Page 108 of A Bond in Blood

“Help me dress, Adie. Help me fix my hair and tie a mask upon my head and you can slip out to him. You can tell everyone I beat the keys from your hands. I’m sure the court wouldn’t question that story.”

Adie looked back at the door then met my eyes again. “You’re going to have to hit me as hard as you can.”

Startled, I stepped back before letting out a nervous chuckle. “What?”

“My uncle is right hand to the king, your highness. I have been trained to fight. It has to be believable that I was unable to fight off a partially mortal woman.”

“Adie?” I questioned. “Why?”

She shrugged. “You’re kept in the dark, your highness. I believe you should be allowed to see the light every once in a while.”

“Will he hurt you?”

Adie grinned. “UncleUlrich would never harm a hair on my head. I believe he’d rather sink himself into the bottom of the sea before doing so.”

I quelled the hate in my heart responding to her words. Not one ounce of me believed Ulrich was fully capable of gentle love. Of caring so deeply for someone that they would never meet his wrath.

Then a darker, more cynically insane part of my heart wondered if I were possibly jealous of this statement. If I perhaps wanted to see this side of the monster that had tormented me for months.

Even with just a week of light-hearted conversation, I was still weary of him. Not accepting our brief moment of vulnerability was enough to unlock this hidden kindness Adie spoke of.

Silently, Adie and I worked together. Her hands moved at an unnatural speed, twisting my red hair into a half-bun with loose ringlets running down my back. Sshe covered my eyes in dark koal and an even darker lipstick. The color of the red moon.

When she’d completed painting me like her own personal canvas, I stared in the mirror. I was like a Goddess. An image of a being representing the moon of her blood.

I stood quickly, rushing to the closet, knowing just what to put on my body.

When I returned, Adie cocked her head then yelled out when I began ripping the inner layer of the dress.

“Your highness!”

I smiled. “Adie, this is what I want to wear. Do not question me.”

Adie stepped back, nodding her head with a mischievous smile similar to my own. Then she helped me slip from my towel and slide the gown over my head.

I stared in the mirror, my eyes going to the sheer red gown draped over my body. It was striking with the color of my lips and hair. Making me the blood moon personified. Appearing to drip in the substance. The only object on my body that was not red was the black mask Adie had tied behind my hair.

“Gods this is perfect for the Rite,” Adie whispered.

My hands ran over the gown and my curves, softly brushing against my skin just beneath the fabric.

“He’s going to kill you,” Adie muttered.

I did not look at her. Not when my body was on full display. The red gown I had been forced to wear my first night here now turned into a gown more suited for Ulrich’s court.

A gown of sensual need.

With only a thin band across my hips after I’d ripped out the majority of the inner lining, it exposed nearly every surface of my bare skin. My breasts were now the most focal point of the gown, with the cowl neck accentuating the curves and the fabric doing nothing to cover my nipples.

“He can’t kill me,” I muttered. “I have not broken our deal.”

Adie shook her head. “He’ll kill anyone who may put their hands on you tonight.”

I turned to meet her eyes. “What is this Rite? My winter festivals at home are a family affair.”

“Your highness,” Adie laughed. “This Rite is to bring in a new year. It is full of carnal pleasure, of indulging, of allowing our most basic needs and desires to take control.”

“So, I am dressed the part?”

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