Page 41 of Somber Prince

“Yay, food,” Elaine said flatly, getting up.

I followed her. “Looks gross, but I feel hungry enough to eat it.”

We walked out into the yard again, where the Keepers were giving out the plates with the mush. Before I could get one, however, a guard rushed in.

“Don’t eat that!” He positioned himself between me and the Keeper with my dinner.

I jerked my hand away from the plate. “Why not?”

Now everyone in the courtyard was staring at us.

“You’re coming with me,” the guard said. “His Highness Prince Rha wants you to have dinner in his rooms.”

It was a good thing I hadn’t gotten a plate yet, because had I held one, I would’ve dropped it in shock.

“What does he want with me again?”

Elaine gripped my arm. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Melanie making her way toward us.

“He wants you to have dinner with him,” the guard repeated, looking slightly irritated.

“I guess the joy he got from Kostya at lunch has worn off by now,” Elaine quipped. “He needs a refill.”

“Are you sure it was me he asked for?”

I had a hard time believing that the prince would want to have anything to do with me. Yesterday’s dinner brought neither of us any pleasure. Besides, he’d made it clear that he found looking at me uncomfortable. I had no idea what to think now.

The guard waved at me to follow. “Come. Your dinner will be served in Prince Rha’s private dining room.”

Kostya materialized next to us. “Can I come too? I can’t eat the shit they serve us here, not after the lunch we had with the prince.”

The guard raised his hand, keeping Kostya at bay. “Prince Rha asked for Dawn. Alone.”

Melanie grabbed my elbow. Her hot whisper hit my ear. “Hey, remember. Seduce the bastard and make him send us back.”

Chapter Twelve

DAWN

I walked into the same room I’d been in the last morning. The prince wasn’t here. His seat on the dais piled high with silk cushions was empty. The two servants with fans were also missing. But a group of musicians played a pleasant melody from the low platform by the wall to my left.

There was no food on the table. Instead, a gorgeous dress from flowing silk printed with colors of gold and burned orange was spread over the tabletop.

Two tall windows, one on each side of the royal dais, were open. The opportunity to look outside was a rare treat in Teneris, and I found myself drawn to the night view of the desert framed by the open stained-glass windowpanes.

A slight movement by the window on the right caught my eye. It was as if the air shifted slightly or the shadows undulated, stirred by the flames of the candles burning in tall holders along the walls.

“Good morning, Dawn,” Prince Rha’s voice greeted me.

He stood by the open window. His dark frame blended with the night, his golden eyes like a pair of twinkling stars in the sky.

“Oh, my God.” I pressed a hand to my chest as my heart seemed to leap to my throat.

“Did I startle you?” He took a step my way.

“Have you been standing there all along? Or did you just appear out of nowhere?”

His kind could turn to shadows at will. In any form, however, he already looked like a part of the night, blending with it seamlessly.

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