Page 65 of Crown of Slumber

Fenn opened the door and poked his head in, his curious green eyes surveying the room with interest. He chuckled. “This ismuchnicer than mine. I fear they may have accidentally placed me in the servants’ quarters.”

A sharp breath whooshed through me, and only then did I realize I hadn’t been breathing. I sucked in huge gulps full of air, practically gasping. Suddenly dizzy, I grabbed the mahogany frame of my four poster bed, struggling to catch my breath.

“Aurelia?” Fenn said again, stepping fully into the room and shutting the door behind him. I couldn’t even muster the strength to don my court mask in front of him. I’d been keeping up the ruse for so long, pouring all of my strength into maintaining my cold and confident persona, that I had nothing left.

A warm hand pressed into mine, and I jerked back, taking several steps away from Fenn. He raised his palms placatingly.

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “You look unwell. Should we depart tonight? We do not have to stay here.”

“Yes, we do.” My voice was clipped. “It would be the greatest offense for us to leave without making an appearance at the ball.”

“To hell with appearances,” Fenn snapped. “You are paler than death. I’d wager that showing up and spewing your dinner all over their guests would be a greater offense.”

“Oh shut up,” I groaned, rubbing my temples. “You’ve already put us in too great a mess. I don’t know why I even bother.”

“Excuse me?”

I let my hands fall against my thighs. “Your behavior in that throne room wasappalling.”

“No, my behavior was precisely what everyone expected of me.”

I let out a dry laugh. “So it never occurred to you that perhaps you should defy those expectations? No, it’s far better to just drag me down to your level, isn’t it?”

“You’re being daft again, Aurelia,” Fenn said, his voice low and lethal. “Perhaps I am not simply behaving as a foolish and spoiled prince. Perhaps there is another reason behind my behavior.”

“Another reason besides your own sense of morbid amusement?” I grumbled.

Fenn was in front of me in a flash, towering over me, his eyes flashing dangerously. I stared up at him, daring him to come closer. If he touched me, I wouldn’t hesitate to ram my knee right between his legs.

“Our ruse isn’t foolproof,princess,” he practically spat. “It has plenty of holes. And we needed a fool to take the blame for that. So I played that part for you. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I amnot—” I said hotly.

“Furthermore,” he went on, talking over my interruption. “That king was looking at you like you were a piece of meat he was going to bite into. And I wanted to remind him that you do not belong to him; you belong to me.”

My face flushed. “I don’t?—”

“And lastly,” he said, and with each word, his voice did not rise, but it became softer and somehow more dangerous. “My behavior was to remind you that you despise me. That you hate me. That your anger can be more powerful than your fear. Because you werelike a stunned gazelle standing before a ravenous lion in that throne room, Aurelia. And I was not going to stand by and watch you wither away.”

My breath caught in my throat, and my head reared back in surprise. My lips parted as I stared at him, too startled to even muster a reply.

He had done those things… for me? He had noticed how Tyrone’s very presence seemed to elicit a reaction from me?

Of course he had. Fenn was no fool. He was shrewd, and he noticed far more than I liked.

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. I didn’t know what to say. WhatcouldI say? I would wager Fenn wanted some kind of explanation, but I wasn’t about to give it to him.

“It isn’t hard to guess what happened here.” His voice was barely more than a whisper, a breath against my face. “You don’t have to tell me. But I know he mistreated you. And it’s taking all of my restraint not to track him down and slice off his balls with my dagger. So I am telling you again, to hell with appearances. You don’t owe anyone anything, Aurelia. Not me. Not him. If you wish to leave, simply say the word and I will take you from here.”

My breaths came hard and fast, and I couldn’t seem to get enough air into my body. My skin felt hot and cold all at once. A thick lump formed in my throat, making it hard to swallow or speak. I moistened my lips, but that didn’t help. Fenn’s eyes darted to my mouth and back up again as if tracking the movement of my tongue.

I felt I should be thanking him. Or shouting at him. I wasn’t sure what to feel in this moment. All I knew was his chest was mere inches from mine, his face hovering in front of me, so close I could taste the breath on his lips.

And yet he didn’t touch me. His body was angled carefully so it lined up with mine but left space between us. I could feel the warmth emanating from his chest, but we were still not touching. As if he knew I could not be touched right now. As if he knew it would shatter me completely.

He knew. I hadn’t told him a thing, but he still somehow knew. He read me in ways my own mother could not. My parents, my sister—they never had a clue what had happened here.

But Fenn, the prince of an enemy kingdom, the most infuriating man I’d ever met, had somehow figured it out.

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