Page 56 of Their Blood Queen

“Thank you for the explanation, Earl Rinhold,” I say as a means to let him know I’m ready to retire. There are two handmaidens just at the corner, keeping their distance, seeming to be waiting for a signal that they can approach. I give them a nod, and they look at each other, then hurry toward us.

“Edward,” he corrects me, making me smile. “You are not my lesser, Lady Scarlett. You are my better in every way. It would honor me if you would use my first name.”

A blush overtakes my cheeks, and I wonder where this suitor of mine has been hiding.

Had I known a courtship would be this pleasant, I would have agreed to one sooner.

“Edward,” I concede, earning a bright smile from the male across from me.

He straightens and clears his throat. “Very well. I shall leave your handmaidens to attend to you,” he says, dipping his chin at them as he retreats.

He keeps his eyes on me when he adds, “I do hope you’ll wear the dress I had made for you. If it pleases you, Lady Scarlett. I will have the pleasure of our first dance when the music begins.”

I try to read the meaning behind his words as he runs his finger over his new mark in an unconscious effort. It feels like there’s a glimmer of a mask for the first time, one I should pay attention to, but the harder I look, the cordial and friendly Earl Rinhold is all I seem to be able to see.

The scratch above my navel twinges with pain, as if trying to tell me something.

Or maybe it’s only my apprehensions getting in the way.

“See you soon, Edward,” I say, enjoying how my stomach flips when he smiles at me again.

When he leaves and I retreat into my new room with two handmaidens I’m sure are hurrying to peel away my corset, they present to me the most beautiful dress I have ever seen.

Shadows threaten to close in on me as a now familiar rumble echoes throughout the room. Unlike my old accommodations, this one has many wide windows and a balcony that allows me to overlook a massive courtyard.

I glance at the sky, expecting to see storm clouds, but there are only bright bleeding reds of sunset scattered across the horizon.

Turning from the sight, I pick up the dress and smile at it.

Why do I have to fear the nightmares?

Maybe, for once, I can live in a dream.

CHAPTER 13

SCARLETT

“I’ll take that, my lady,” one of the older handmaidens who followed me into my room says, startling me.

I stare at her as she tugs the outfit from my fingers. She instructs me to step onto a platform against a large mirror while a younger handmaiden closes the door.

There are too many reflective surfaces in the room. I try to look outside, but shadows flicker through the glass panes and disappear the moment I blink my eyes.

“We’ll get you dressed in no time,” the older one assures me, likely mistaking my anxious expression for the fear of being late to the fête.

Rather, I have a fear of what insanity lingers in the back of my mind.

It must be a side effect of the blood contract, I decide.

Turning away from the windows, I obey more out of instinct than understanding.

There’s no privacy screen in this room, I realize with a sinking sense of dread.

I feel strangely vulnerable as I take the step and stare at myself in a mirror bound by gilded designs. I’m not sure what to do with my hands, so I tuck them over one another on top of my stomach out of a habit born of ingrained training. “If you’re going to undress me in the open, can we at least close the curtains?” I ask. My gaze goes up to the long velvet drapes that are attached to a curved rail.

The older one blinks up at me, then the younger one laughs. A look of horror crosses the older handmaiden’s face as she shushes her.

“Julie! I’ll have your hands raw on dish duty if you cannot behave in a Lady’s presence,” she threatens, making me frown.

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