Page 9 of Ties of Shadow

I glanced up at this, having not heard about the attack from the giant spider-like monsters of the deep. Luz was mined from the mountain the castle sat upon, and occasional monsters were gossiped about by the workers. But I’d never heard of an attack on the surface.

“There, there, Lady Marva,” King Harold set his hand upon Lord Masterson’s shoulder. “Let’s not dwell on unpleasant things during the moment we’ve gathered to celebrate your bonding.”

She curtsied. “Of course, Your M—Highness. The prince and king lead the nation with light and hope.” The gathering around us murmured the words back in response. King Harold smiled as brightly as the sconces behind him, and he nodded magnanimously, preening under all the adoration of his people.

I’d been slinking away from the gathering of people when a male voice said loudly, “My lady, watch out! A dog!”

My body lurched at the memory of the odor and warmth. Unwilling to be peed on yet again, I leaped to the side with a yelp and swirled to search the floor around me. But there was no dog. This was a ball—of course, there was no dog. Heat billowed up my cheeks and sweat gathered at the base of my neck. Three of the lords fromthis morning’s hunt now stood between me and the king’s posse, cross-armed, with halfcocked smirks that belied no friendly tones. Leon had been approaching his father’s side and turned with a frown but made no move to correct or deflect their behavior.

I curtsied a goodbye to the lords before I bumped into Lady Nora, an unbonded betrothed of one of the lords behind me. “Leaving so soon?” she asked.

“I heard her father couldn’t afford anything else. I saw it too—the late Lady Ernst’s dress.” A woman whispered loudly while leaning in toward Lady Nora. “Yellow from a dog might actually do that sallow dress a great service.”

I stumbled back a pace and moved away, placing myself more in the center of the room. “My lady, could I have this dance?” A man I barely recognized approached me. Relief flooded through me, and I smiled. Anything to get away from—

His gaze fell to the hem of my dress. “On second thought, can you smell that?” His eyes gleamed with cruelty. “I’ll pass.” My jaw fell slack.

The group had gathered and muttered just loudly enough for me to hear it.

“I saw her in the kitchen.”

“Did you see that filth on her neck at the dinner table? Did she roll with the pigs?”

“He said she was digging in the dirt. I bet there is some still under her nails.”

“How can she be noble? I mean,really?”

Words like arrows assaulted me from every corner. The snickers increased from every side. Their eyes on me, fingers pointed, noble fangs bared. Their fans lashed sharply, beautifully hiding sharper words. Leon looked torn, but his father set a hard hand on his shoulder. The prince stiffened, his face resetting to flint like his father’s. Attheir unwelcome expressions, my spine straightened. The king glanced toward the doorway, his message clear. It was time for me to go and spare him any further embarrassment.

Racing toward the escape, I iced over my heart, holding back the tears and refusing to worsen what was already a terrible moment. It had been better when I was ignored. It had been better when no one had noticed me at all. Why today did they say aloud what they had once only murmured in private? It was likely a long time coming, but none of the lords had ever seen me in this state before. I had brought shame to the king and to Leon. I had also shamed my father, who made no move away from his companions to follow me out of the ballroom.

No footman moved to open the doors for me as I approached. Nearly falling upon the handles, a smoky whisp slipped through the crack, but I paid it no mind. Wrenching open both doors, a wall of thick black smoke billowed in, curling and racing through the threshold. A figure stepped forward through the haze, and I found myself face-to-face with Death himself.

Behind him, the boiling cloud of shadow filled the hallway. It reached forward, wrapping around the base of my dress, then creeping into the ballroom like a cauldron full of spiders had been poured out. It moved with intelligence, sliding, grasping, and climbing as it transformed my escape route into a blackened pit. The nobles in the room drew back from the shadow’s touch, but I was already surrounded. It clung to my gown, and its cool touch slipped past my ankles like grasses at the bottom of a lake. From within the cloud, a man emerged. He was clothed in black, with a long black jacket, black gloves, and a silken black cravat. The details were lost behind the obscuring smoke, but the Shade’s bright green eyes were fixed on me.

I was trapped. Ensorcelled. Paralyzed. The weight of his presence filled my mind and surged through my body until I was frozen likestone. My skin prickled. Hot. Electric. Ice that burned. But I didn’t feel the sting of shame as I had moments before, but fear. Mortal terror gripped me. A wayward tear trickled down my cheek. As his gaze followed the tear’s slow progress, whatever power he had over me lessened a fraction, and I could breathe again. His eyes flicked back up to mine, and his brow furrowed.

The sounds of panic and backpedaling behind me suddenly halted. The entire room held its breath, terrified but morbidly curious to see what he would do with me.

So I did what any lady would do in a moment of panic when faced with terrifying courtly egos.

I curtsied.

Chapter six

The Shade

Idipped low and full of grace, hardly even trembling as I curtsied in the face of the nightmare before me. Moments became hours and seconds years. I willed him to pass and did not rise. But as he silently walked to stand before me, the shadows flickered and coiled even higher, now about my arms and waist. My wide dress shifted as his legs pressed close enough to move the ruffles and hoops back. The shadows swept up my shoulder, playing with the ends of my hair.

Behind me, a collective gasp hissed through the room, and his thumb caught the tear that wavered on my jaw. Startled, I glanced up to his face. His brows pinched, and his eyes stormed. Anger and hatred and violence and murder all swirled within them. I should have felt more afraid. I should have trembled in terror. But his touch exuded comfort, and his caress was a relief. My chin lifted into his touch on its own.

Subtly, he pulled me up with a pressure beneath my jaw. I rose, but he didn’t release me. A spark ignited and shot from my neck to my chest, hot and sudden, and I stepped back with a gasp. Afraid he would perceive it as an insult, I dipped again quickly, then pulled myself to the side to allow him to pass.

This was the Shade, the one responsible for the oily storms that plagued us. The poisoner of the queen. The root of the drought in our lands. He was evil incarnate, a menace, a monster and darkness and curses in human form.

I felt his gaze on me like the burn from the sun, though I kept my eyes on the ground. He turned. The shadows swirled about him like a vortex, and he raised one gloved hand. Then he snapped.

From behind him, the shadows carried three men suspended in their black embrace, dressed in plain clothes, battered and bruised, dripping and bleeding, along the ballroom corridor until they were thrown to the floor in the middle of the room. The prince stepped forward, a hand hesitantly reaching for the bloody men before he turned in a fury to the Shade.

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