were distant. “You’re right. They can be. Sometimes they should be.”

We sat like that for a while in silence. I waited for my ladies, as I wordlessly debated what we could do to overthrow the Dragon. Surely that thought alone was treasonous. But could anyone blame me in this circumstance? Was treason always wrong when the ruler was corrupt?

Still, though, what could I do? I was from a royal family, sure, but I wasn’t even a Council member yet. I was still so new to court. I couldn’t possibly forcibly take down a king. Not by myself. Not now.

I would have to wait. I would have to do what Clay had done in the years since his mother’s murder. We would bide our time and wait until the right moment.

And then, I knew with a certainty that came deep from within my gut that I would watch the Dragon die.

Clay’s fingers continued tracing those circles on my shoulder while I was lost in thought, and eventually I allowed myself to focus on that sensation and relax. I could do that with him next to me. His presence was… calming.

As the sun began to set, though, it was clear he couldn’t stay with me much longer. We weren’t allowed to be in here together, and now wasn’t the time to break any more rules. The bedshifted under him as he slowly stood, careful not to jostle me too much. The pain had faded some time ago, though, as the healing medicines took effect. So as he stood, I too worked to sit up. His eyes flashed to my back, to the scars I knew he saw there, but neither of us mentioned them.

“Can I take you somewhere tomorrow?” He stopped to ask before leaving my bedroom, turning towards me with an oddly hopeful expression, given the day’s events.

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