Page 46 of Threaded

“If you don’t wish to seek my counsel,Your Highness, then I should like to return to my prayer.”

Mariah only glared at Ksee as the priestess rose from the table, not waiting for a response, and stormed from the queen’s suites, embers sparking under her heels against the white marble floors.

Once the door clicked shut behind Ksee, Ryenne let loose her sigh, turning to stare hard at Mariah. “You need to stop provoking her, Mariah. She can be … difficult, but she has offered me sage counsel on more than one occasion. If you could simply try to earn her trust, she may one day do the same for you.”

Mariah turned her fierce glare to the Queen. “Why should it bemetrying to earn her trust? What ifI’mthe one who doesn’t trusther?”

Ryenne’s gaze softened, but she still stared at Mariah shrewdly before shaking her head almost imperceptibly. She sighed again, and when she spoke, she opted to change the subject.

“As I was saying earlier, the Royals are willing to move past this. Truthfully, I think a driving motivation for them is that they no longer have to deal with the old Lord Beauchamp anymore.” Mariah blinked in surprise, her magic withdrawing in curiosity as Ryenne gave a wry smile. “His son and heir is half his age and has been close friends with Lord Cordaro since they were boys. With another younger Lord now taking up a Royal seat, I could see the Royals being more willing to accept your rule than they were before—an unexpected positive to this … situation.”

Mariah only stared at the queen, her expression close to vacant, before nodding once and dropping her eyes back to the plate of food in front of her. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft, but far from weak.

“I may regret it, but … I will not apologize for it.”

“I know, Mariah. I know.” Ryenne’s own voice was weary, resigned. There was a brief silence, both women lost to their thoughts, before the queen spoke again.

“How are you getting on with your Armature?”

The question wrenched Mariah away from the situation with the Royals, spurring her thoughts into wandering through the events of the past week. She’d been lying low around the palace, both upon Ryenne’s request and on her own initiative. Her few moments spent outside her suites had been in the mornings, which she’d gotten into the habit of starting with a run. Running had always been a favorite of hers whenever she felt the urge to clear her head, something she needed quite a bit these days.

And every morning, her run would end in that clearing in the game park to train with her Armature. Despite everything—the uncontrolled power she’d unleashed, the repercussions of her lack of control—they and Ciana were the only ones in that palace who didn’t fear her. Instead, they all grew steadily more comfortable in her presence, sweating and sparring and bantering with her freely as each day passed.

All of them, that was, except one.

Andrian continued to avoid her, arriving at the clearing early and leaving before the rest. When she’d asked what his problem was, Sebastian and Feran had assured her not to dwell too much on it. Andrian had always been an enigma, they’d said, but they believed he would come around, eventually.

Despite his cool aloofness, she would sometimes catch his wicked tanzanite stare on her, his onyx-black hair wreathed in shadow and a cold, cruel smile on his face. She would whip her gaze away as quickly as she could, and she’d be lying if she denied the slight tremor of fear that lanced through her gut at what she felt in those chilling stares.

She knew they were playing a game of cat and mouse, and it was only a matter of time before someone was caught.

“I think we’re getting along great,” Mariah said, finally responding to Ryenne. “I know Ksee doesn’t approve of this, either, but I train with them every morning in the clearing in the game park.”

Ryenne smiled at that. “I know that clearing. It used to be an empty space in the game park until your Marked arrived. They decided they wanted a space just for themselves to train, away from the prying eyes of the barracks, so they spent weeks outfitting and converting it to suit their needs. Kalen and my Armature helped them, of course, but I believe it was Andrian who coordinated most of those efforts.”

Mariah blinked, confusion and somethingelsecatching her off guard at the mention of Andrian’s name. From her interactions with him so far, he didn’t seem to be one who would take such initiatives. She tucked that knowledge away and moved on before her mind escaped her control again.

“There is something else?” Ryenne looked at Mariah expectantly, and she realized this was likely what the queen had been hoping she would reveal to her.

“I intend to complete the bond tonight. With Sebastian.”

Ryenne’s face flashed with shock before morphing into excitement. “That is fantastic, Mariah! An excellent first choice. I believe everyone in this palace can see how devoted he is to you. I will be sure to pray to the Goddess that your first bonding ceremony goes perfectly.”

Mariah answered Ryenne’s brilliant smile with her own, though it wasn’t nearly as bright. While excitement fluttered like butterflies in her stomach at whatever tonight with Sebastian might entail, she couldn’t shake the image of burning tanzanite and tendrils of shadow from her mind.

Goddess damn him.

CHAPTER22

The knock was soft, but Mariah still felt it echo through her bones.

She strode quickly to her suite doors, pulling them open on quiet hinges to find Sebastian, dressed in soft, black cotton pants and a plain white shirt. He was clean-shaven, as always, his short dark hair neat and his hazel eyes glowing warmly in the hallway light.

The sight of him had her shoulders dropping, her muscles relaxing, the threads of magic in her belly calming.

“May I come in?”

His voice was soft and amused, everything about him kind and calm. She smiled at him, stepping out of the doorway. “Sorry—yes, of course. Please come in. Mikael just left and I was about to sit down to eat, if you wanted to join me.”

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