Page 12 of The King's Bodyguard
“I see.”
So Corrin wasn’t going to take a bite out of my pastry then. I wasn’t going to be able to share it with him. No easy excuse came to mind. I took a small bite of one golden-brown pastry that was shaped like a square. Cinnamon and sugar mixed with apple flavors burst across my tongue.
“Mhmmm... This is so good!” I groaned. The words popped out: “Corrin. You ought to try one.”
“Hardly the time for me to swan about sampling pastries.”
“Well...” I hesitated and held up the pastry in my hand. “Just try a bite. A small one. Don’t eat all of it!”
Corrin, who had stationed himself at my elbow, turned his head and looked down at me. His dark eyebrow rose a little, but a small smile played at the corner of his mouth. Leaning forward, he nibbled on the edge of the pastry.
I found myself entranced at the sight of his tongue deftly swiping at the pastry. That and the glimpse of his sharp white fangs. Then his lips closed down, brushing against the tips of my fingers. His lips had touched my hand before, but something about this moment felt so different. Maybe it was the moonlight—or the fact that we were alone for the first time in a long time.
Something began to flutter about in my belly, and my skin suddenly prickled all along my spine. I was beginning to find it difficult to breathe. My heart began to race. Its beat within my chest felt so loud, I was surprised Corrin’s sharp ears did not hear it. I held my breath, afraid to break the spell that the moon had cast over us.
The moon, I suddenly realized.The Goddess Meryn, the goddess of love.Entirely idiotic, but it felt right.The only thing that would make the world even better was if Corrin were to-if he was to...My thoughts screeched to a halt as I struggled to admit to myself where my heart lay.
In the distance, a refrain of stringed instruments struck up a slow melody. A waltz. I choked down the rest of the apple pastry and took another swig of wine.
“You are ready to go in?” Corrin asked, shifting a little to glance toward the door.
“Not yet, no,” I said. I added cheekily, “I just need to stretch my legs without my toes being endangered.”
“Your toes,” Corrin said quietly.
It seemed then as though he were about to say something else, but then refrained.
“You’re thinking of something else,” I said.
“No, it’s nothing,” he replied quickly. Too quickly.
“I would know what you are thinking,” I said softly, moving closer and gazing up at him in silent plea.
Corrin looked down at me then. His face now bared beneath the soft light of the moon and the stars. Some nameless emotion flitted across his face. His hand rose up to clasp me on the shoulder.
“You should not have to... endanger your toes for them,” he said.
His voice deepened then with emotion.
“You deserve better.”
So he had recognized the truth as well. No one in that room truly knew me. Not many cared either. There was a certain cachet to take a turn about the room with the King of Sumarene, but that is all it was—a battle for prestige. Once upon a time, I might have enjoyed dancing. It had long since become yet another duty that I could not shirk.
“I am no longer able to follow my heart,” I explained carefully. I offered him a small smile, pained and a little bitter.
“Not even for a dance?” Corrin paused and then added, as if musing aloud, “Hm. To go through life without enjoying a dance. Now that is a shame.”
My hand rose to rest on his arm. Beneath my touch, his muscles tensed a little, but then his hand rose to cover mine. Within my chest, my heart now shuddered to a stop. I could barely breathe as his other hand drew me even closer. Instinctively, I swayed toward him. Leaning forward, he whispered huskily in my ear a command I would gladly follow.
“Dance with me.”
Chapter 6
Corrin
No sooner had the words slipped out, I regretted my impertinence. This was not how a gentlecat of the king’s guard behaved, nor a tomkin of my tribe. Any Munni would know better than to flout tradition, generate theatrics, or risk bringing shame to our people. At any moment, King Landis could come to his senses, cast me out of the guard, strip me of my position and rank, and spit on the face of the Munni.
Mother would be livid. Father... Father would undoubtedly cast me out of the clan.I knew all this and yet I couldn’t help myself. The feeling of Landis’s hand on mine, however, drew me out of my mental turmoil.
