Page 80 of Ruled By Magic

That bastard.

Time lost all meaning. I could have stood there for twenty minutes, or an hour. I zoned out, disconnected from everything but the shame that swamped me.

A man approached. His unpleasant smell told me at once it wasn’t Leo. Fear sharpened my thoughts again, and I tensed, ready to react if he touched me. A moment later, his breath turned to strangled gasps.

“Did I say you could touch my property?” Cold anger.

Adante spoke in a bored drawl. “Let him go, Lord Commander. He didn’t mean any harm. Over here we mostly share the girls.”

“I don’t.” The choking cut off, replaced by desperate coughs.

“Liv.”

I jumped at my name from his lips. “Yes, Lord Commander?”

“Learned your lesson yet?”

I made my voice as meek as I could bear. “Yes. I’m sorry for embarrassing you. I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Good. I think we’ve seen enough of you. You may cover yourself and turn around.”

I bit my lip against the renewed wave of embarrassment as I turned to face the smirking Atarans. My cheeks burned. Adante watched me with a cruel smile on his lips.

“Now, gentlemen,” said Leo, “I appreciate the hospitality, but it’s been a long day. I must retire.”

The prince stood. “I’d like an apology.”

A flicker of uncertainty passed across Leo’s face, gone in an instant. “Of course. Apologize to His Highness.”

Adante walked over, looking down at me. He matched height with Leo, a full foot taller than me. “I enjoyed the show. Now, on your knees.”

Held by the prince’s icy gaze, I sank down. The patterned tiles cut into my skin. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. It won’t happen again.”

He leaned down and whispered, “It’d better not. You should be grateful your master was kind enough to spare you a proper punishment this evening.”

Danger radiated from him. All at once I knew, with absolute certainty, that the prince had tripped me himself.

He studied me for a few more seconds. “You may rise.”

Legs trembling, I did. Leo watched, expression unreadable.

“Goodnight,” he said to the assembled crowd. He turned to Adante. “I’ll see you tomorrow for our audience with the king.”

Without checking if we followed, Leo swept out of the room.

At the door to our accommodation, Hex squeezed my shoulder, eyes full of pity. Unshielded, she couldn’t do more, but the gesture was almost enough to drive me to tears. It must have killed her watching, helpless, as Leo humiliated me. Unable to bring myself to look at the others, I followed him into the suite.

Leo shielded the room. Tension, dark and heavy, lay between us. For the first time in ages, I didn’t want to go to him for comfort. I sat on the edge of the bed, hands clasped together in a death grip.

His weight settled next to me, and his arm came around my waist. I remained tense, anger rushing through my veins. The logical part of me knew he’d been forced into a difficult position. But the memory of all those eyes, witnessing my shame, was still too raw to allow me to relax into his embrace.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really.” I lapsed back into silence.

When he spoke again, his voice was controlled and wary. “When we return to Dexia, you’ll have all the modest clothing you want. A room full of it if it makes you happy. No more dressing you up as I like in public. It was fun while it lasted, but even I know it can’t go on any longer.”

The ice inside me melted a little. It felt good to hear him say it. “I’d hope so. You’re not punishing me anymore.”

---