Page 45 of The Rose in the Shadows

By the Gods, that was… humiliating.

I wanted to protest, to insist that forcing her to do that was demeaning and unnecessary, but even I could recognize that I’d pushed him too far. I would win no more battles against him tonight.

And right now Clay needed to remind Camilla that I was her better. Because even if she hadn’t been the orchestrator of my attack, another Witch, one of her House was, and he couldn’t tolerate that. An attack on one royal was an attack on us all.

She bit down on her lip, obviously irritated by the command, but dipped one foot behind the other and lowered herself into a curtsy. Her head bowed, eyes unable to meet my own. “Thank you, my lady.”

“Just go.” I sighed, tired.

She and Rankor left quickly, without another word. Clay followed them but, to my surprise, closed the door firmly after they exited, shutting me in my bedroom with my young prince. Twice tonight, we’d been alone in a bedroom together. Court customs be damned.

The air was thick with tension and unease as he turned back to face me from across the parlour. He raised an eyebrow and folded his hands behind his back, an unmistakable sign that a lecture was coming.

“I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn.”

“I think it’s pretty clear you spoke out of turn.”

“Well, I’ve had an upsetting night. I hope you can understand.”

A wave of exhaustion powered through me, burning my eyelids and weighing down my shoulders. I didn’t have it in me to fight with him. Not after everything that had happened.

I turned on my heels to the closet, eager to change out of these bloody clothes. Clay growled and followed me, no doubt further enraged by the fact I had walked away from him, but after catching one glance of me beginning to untie my apron with little modesty, he scoffed and retreated.

“Are you out of your damn mind?” He huffed with exasperation. “You willfully disobey all decorum at every opportunity!”

I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes, feeling grateful he had turned away and could not see it. Decorum was hardly my first concern now. Without a response, I stepped into my nightgown and braided my hair behind my back. When I returned to the primary bedchamber, now fully clothed, Clay stood leaning against the wall with one foot kicked up and his arms crossed across his chest. It was a seemingly relaxed position, but I could see hints of black veins in his fingertips. His golden eyes burned into mine as I met his expression without fear.

“You’re the one who’s alone with me inmysuites, Mr. Vail. Perhaps you should take your leave if my casual attire offends you?”

I tossed my braid over my shoulder as I stalked past him, eager to crawl into my bed and finally get some rest. His hand snaked out, wrapping around my wrist and pulling me suddenly towards him. I yelped softly in surprise and stumbled as he shifted past me. Clay tossed me against the wall and threw his arms on either side of my head until he had completely boxed me in. He was all I could see.

“I am your Prince!”

“You are,” I agreed, keeping my voice soft. “And you were being cruel to her.”

His skin rippled suddenly as scales started emerging. He rolled his neck and breathed deeply and I watched as he struggled to contain himself. Somewhere deep down, I knew I was tempting a beast. Enough people had warned me. I had seen with my own eyes that even Clay’s best friends were afraid of him. And yet, here I stood, alone in my suite, pressed against him, unwilling to submit to him.

Clay’s body was firm against mine, and I was mildly aware that I wore only a thin nightgown. Could he feel how hard my heart was beating?

We stood there for a moment, frozen and both trying to control our anger. My power danced at my fingertips, itching for a release, but I didn’t dare move. Then Clay’s eyes slowly darkened to their natural gray color, and his scales receded to wherever they had come from. Finally, he stepped back, releasing me, and I sighed in relief.

“Unless you want to see how cruel I can truly be, Miss Moore, I’d suggest you never use those powers on me again. I won’t forgive it a second time.”

He stormed out without another word and slammed the door heavily behind him. Breathless, I sagged back against the wall as his words sunk in.

Had I used my powers on him?

I thought back to his fingers wrapped around Camilla’s throat. I’d pleaded with him to release her with all of my emotion leaking into the request, and sure enough, his fingers had splayed open, and she had fallen to the ground. It had surprised me he had actually done it. It surprised my friends that he had done it.

It surprisedhimhe had done it.

Well, shit. Whether or not I meant to, I had just used my powers against the Crown Prince, and he hadn’t been able to stop me. A weight sank in my stomach. I hadn’t been at court long enough to know all the rules, but some were obvious. Using your powers on the Dragon or his heir certainly wasn’t permitted. Nor would it be tolerated.

The tears I’d been putting off finally fell freely as I crawled into my bed and pulled the covers over my head. And even though I’d been awake for hours, dealing with more stress than one person should have to in one night, sleep didn’t find me for a long time. I could only surrender myself to it once I had sobbed out the tears I’d been holding onto since I woke up that first day in the hospital.

Chapter Fourteen

“Is this really necessary?” I scoffed, holding the letter out to Iris, who sat on the edge of my bed.

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