Page 55 of The Kingdom of Flames

“A gilded saddle?” Celestine asked.

“Wrong again,” Tristien laughed and grabbed her hand. They raced down the hallway of his palace. More wine had come as the dinner ended. She had never been this intoxicated.

“A horse painted yellow!” Celestine laughed.

“Incorrect!” Tristien raced now, dragging her along with him.

After they slowed, Celestine caught her breath. Tristien was looking at her, wanting something.

“What is it? Did I tear something?” Celestine looked around her gown.

“Encarmine did not steal your hope?”

Celestine’s face softened. Tristien’s glowed in the candlelight of the mansion.

“He won my touch, my taste, and my embrace of him, in truth. He said he had to court me in his way, so I knew what he was. I thought it noble.”

Tristien stared at her. “I am surprised as anyone, to say I agree.”

“Will you do the same, Lord Tristien?” Celestine spread her hands to the opulent hallway. “Shall you draw me baths and drown me in your wares?”

“If you wish.” Tristien grinned and bowed. “But I feel unoriginal. I intended to court you in my own way. I seek you to know me, Celestine. And I seek to know everything about you.”

Celestine grinned back. “I know a few places we can start. Take me to bed.”

This may be a mistake, but the wine helps me make it. Bless whomever first pressed the grape into a reason to forget one man and drown yourself in another.

Tristien took her hand and led her up the staircase. “I have to show you your gift.”

It’s going to be his bed, of course. And maybe I want to see it. And feel it. And sweat and sleep in it with him. In the morning, we will not dress but be dressed in the luxury of this world.

She followed him down a different hallway to his chambers. The doors opened on their own. There were no guards here.

There was nothing short of opulence in his chambers, either. A broad featherbed, larger than three put together, sat on the far wall, the canopy above it the canary yellow of his emblem. The sun sigil adorned the walls in topaz figures. Long windows framed the entire room, but the curtains were closed.

“Here it is.” Tristien led her to the middle of the room where a sole table sat high, like a speaking pillar. A beautiful box of diamonds and lace waited for her.

She walked up to it. “It's beautiful.”

Tristien slid behind her, and the doors shut. He pressed his body against hers from behind, his hands slid up and down her sides.

“I made it for you,” he whispered, kissing the nape of her shoulder and neck. Celestine shuddered and ground back against him. He was hard for her, pressing through the gown of her dress. His fingers explored the lacing of the back of her corset. Tristien’s touch made her ache. She wanted to please him. There were no lordly contests here. He saw what he wanted and would have it. She would sleep here, she would serve his body, and he would serve hers.

“Open it,” Tristien ordered. His voice was a bit firmer.

Celestine smiled, a night of sparkling elegance encasing her as much as the fine gown she wore. Everything sparkled here. Even the wine. Everything glittered in his estate, from his fields to his wine and now… his women.

Celestine undid the silver clasp on the box. Tristien stepped from behind her, moving across to watch her open it.

She raised the lid of the box, looking down.

A loop of metal sat in the box. She lifted it out, not understanding.

It was dirty. The hinges were uneven. The metal rough, with a single metal ring that creaked when it moved.

She held it out into the light.

When she looked up at Tristien, the warm, affable glow of his eyes was gone. Complete ownership stared back at her, deadly serious… and she was afraid.

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