Page 58 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

Heat stings my cheeks, and I look away. “Other people knock, you know,” I mutter.

“But then I would have missed such a delightful sight.” His voice has fallen to a gentle murmur—a lover’s voice—as he leans down, right to my face.

He smells of wine and herbs and rain and lilac. Beguiling.

I jerk away and glare at him, forcing down my shame. He’s just seen me naked, for fuck’s sake. And now he’s toying with me.

“Why are you here? Certainly not only to see me naked,” I hiss.

His gaze softens unexpectedly when he looks down at my wrists, at the wounds the handcuffs left there, so tight they cut into my flesh. The strangest thing is that they have barely healed. “Indeed, it wasn’t only to sate my desire for something distinctive, mind you. The Dark Lord sent me to look after you.”

“Lookafter me?”

“And take care of those wounds.”

He gently reaches for my arm. But when his cool fingers touch my skin, I yank it back.

“I’m fine,” I snap. I certainly don’t want his pity. I’m also not sure I can stand anyone touching me. No one ever did without hurting me.

“Those cuts are infected from the iron. You need to treat them,” he retorts, unfazed, producing a tiny can out of his trouser pocket. “This is an ointment. Apply it.”

He holds it out to me, but I don’t take it.

“You don’t trust me,” he states.

I’d laugh at how astonished he sounds if my ribs weren’t so tight, squeezing my heart, and my lungs. As if I had any reason to trust him. “I don’t trust anyone. You could tear me to pieces and eat me alive if you wanted to, right?”

I don’t addYou do that to girls like me, don’t you? Eat us alive, even though it’s probably true.

He just watches me with the same curious look he had in the woods, his eyes a sparkling violet. They don’t change their color, but I almost expect them to.

His answer comes slowly, along with a frown. “Probably.”

I swallow. At least he’s honest, although I hate the way it speeds my heart. I chase my first question with another one. “What are you?”

He takes another step toward me, closing the distance I just opened up between us without realizing it. As if this is a dance, I retreat once more.

He purses his lips as if he finds me amusing. “You could askwhoI am instead. Wouldn’t that be polite?”

“Depends—are you going to lash me if I don’t?”

“Prickly.” He inclines his head ever so slightly, glancing down at me. Gods, he’s tall.

“I told you to obey, which you certainly aren’t at the moment. It’s rather unwise.” His voice holds no anger though. It strikes me that he is simply pointing out a fact.

“Then why not just discipline me?”

I knowthisis dumb, speaking to him like this. Provoking him like this. But hells, I spent too long with Lyrian. Faced too many punishments. I would not be afraid again.

His eyes darken as he watches me. “I don’t believe in such things.”

“In violence?”

“For one. But these are the rules. I didn’t make them. I can’t abandon them… simply bend them. It would be wise not to provoke anyone else like you’re provoking me. Or I won’t be able to protect you as I promised.” He adds the latter part like an afterthought, his voice unbearably gentle.

I weigh whatever lies in his face, in his aura. Then I ask a shade more conciliatory, “Who are you?”

“I’m Riven Caedmon, High Lord and Prince of the Enchanted Forest,” he answers in a way that makes him sound almost human.

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