Page 85 of Bride of the Fae Prince

Listless, I pace again. Then I stop, looking up and realizing I stand before the door to Ash’s study. I glance behind me. The sitting room is empty. Biting my lip, I hesitate for just one moment. Then I slip through the door and mostly close it behind me.

The study is dark and lined with disheveled bookshelves. A single glowing globe, half the size of my fist, sits on a wooden pedestal on the desk, illuminating the room. I step around stacks of paper and overturned books, their pages irreverently smashed and bent, until I reach his desk.

It’s covered in more paper.

Giving into my curiosity, I lean over the desk, careful not to touch anything. Most of it seems to be correspondence, with one pile unread and the other outgoing—judging by the mismatched seals on one pile and matched seals on the other pile of that same great tree he wore on his medallion tonight. Not all the correspondence is arranged in either pile, however. One such missive catches my attention.

It’s tossed aside from the rest. The paper itself looks made of gold, and in big letters across the top, it says:Lulythinar Masquerade Ball.Beneath it:Attend or die.

This must be a general invitation, because the High King cannot threaten Ash with death.Yet.I shake away the shiver running down my spine and lean closer to read the rest of the invitation.

The washing chamber door opens.

I jump, scampering away from the desk. In my haste, I almost knock over the glowing globe. I catch its pedestal, right it quickly, and scurry to the fallen books on the floor. Why do Ifeel like a child caught snooping through the pantry? It’s not as though I’ve done anythingwrong.

Still, I scoop up three of the fallen books and pretend to busy myself straightening their pages as I slip out of the study.

And there’s Ash. Dripping wet, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes goggle a little and I quickly avert my gaze.

But I’m not fast enough to miss the gray pallor of his skin, or the way his shoulders sag and he leans against the wall. Or the way his eyes narrow as I exit his study, dropping to the books I hold in my hand.

“Are you f-feeling better?” I ask, still not quite bringing myself to look straight at him.

“Did you find anything interesting in my study?” He twists his mouth sardonically, as though it’s a joke. Perhaps if he were at full health, he would have disguised the note of concern in his voice better.

I frown, moving my hands through the pages, smoothing their creases so he doesn’t see their subtle shaking. “I made q-quite an alarming discovery.”

“Do tell.”

I swallow and close the cover of the book. “You’re very disrespectful to literature. Books don’t d-deserve to be splayed out on the floor.”

He cracks a wan smile, and leans heavier against the wall, his chest rising and falling. I set the books down, twisting my fingers while I debate whether I should come closer. Before I can decide, Hylath squawks from inside the bathing chamber.

Ash’s brow wrinkles, and he growls, “I told you I don’t need a sponge bath!”

She chitters something back, and Edvear retorts something from inside that I can’t hear.

“Well?” my husband says. “Are you going to comfort me or not?”

I duck my head and clasp my hands behind my back as I take a few tentative steps forward. Perhaps if he wore a shirt, I could look up at him. Instead, I stare at the ground until his feet enter my line of vision.

I’m not sure what sort ofcomforthe wants—though I rather suspect it’sattentionhe’s craving—but I do owe him thanks. Had he not been watching out for me so carefully, I might have died tonight.

It’s something that hasn’t quite sunken in yet.

“Ash,” I start to say.

“Why don’t you look at me?”

“Because you are . . . lacking . . . attire.”

“So youdofind me attractive.”

At this, my head shoots up and I fix a stern glare on him. “Compliments don’t mean as much when you ask for them, Prince Trenian.”

He grins in response, and I’m once again too aware of his shirtless state.

I clear my throat. “I wasaboutto thank you for saving my life.”

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