Page 10 of Somber Prince

“Yes. What’s her name?”

“No idea, Your Highness. But I agree, her eyes are disturbing.”

I winced, recalling the gross imbalance. “One is blue. One is brown.”

“That is awful.” Oskura grimaced in disgust. “My apologies, Your Highness. The men clearly didn’t pay attention, otherwise they would’ve never brought her here.” She paused for a moment, as if thinking of a solution. “I can gouge one of them out. Which one would you like gone? The blue or the brown one?”

My general had a direct way of thinking and the ability to solve problems quickly, which was beneficial on a battlefield, but not so much in matters of delicate nature like human Joy Vessels.

Oskura rubbed her chin. “Though with one eye, there’d be no symmetry, either.”

“No. There wouldn’t be.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, remembering Oskura meant well. She usually did, even if it came out wrong sometimes.

“But if we got them both out?—”

I raised my hand, halting her bloodthirsty plans in their infancy.

“Please leave her eyes alone. There’ll be no gouging. Can you just explain to me why they are the way they are? Is she sick? Humans are generally weak. I’ve heard they get sick easily.”

“I don’t know, my prince. My apologies. I noticed her eyes too late. We wouldn’t have taken her otherwise.”

That was understandable. I couldn’t blame Oskura for the rush.

“You had no time to be picky. The portal was open only for a few minutes.” I waved a dismissive hand, entering my dining room.

The sky behind the arched window had already lightened with the approaching sunrise. It was time to secure the palace for the day and go to bed. Things would have to wait until the next night.

“Bring her to dine with me tomorrow.”

“To dine?” Oskura stared at me in bewilderment. “My prince, the human publicly insulted you. She needs to be punished, not fed dinner in your royal presence. It’ll set a poor example for other Joy Vessels.”

I rolled back my shoulders weighed down by the heavy jewelry piece over my chest. Oskura was right, of course. The human raised a hand to me in front of my entire court. Whoever hadn’t seen it, surely heard the ring of the slap as her hand connected with my cheek. The spot still burned, as did my ego. No one had dared insult me like that before, not even my mother.

I adjusted my braids over my shoulders. Each thin braid had six round golden clips positioned at even intervals along its length. Six braids. Three on each side of my head, with the rest of my hair upbraided. A perfectly even, symmetrical arrangement. Unlike that human’s face.

Curiosity nudged at me to find out the reason behind her misfortune.

“Besides,” Oskura continued, “she clearly hates you. She’d be useless as a Joy Vessel, anyway.”

That sounded like a challenge, sparking the urge to prove her wrong.

“Bring her anyway. She’ll dine with me. Make her the first to be fitted with the leilatha harness. That’ll be her punishment.”

Oskura eyed me skeptically. “Hardly a punishment, Your Highness, considering how much pleasure it brings to fit the harness.”

“It brings an equal amount of torment too.”

“Any amount of pleasure is worth every amount of pain,” she retorted quickly.

I couldn’t argue with that. Pleasure was rare and treasured higher than gold. A human might view it differently, but either way, putting the leilatha harness on her would not be the punishment equivalent to her offense.

My curiosity about her far superseded my desire to punish her, however.

“She said her father was killed. Is that true?”

Oskura frowned, then squinted, wrinkling her nose. She’d been the general of my army for eight years now, ever since I’d left Kalmena. But Oskura had been my loyal friend and my right hand for many decades. By now, I’d learned all her expressions, including the face she made when she was stalling, knowing I wouldn’t like her answer.

“Is he dead?” I demanded.

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