Page 88 of Somber Prince

“I ordered turquoise, moonstone, opal, sapphire, brown agate, and golden-brown onyx—all are the colors of your eyes.”

I halted my breath. I hadn’t even realized the colors of the stones meant something. But of course they would. As a shadow fae, Rha derived no pleasure from aesthetics. For him to appreciate anything—be it a color, a fabric, or a picture—there had to be a logical meaning behind it.

I tilted my head, peering at him from under my eyelashes. “I thought you disliked my mismatched eyes.”

“I used to find them disturbing,” he admitted. “Sometimes I still feel like there are two people looking at me instead of one. A blue-eyed and a brown-eyed one. They may even have two different personalities. I know you’re at war with yourself at times.”

I sure had enough doubts and insecurities to last for two people and more. Rha proved perceptive enough to notice.

With a finger under my chin, he turned my head to face him. “But I don’t dislike your eyes, Dawn. I don’t dislike anything about your appearance at all.” He moved a few rocks in the box. “I used to avoid using flawed pieces in my designs. But now, I think their imperfections don’t make them any less perfect. They make them unique and worthy of a special meaning.”

“Is that what you want me to help you with? To find the perfectly imperfect stones?”

“No.” He placed a kiss on my cheek. “It turns out I’m very good at finding flawed treasures on my own. But I need your help in arranging the gems in a design that pleases you.”

“What if it’s something asymmetrical?” I teased.

“As long as it holds a meaning to you. And yes, I suspect it’d be asymmetrical. Your emotions don’t fit into any pattern I know.”

“Hmm,” I moved the polished rocks along the velvet lining of the box. “What if we don’t do anything geometrical at all, but do…swirls maybe?” I lined the stones into curvy lines. “Blue and brown, like sky and ground…”

“…twirling together in a day storm,” Rha added.

“…like in a dance.” I finished in one breath.

Our eyes met. A shiver ran down my arms. Rha touched his chest with a sigh that echoed mine. Something sparked between us, an emotion that we both felt even without the tendrils connecting us.

I blinked, breaking our eye contact and cleared my throat, trying to get out from under the spell. I shifted the rocks in the box.

“We can arrange them from the darkest to the lightest. Ombre effect.” My voice sounded a little rough, but my heart rate evened out. “See, like that? What do you think?”

The wisps of tendrils appeared from his arms. He placed a hand on my thigh, as if trying to connect with me through touch first. I swallowed hard, but moved my arm closer to him, craving the connection like a drug I could no longer live without.

“It should be fine now. The pain is almost entirely gone. Here you go.” I aligned a leilatha on my arm with the frayed end of his emerging tendril. “We may as well have fun together while working on the design, right?”

Tentatively, as if tasting the water of a treacherous stream, he connected the tendril. The hag’s tea had done its job. My cramps disappeared. The backache was now almost gone too.

Rha connected the second tendril, then swung the rest of them over me, connecting to my other arm. I felt a gentle prodding at my back and leaned forward to allow him the access to my spine.

“Good?” I eyed him.

It felt comforting to have him this close, like hugging a warm blanket around me. Peace flooded me, relaxing my muscles and soothing my soul.

A smile stretched his lips as he inhaled deeply, breathing in my inner peace.

“Perfect, my treasure.” He relaxed into the pillows, and I made myself comfortable at his side. “Well, let’s figure out this design now, shall we?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

DAWN

I saw Elaine and Melanie almost daily. Rha had made it clear, as far as spending time with me went, he had the priority. But he was often busy.

Teneris was a huge city. Like with an iceberg, only a small portion of it was above the ground. Farms, gardens, markets, and most dwellings occupied a sprawling cave system underground—the system that needed to be maintained, supplied, and governed. The city needed its prince, no matter how much the prince might need me.

While Rha was busy in the Council meetings or on his outings into the desert to access the city defenses, I had time to socialize with humans. In addition to Melanie and Elaine, others joined us on occasion. Lucia became a frequent guest, as well as Lin and her friend Aihan. Even Sipho came by for dinner once or twice.

About a week and a half after my period ended—finally easing Rha’s worries about me bleeding to death—I invited the entire sarai over for dinner.

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