Page 13 of Heir of Draga

Roxy still didn’t know exactly how Adelina had gotten her to agree to such nonsense. The female had a way with words and smiles that confused and tantalized her. It was annoying as all hells, but despite her intense dislike for legitimate royals, the girl was still Lina.

They’d never been friends per se when Lina had just been the jewel thief, but they’d gotten along well enough. Varan had always favored her despite her declining every offer to join his inner court.

Roxy smiled as she remembered how irked he’d been, and then made her way down the street. It was nearing midnight. No doubt the party had already started without her. Once the announcement was over she could make her rounds and then leave.

That last engine wouldn’t install itself.

“Roxy, late as usual,” Finn teased as she bounced up the steps to Varan’s front door. The guard melted out of the shadows and kept pace with her. “I like the new outfit.”

Roxy glared at him. If all the males in the universe could stop making a pass at her this instant it couldn’t be soon enough. “I’m not interested in you, Finn. Never was.”

The male just grinned and opened the front door for her, ignoring the other two guards. “I have time to wait around.”

“Unless you plan on growing a pair of tits it’s never happening,” she tossed back.

His blink of surprise shouldn’t have been as satisfying as it was.

Roxy stepped into the familiar house, the one she’d been living in for the past seven cycles. The old prince’s house hadn’t been enough for her adopted brother. After he’d made his mark he’d bought something he could move the rest of his family into.

Varan’s mother had taken Roxy in when she’d only been four cycles old. She didn’t know her biological parents or who they might have been. She only remembered the streets of Stella di Draga and then the small, worn home of Varan’s family.

She looked up at the glittering decorations; the silk and colored lighting seemed to sway with the pulsing music that slithered through the house. Drums pounded, violins wailed, and an unearthly voice sang about wars and victories long forgotten.

Varan was five cycles older than her. When he’d become prince she’d been ten. A cycle later they’d moved into this place. A cycle after that his sister, Philomena, had been raped and murdered, and then dumped on his front porch as a challenge to his rule.

Not many knew the majority of the eyeballs in his collection were from the weeks that followed. There were bodies to match somewhere.

Roxy pushed aside a beaded curtain and entered the main hall where Varan liked to do all his entertaining. Plush velvet couches were everywhere with enough space in the center for writhing bodies to twist and turn with the music. She was surprised to see Lina dancing with the courtesan, but she supposed she shouldn’t have been.

One had to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see those two loved each other. It was unfortunate they were not mates, or mated. Whatever the blasted term was. But Roxy didn’t think it would cause problems. Varan was head over heels for the princess. He would do anything for her, including share.

She wove through the crowd, careful not to touch anyone. The usual rogues and thieves and Justices were there. Everyone from the Jeweler’s Guild to the Spymaster’s Guild and beyond. There were a few off-duty assassins as well, but Roxy picked out the lesser nobles and wealthy merchants for the eyesores they were.

They never quite belonged. It didn’t matter what they wore. Every single one of them looked uncomfortable and stood out like a sore thumb, at least to her. It made Lina’s performance all the more impressive. How had she done it? It would bother Roxy for the rest of her life.

“Varan,” she purred, wrapping her arms around his middle. “I appreciate the present.”

Her brother in all but blood turned with those golden brows raised and twinkling emerald eyes. “Whatever are you talking about?”

Roxy stepped back and arched a brow right back at him. “This.” She gestured to the outfit and Varan grinned before returning the kiss of greeting.

“It wasn’t me, pet.”

She frowned and wondered who else would have the gold for such items…and the measurements…Roxy whipped her gaze to the dance floor and found Lina smirking at her.

“You’re welcome,” she mouthed.

That was why she’d never seen it. Lina was one of them through and through no matter how much royal Draga blood she possessed. There was a sass and complete disregard for authority that reminded Roxy of herself, though she would never admit it. It had to be those courtesan genes.

“Fantastic,” she muttered. Now she had to thank someone she barely even liked. But she no longer despised the princess. Watching her sweat that morning as she hauled parts and equipment around had been satisfying, and eased some of Roxy’s sharp dislike for royalty in general.

She pushed through the dancers and halted before Adelina. The princess stopped dancing, but Nadyah didn’t let her go. The courtesan’s hands trailed over the princess’s waist and then lower. Roxy had to avert her eyes. It reminded her of how long it had been since the last time she’d been intimate with anyone.

“I appreciate the gift,” she stated, looking back into those royal eyes she knew weren’t actually gold.

“I appreciate you. You did more than I asked for and this.” Adelina ran a hand through her hair, the bracelet glittering in the low light and flames from Varan’s ridiculous torches. “I’m sending you the funds and materials to make the tech for yourself and a few others.” The princess glanced at Nadyah, and Roxy wished someone would look at her like that.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. Roxy had gotten along just fine on her own. Varan was the only human in the universe she would admit to needing in her life, and he was about to be taken away from her. She didn’t need anybody.

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