Page 490 of Kingdoms of Night

“How did you see me?” I asked, enraptured.

“From beneath the veil, I saw you shine.” Precise with caution, his faded hand descended to softly brush its back against my cheek. “You emit a tame but steady luminance, it doesn’t flicker like a flame or a star, but it has the potential to be brilliant.”

Speechless, I could only breathe loudly until Suzianna barged in, carrying a wicker basket with Baltasar right behind her.

She stumbled back into him when she caught sight of Tamuz, stuttering, “Y-Your Majesty, I just went to get her a snack!” She raised the basket, its contents covered by a blue cloth. “I didn’t leave her unattended again, I swear.”

When Tamuz turned to me for confirmation, I whispered, “I sent her to the kitchens with a request that could give me time to read in silence.”

Humming, he slipped away, Baltasar on his trail. “Make sure not to get too full, you will be joining me for dinner.”

Suzianna pounced the instant the door shut, dropping the basket on the table and rattling the bottles within. “What did he say to you?”

“Do I glow?” I patted my face. “Or was that a metaphor?”

She rummaged in the basket, packed with sheer pouches of incense, a bag of white raisins, two large wine bottles and two miniature ones. “In his eyes, you could? I don’t know how he sees, to be honest.”

“He has eyesand wings.”

“Then let’s assume he has everything else the men here do.” She fished one of the small bottles, bulbous, light blue and corked. “This is for if dinner goes well and you decide tonight’s the night.”

The love potion!

I accepted it with reverent hands, stomach tied in knots over what it represented.

It was my idea. The easier alternative to if my ridiculous idea didn’t work, and Tamuz had all but confirmed that it couldn’t. So, why was I so anxious?

The idea of being given to a man who’d brokered a deal with my father had long filled me with dread. It wasn’t that I didn’t ache with the urge whenever I saw a handsome young man, usually from afar. They were always a distant fantasy, what I could never have and only entertain from a safe distance.

Tamuz was my husband, and I was the first bride to truly be his, bound to him by the altar and our common goal to relight the skies. I could do it, now with no fear of consequences, for the experience and the attempt. The question was, did I want to?

Refusing to overthink it, I acted on impulse and downed the bottle, a sweet yet acidic taste frothing past my tongue.

I returned the empty bottle to the expectant Suzianna. “Now what?”

“Now, we get you ready for dinner.”

CHAPTERTEN

Walking to the tower atop the palace, I buzzed with anticipation.

I wasn’t sure how I expected to feel once the potion was digested, but the eagerness I felt to reunite with him had to mean it was working.

Dressed in the silk, backless turquoise gown Suzianna had brought, knee-high sandals appearing through the side-slits in the skirt, and my hair oiled and fluffed to make the most of the curls, I was determined. To do what exactly? The details didn’t matter, but I knew I had to reach a breakthrough tonight.

Suzianna looked ready to bolt when she knocked on the platinum door, bowing me in when it slid open. “Send for me when you’re done,” she said in a rush.

I’d barely agreed when she shot down the stairs so fast that it sounded like her number of feet had tripled.

Dimly-lit by mounted, lilac-toned lanterns, the room was arranged in step-levels. Each practically its own floor and a different shade of blue ranging from the depths of midnight to the coolness of a summer sea.

In the center, beneath shuttered windows, was a chestnut-wood table set with domed plates, a wing-backed seat on either side.

I missed the final step when he spoke. “You look lovely.”

Stumbling, I steadied myself on the chair. “I told you not to do that!”

Tamuz descended from the third level, where Iltani sat coiled, scales closer to sky-blue than cyan in the tinted light. “Compliment you?”

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