Page 45 of A Queen's Game
“A half-elf from the Syllogi would know their history, even if they didn’t pay attention during lessons.” Amryth raised a brow, well aware that Marietta was not from Syllogi but Enomenos.
“Perhaps I should go study now then,” Marietta said, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she stood from the table. For a servant, Amryth knew a lot of information and knew Keyain almost too well.
The remainder of the afternoon proved once again uneventful. After spending a quiet day pretending to read, Marietta felt disappointed when Amryth left for the day. Alone with her thoughts, she paced in the suite.
Not only was she ripped from her life and her husband murdered, but Satiros’s most notable warriorwas the one to abduct her. Or maybe the most notable killer, depending on how you viewed it. If Keyain ever bothered to return, she’d have to question him about his past.
Marietta jumped as a hand clasped her shoulder. “Mar? You alright?” Keyain stood behind her with his jacket over his arm, his face ragged with dark circles under his eyes.
“Perhaps I should be the one asking that. Did you sleep at all?”
With a dry laugh, he bent down to kiss Marietta, to which she leaned away. Keyain tried to shrug it off, but she could read the hurt on his face. Gods, the audacity.
“I slept for a few hours in the meeting room with my team, but it wasn’t very restful. Is it that bad?” Keyain asked.
“Gods, yes. And you smell. Perhaps you should wash before they bring dinner,” she teased.
He rolled his eyes and sighed as he walked into the other room, the joke lost on him. Water filling the tub sounded from the other room, sparking an idea. After a few moments of waiting, knowing for sure he was in the tub, she knocked on the door, cracking it open. “Mind if I come in?” she asked, her voice soft and high-pitched.
“Not at all,” he said.
Marietta walked in and realized her mistake. The brawny elven man had his lower half in the water but little else. His broad shoulders and muscled torso remained visible as he scrubbed, water dripping down his body.Gods.Even thoughshe knew he was a monster, her stare lingered on him, dumbfounded.
A smirk came to his face, growing deeper the longer she stared. “There are easier ways for you to see me naked, you know.”
She shook herself out of it and rolled her eyes, ignoring the heat that crept up her cheeks. “Don’t mistake me for yourself, Lord ‘I won’t look at you, but if I did, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,’” she snapped. She was hoping to catch him off guard, yet she was the one flustered.
“Well, I have seen it before, just like you’ve seen this.” He gestured to his body. “I still think you’re the most stunning person I have ever met.”
The door frame supported her as she leaned against it, staring at the ceiling. “And what? You thought I’d forgive you because we used to… mess around?”
“It was more than that,” he whispered, pain in his voice. “Don’t you dare make it less.”
“Well, I don’t know what to think anymore. Because that part of you was a lie.” She glanced at him. “When were you going to tell me you’re Satiros’s greatest warrior of all time?”
He swore under his breath. “Amryth told you?”
Marietta nodded her head.
“It was a long time ago. But yes, I have that title.”
“And you never thought to share that with me? You were happy pretending to be a basic bodyguard?” She crossed her arms, her lips pulling into a grimace.
“I never saw it as a basic job, not when it meant protecting you.”
“Don’t give me that as an answer.”
Keyain dunked his head underwater and came back up, rising from the tub. Against the doorframe, she turned to stare into the bedroom. Keyain’s heavy footfalls approach her frombehind, very aware of his nakedness. “I would do anything to protect you, and I have always loved you,” he whispered, standing so close that she could feel the heat rolling off his body. “Don’t act like what happened between us was just casual. You loved me back, and I felt it every day I spent with you.”
Tears pooled in her eyes as she left Keyain in the doorway.
“Mar, where are you going?”
“Dinner’s here,” she murmured.
She hated Keyain’s words. And she hated that part of her knew they were true.
Chapter Twenty-Three
