Page 80 of A Game of Veils

He only plays with me for a few minutes before calling Leonette over to replace me. I barely feel my legs as I return to my seat. I’m not just pulled back deep inside my body but hollowed out.

It’s almost over. We’re almost through.

The other members of court chatter away through Marclinus’s lecherous display as if there’s nothing horrifying about it. Emperor Tarquin’s expression holds a trace of disdain, but so mild that might be wishful thinking on my part. He’s certainly made no moves to interrupt his son’s behavior.

Dinner tastes like ash on my tongue. When the dessert dishes are cleared, Marclinus stands and announces that we’ll dance in the ballroom until the sky is completely dark.

Of course. It’s not nightfall yet.

In the vast room across the hall, the regular court musicians strike up an energetic tune. The imperial heir takes each of us for a turn around the dance floor but seems content to see other partners lead us through the motions while he’s occupied.

Each of the noblemen who approaches me keeps his hands very carefully only on mine, not straying too close to the rest of my body. But their gazes drop to my naked form at least as often as they’re peering back into my eyes.

My feet follow the steps I know. I check the hue of the sky every time I swing past one of the windows.

Then the music dips into a brief lull between songs, and I find Prince Raul looming over me, claiming my hand.

All day, I’ve ignored the princes as well as I can. There’s no avoiding the most imposing of them right now.

I set my jaw and lift my feet with the first swell of the new melody.

I’ll give him this—Raul looks only into my eyes, not once gawking at my unclothed form farther down. The sear of his pale blue gaze somehow makes me feel twice as naked.

I fix my own attention in the vicinity of his chin.

We haven’t spoken since the night I was sick—when he insisted on helping me with the garlic for my potion. When he seemed to be arguing in favor of getting help even when Bastien was hesitating.

Where do I stand with him now?

Apparently, that night’s events didn’t temper his seductive inclinations at all. After a minute of silence, he speaks in the low, husky tone that’s shivered through my nerves before. “I’d tell you that you look lovely, but I don’t think that’s my place.”

Tonight, my nerves are too raw for me to feel anything but irritation at his overtures. “Funny, that didn’t seem to stop you from saying much more brazen things before.”

“Before, we were on equal footing.” We step apart with a bob of the dance, and he catches my opposite hand. His head dips closer to mine. “A woman like you deserves a man who wouldn’t flaunt your body for everyone to see. Who’ll treat it like the treasure it is.”

Is he implying that he’d be that man?

I manage to swallow the burst of hysterical laughter that bubbles up my throat, but my eyes snap up to stare into his.

My voice comes out equally low but tart. “I’m well aware. How do you propose I fix that problem? Are you going to act out all the promises of pleasure you made to me right here in front of Marclinus?”

Raul’s smoldering expression stutters. “Are you asking me to?” he says, but his provocative tone is edged with sudden uncertainty.

“I’m not an idiot. I simply thought I should remind you just how powerless you are here, since you thought I’d enjoy having you do the same for me. Or is it not all that fun to have salt rubbed in a wound after all?”

Raul opens his mouth and closes it again. I think this is the first time I’ve seen him lost for words, whether angry or seductive.

Anger comes first, with a roughening of his tone. “I never offered to rescue you, Lamb.”

Maybe this is a mistake, rebuffing his advances. But I’m too wrung out right now to care.

I’ve gotten two of his foster brothers to warm up to me. Who says I need Raul’s help too?

“No,” I reply as the melody peters out. “You offered me an alternative that’s not really an alternative at all, just a sham of passion. You’ll have to forgive me if I decline.”

I leave him staring at me, his face flushed and his jaw tight.

I drift through two more dances before the view beyond the window shows total blackness. Marclinus motions for the musicians to stop. A row of maids appears by the doorway, each of them clutching a dress for us.

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