Page 85 of A Dance of Shadows

Bastien carries me down with a breeze fluttering through my dress as if I’m soaring into the courtyard. Lorenzo watches with his brow knit with concentration—he must be concealing us with an illusion.

The moment my feet touch the ground, Bastien is slipping his hand around mine with an emphatic squeeze. He guides me off into the garden with Lorenzo stalking alongside us.

Raul’s absence niggles at me, but I keep quiet so as not to strain the prince of Rione’s gift. Presumably I’ll get answers soon enough.

When we reach the wall at the side of the gardens, Bastien sends me gliding atop it before he and Lorenzo join me. A staircase made of shadow waits on the other side. Raul leans against a small carriage parked across the street, a familiar cocky grin stretching his lips.

“Can’t have you in my hometown without showing you at least one of my favorite haunts,” he murmurs to me when we join him, and steals a quick kiss. “You ride with them. I’ll do the driving.”

I arch my eyebrows. “Since when do you drive carriages?”

He chuckles. “I’m a man of many talents, and I’ll aim to keep surprising you.”

Pulling the hood of the light cloak he’s donned low over his face, he hauls himself into the driver’s seat behind the single horse. Bastien gives me a hand into the carriage. I grope for the bench to steady myself and wince.

As soon as we’re inside, Lorenzo tugs the curtains shut so he can dispel his illusion. His dark gaze sweeps over my body.“Are you all right? We were worried. Marclinus said you were staying in your chambers because you were under the weather.”

Beside him, Bastien nods, his forehead furrowed. “You looked a little uncomfortable—in a different way from usual—at dinner.”

I hesitate as another wave of conflicting emotion crashes over me. I want to nestle myself in their embrace and soak up all the affection they’ll offer—but even imagining their bodies next to mine brings back the memory of another man crouching before me just hours ago.

The carriage rattles forward. I drag in a breath, knowing I can’t hold this shame in like a secret.

“Linus wasn’t happy with the false relic Raul and I arranged for him. It didn’t do what he was hoping… I don’t think he knows I purposefully gave him a replica rather than simply making a mistake, but he was angry all the same. He hit me—pushed me around—yanked my shoulder right out of its socket and ordered my guards not to let me seek help.”

Bastien inhales with a hiss through his teeth. “That fucking bastard.”

Lorenzo’s eyes have widened. He motions to my shoulders in a question.

I point to the right. “This one. It only hurts a little now. I have to be careful with it, but it should heal completely. Marc helped me set it right the next morning. I didn’t want to make a bigdeal about it with the court… for them to speculate about what happened.”

Lorenzo crosses the carriage to sit at my other side. He slips his arm around my waist and tucks his head next to mine, and all at once tears are welling in my eyes.

“It’s good that Marc intervened,” Bastien suggests hesitantly, rocking with the bump of the wheels over a pothole. “He’s looking out for you and discovering more reasons to hate his twin.”

“Yes. That’s what I was hoping for.” I blink hard, my gaze dropping to the darkened floor of the carriage, and force myself to spit it out. “While he was with me, trying to—to make it up to me, I suppose… Things turned intimate. He went down on me. I didn’t want to stop him and ruin the connection he was feeling. I thought I’d just fake my reactions, but the stimulation—the body reacts of its own accord?—”

Bastien slides forward to grasp my hand as Lorenzo’s arm tightens around me. At the squeeze of the prince of Cotea’s fingers, I lift my eyes to meet his.

His voice comes out a little ragged but firm in its conviction. “You don’t have to explain yourself to us. You didn’t even need to tell us. He’s yourhusband. You have his marriage band around your wrist.We’rethe ones you’re not supposed to be dallying with.”

Lorenzo adds his own reassurance in his resonant baritone.“If it means he’s more likely to murder Linus and give you the opportunity to end him as well, it’s all for the good of the plan. I’d rather you got some enjoyment out of it than feeling awful through the whole act.”

Does he really, or is he only saying that to make me feel better?

I swallow thickly and lean into his embrace. “I still—it wasn’t what I wanted. I’d always rather be with you.”

The corners of Bastien’s lips quirk upward in a subtle smile. “You called for us, and we came. We’ll always find a way, Star, no matter where you want to guide us.”

His nickname for me, reminding me of the time he called me his signal star, sends a quiver of reassuring warmth through my veins.

I glance toward the curtained window. “Speaking of where we want to go… what adventure is Raul taking us off on? I don’t expect that Marc will disturb the sleep he thinks I need, but I do have to be back before morning.”

Lorenzo strokes his other hand up and down my arm.“Raul was a little secretive about it, but he said he’d ‘promised’ you. I don’t suppose you know what that means?”

I shake my head, thinking back through the various conversations I had with Raul about his country. “We couldn’t get into anything all that personal while he was imparting his knowledge to prepare me.”

Bastien lets out a short laugh. “I suppose it’ll be a surprise to all of us, then.”

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