Page 109 of Of Wind and Terror

Definitely not just for decoration.

A map of the various kingdoms rests on the desk, surrounded by ledgers written in small, neat script. I don’t believe the handwriting is Blaze’s, so I guess it’s his father’s. I try to peer at one of the pieces of paper closest to me, but the writing is too tiny for me to decipher.

I decide to take the moment of solitude to wash. I no doubt stink to high heaven, and a fine layer of sweat coats my skin, causing my dress to stick to my curves.

I wash quickly and then step out of the tub, searching the tiny bathroom for a towel. When I find one, I wrap it around my shivering body, surprised by how soft the material is against my raw skin. It feels as if I’m hugging a cloud.

I eye the discarded dress with a scowl before deciding I’d rather walk around naked than put back on clothes covered in dirt, sweat, and grime.

But when I step out of the bathroom, I’m surprised to find a dress waiting for me in the center of the sitting room. A young female—no older than fifteen—glances up from where she’s rearranging the mismatched gloves.

“Oh! Hello!” She blinks up at me, and I realize she has the widest eyes I’ve ever seen. Bug eyes, Madam Herra would say. Wide and guileless. Fair hair, lighter than my own, frames an oval face and slightly pointed chin. She wears a modest orange dress that comes all the way down to the tips of her fingers, obscuring them from view. “Hi! You must be Kassandra! Oh wow. You’re really pretty. I always knew Blaze would marry a pretty fae, but I never expected her to look like you. No offense. You’re just so…little. That was rude, wasn’t it? I’m sorry! My sister always says I put my foot in my mouth.”

She pauses, breathes dramatically, and then thrusts a hand in my face for me to shake. “I’m Bailey! But you can call me…well…Bailey.” She pouts. “There’s no way to shorten my name to make a pretty nickname. You can’t really call me Bail, can you? That just sounds weird.”

She drops her hand back to her side when she realizes I’m not about to shake it but doesn’t seem perturbed. If anything, her eyes glimmer with excitement.

“Now, you’re probably wondering why I’m here, standing in your room like a creeper.” She cants her head to the side, and a strand of that moonlight-colored hair falls in her face. “Well, surprise! I’m your official lady-in-waiting while you’re staying with us.”

She bounces on the tips of her toes and claps her hands together. A wide, beguiling smile blossoms on her face. “This is my first ever official duty, though I’ve been training since I was a toddler! Usually my sister helps with guests, but she and Blaze once?—”

She cuts herself off abruptly, wrinkling her nose, but I don’t need to be a genius to fill in the blanks.

I know Blaze has a past. And I know that past involves females. How could it not, if what he said is true and he’s lived for hundreds and hundreds of years? He’s an attractive man, practically exuding raw sexuality, and a female would be blind not to notice it. To notice him.

Gaia knows it’s impossible for me not to.

I’m just happy I didn’t have to come face-to-face with one of Blaze’s ex-lovers. I have a feeling Blaze specifically requested this tiny fae as my lady-in-waiting for that purpose alone.

She’s probably one of the only faces in the castle he hasn’t slept with.

I wait for the bitter twinge of jealousy to pierce my side, for ice to trickle through my veins, but it never comes.

Maybe because I trust Blaze.

I don’t think he would hurt me. Not like that.

Those females may have had him in the past, but I have him now. And not just a version of him. Not just the mask he dons like a second skin.

I have his smiles and his glares. His laughter and his sadness. His protectiveness and his cunningness.

Blaze is more than what he shows to the public. There are facets of his personality that even I have yet to uncover.

But…

But I want to uncover them. I want to know everything there is to know—every piece of him, from the torrid to the broken to the great.

Bailey groans dramatically. “Look at me? Putting my damn foot in my mouth again.” Horror abruptly splays across her face, and she places both hands over her mouth. “Oh my Gaia! I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have sworn! Dammit! I mean…darn it!”

I laugh silently and wave my hands in the air to garner her attention. “It’s fine. I swear all the time. Do you know Falkan?”

Immediately, her hands begin to twist in the air, a flurry of rapid movement that’s almost as fast as her mouth. “Of course I know Falkan! Most of us do. Blaze sent an envoy back a few weeks prior and demanded that all the staff learn at least basic Falkan.”

Blaze demanded that his staff learn Falkan?

For me?

An indecipherable emotion punctures my heart, and my breath quickens. Heat suffuses my body. Some of the armor around my heart crumbles like it was made of nothing but papier-mâché.

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