Page 26 of The Shadowbound King

Fighting a smile, I drifted forward. “Whose dresses are those?”

He continued sorting through the mound of silk and velvet. “I don’t know. Everyone’s? I raided a few ladies’ closets.”

I frowned at the growing pile of court dresses, all of which were finer than anything I owned at Purecliff. “They won’t mind me wearing their clothes?”

Ginhad snorted. “Hardly. Most of them will probably offer to make you something new. There are only three things to do in this kingdom—feast, fuck, and sew. The first two sound great until you wake up with your dick and dignity in a soup tureen. Not that I have any experience with that.” He held up a bright yellow gown. “Ah-ha! I knew I had one in here that wasn’t green.”

The dress was stunning, the style simple but elegant. Only half aware what I was doing, I reached out and stroked my fingers down the beaded skirt.

“Try it on,” Ginhad said, nodding toward a screen in the corner.

“Yes,” Elodie sighed, a dreamy look on her face. “It’ll be gorgeous with your hair.”

I touched the skirt again. “If you’re sure…”

“It’s either this or”—Ginhad gagged again—“green. I’ve thrown up once today. Don’t do that to me.”

This time, I lost the battle not to smile. When Ginhad shoved the dress at me, I took it and slipped behind the screen.Undergarments appeared over the top of the wooden panels as I dropped the robe. When I emerged a moment later, Ginhad’s eyes sparkled.

“That’s the one.”

“Do you think so?” I asked, but I didn’t need to. The gown hugged my body like it was made for me, the fabric clinging to my hips and the curve of my breasts.

“Uh,yes, and I’m taking credit for it.” He raised his voice. “Maybe people around here will finally stopwearing so much green.”

Elodie snorted as she and Nerissa began gathering dresses from the floor.

I touched the collar. “Can you take credit for removing this?” I asked Ginhad.

He sobered. “I’m afraid I can’t. Even if I had the magic, which I don’t, King Andrin would turn me into a throw rug.”

Disappointment flooded me. But now I knew the elves possessed varying amounts of power.

“We’re off,” Nerissa said, her arms loaded with gowns. She looked at me. “It was nice to meet you, Mirella.”

“And you,” I said, meaning it. “Thank you for your help.”

Flashing matching smiles, she and Elodie slipped from the chamber. Ginhad waited until the doors closed behind them before gesturing to the table.

“I hauled all of this from the kitchen to make up for being too drunk to bring you dinner last night. There’s cheese, bread, fruit, and some other stuff. And wine, which I willnotbe drinking. After you eat, I can show you around the castle.”

Surprise tripped through me. “You can?”

He shrugged. “Nobody told me not to. King Andrin said you’ll be serving. The only place to serve is at feasts. Someone has to show you how to do it.” He pulled out a chair and beckoned me over.

My surprise turned to relief as I went to the table. I could handle serving food and wine. I could even tolerate the cage. The collar was humiliating, but at least I didn’t have to share Andrin’s bed. So far, my situation was better than I’d hoped for.

Ginhad pushed my chair in with a courtly flourish. He seated himself, then piled food on a plate and placed it in front of me. When I hesitated, he sighed and tugged a platter of cakes toward him.

“Fine, make me stuff myself.” He bit into a fluffy concoction topped with what appeared to be powdered sugar. He groaned and then spoke around it. “I’ve been watching my figure, but I’ll make an exception for you.” He swallowed. “If I was going to poison you, do you think I would have bothered cleaning you up first?”

He had a point. I plucked a small pie with a golden crust from my plate and took a bite. Creamy sauce and flaky pastry had my eyes rolling back in my head. “Gods…” I mumbled as flavors exploded on my tongue.

Ginhad grinned. “Good, right? There’s a reason feasting tops the list of Embervale activities.”

I finished the pie in a few bites, then popped a grape into my mouth. “Why do you feast so much?”

“Not much else to do when you can’t leave the castle.”

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