Page 50 of A Game of Veils

He pauses near the wall with its display of illusion-enhanced paintings. They’re intended to reflect the purpose of the room: a bear cavorting with a tambourine here, a fox hurling darts there.

Aurelia drifts away from her friend toward the same wall. Neven’s stance tenses.

Several paces away, one of the imperial guards turns his head toward them.

With a hitch of my pulse, I hurry forward. The damned kid is going to get himself into a heap of shit if someone doesn’t catch him first.

I reach him just as he takes his first urgent step toward Aurelia, his hands clutching the vase. Snagging him by the elbow, I jerk him around.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I demand, low enough that only he can hear.

Neven’s face flushes beneath his pale hair, but it’s at least as much anger as embarrassment. His voice comes out in a harsh whisper. “I’m getting rid of her. I can say I saw her about to sneak water from the vase—splash it on her and drop it so it looks like I smacked it out of her hands.”

I grimace at him. “Brilliant plan, with at least one of the guards watching you every step of the way.”

Neven glances past me, and the color drains from his face. “Oh. I thought— They didn’t seem to be paying attention… It was the perfect chance!”

“Obviously not.” I prod him toward the door. “And we’re not lowering ourselves to outright murder, for fuck’s sake.”

His gaze jerks back to me with a fresh blaze of anger. “How many deaths are we going to let her get away with?”

A lump clogs my throat. Does he really hold Aurelia responsible for the ladies killed in the trials prompted by her betrothal? Or is he simply latching on to an opening to avenge any death at all?

The one he’d most want to avenge, she had nothing to do with. But the man who orchestrated it is out of his reach, unlike the princess of Accasy.

I squeeze his shoulder a little more gently than I might have otherwise. “I just know you don’t need any on your conscience. Put that thing back wherever you lifted it from, and let the princess dig her own grave like we said.”

“She hasn’t gotten very deep so far,” Neven mutters, but he trudges off.

When I turn back toward his target, she’s paused by the freestanding cabinet that sometimes serves as a buffet table. Naturally, her gaze doesn’t even veer toward the few platters of appetizers placed on its polished top.

Her attention is fixed on me.

I stroll over as if nothing’s amiss, but she glances from the doorway Neven vanished through and back at me. “Did you just spare me from some kind of assault?”

I glower at her. “The kid’s a little hot-headed. I was setting him straight.”

She folds her arms in front of her, which only emphasizes the appealing curves of her breasts. An appeal that’s made twice as enticing by the knowledge that there’s no further barrier beneath her fluttery dress. “I suppose I owe you for that favor now?”

I hadn’t thought quite that far yet, but the idea is enticing in its own way. I lean against the buffet to consider and shoot her a sideways glance. “Maybe I’d like you to continue with your trials wondering what I’ll collect and when.”

Aurelia turns her back to the cabinet as well and gazes up at the assorted paintings. “You do seem fond of teasing.”

I give a short guffaw. “It isn’t teasing when I’m more than ready to deliver. Although speaking of delivering, if you’re going to leave little presents on my bed, you can skip what I’ve already said I don’t need.”

She shrugs, the silky fabric shifting over her tempting chest. “There are plenty of things we don’t need that can still make our lives more pleasant. I’d have thought you’d be a major advocate of that philosophy.”

Is she trying to compare her salve to my seduction? And not doing a half bad job of it either.

I’d be more irritated if she hadn’t given me a perfect opening to pursue my own gambit.

I shift closer to her along the buffet, putting me where I can extend my arm just a little to the side and disturb the edge of her skirt. The cabinet stands high enough to block my overture from the rest of the room. “I’d rather indulge in what could be pleasing for both of us. A little distraction to help you get through the rest of this trial of endurance?”

Aurelia tsks her tongue. “Wouldn’t you call that cheating?”

I might if it involved any suitor other than me.

A glance over my shoulder shows that the nearest guard has diverted his attention elsewhere—and the furniture shields most of us from his view regardless. I trail my pinky finger back and forth over her skirt, not pressing close enough to graze her skin but making the motion of the fabric do the stimulation for me.

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