Page 67 of The Curse of a Kingdom
A surprised laugh escaped Nava’s lips. “Please don't hold back how you hate my dress, it won't make me more self-conscious or anything.”
“Sorry.” The fae’s hands stopped all movements in Nava’s hair, and she looked sheepish. “I noticed the tension between you and your fiancé yesterday. There is history there, though maybe not romantic?”
“Not romantic.”
“What about the prince? I know it has been all in good fun, me teasing you about him. But that night when you first arrived, when you two were speaking in the hall . . . it just seemed like there was more.” Leela hesitated, sliding her fingers over Nava’s hair, her gentle hands resting on her shoulders. “Do you feel more for him than for your fiancé? The way he looked at you yesterday was different. I have never seen him look at anyone that way.”
Nava met Leela’s eyes through the reflection.
“I knew it! I’m fantastic at reading. If the gods had given magic to my family line, I bet I could have been a soothsayer.”
It didn’t escape Nava that Leela had always known Arkimedes was important to her. That they were more when nothing had pointed to that, other than him placing her in the room next to his.
A small voice inside her head, one that sounded an awful lot like her mother, told her she was being too trusting of this girl she had just met. It was hard not to let herself be at ease with the fae, not when her eyes were so round like a doe’s or her smile so genuine.
Perhaps Nava was starving for female friendships. To meet a girl who, unlike Violet, wasn’t trying to insult her at every corner. Someone who didn’t think bonding came over the aftermath of war or a very painful training session. A friend like Simone.
“Has he spoken with you about what he might feel?” Leela continued, undeterred by Nava’s silence.
“No. Not at all. We are just friends.”
Though friends didn't strip naked and proceeded to intimately touch themselves to give the other one something to dream about. But those were semantics.
The faerie pouted but let the subject drop as she worked in silence over the intricate hairstyle.
Had Arkimedes taken care of his needs while thinking of her the night before? Nava couldn’t believe she had been that bold, and her cheeks heated at the memory.
“Please say nothing about Devon and me outside these walls, Leela,” Nava blurted, wishing she had been better at keeping her feelings under layers of self-preservation.
“Of course not.” Her brows knitted together as she took in the monstrosity Marni had made for her. “This won’t do. That hateful wench did this on purpose to shame you in front of everyone.”
“That much is clear to me.” Nava sighed, rubbing the bruised skin on her thigh where the seamstress had pricked her multiple times. “All the other dresses she had hanging in her shop for the occasion were beautiful.”
The loud canary-yellow tulle mocked her from where it hung. The voluminous sleeves made of gaudy sheer fabric and that orange sash in the middle of the dress worsened the already appalling silhouette.
“I will take your measurements. I can’t bring you to Renna’s shop or the king will have my head. But if I rush there, maybe she has something on the rack that you can use for tonight. Our prince won’t be able to look away from you.”
Nava laughed again, shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure he won’t be able to look away if I wore that horrible thing. No one will.”
“Oh, yes, but for different reasons.” Leela walked toward the dress and pulled at the fabric, scrunching her nose.
“Wouldn’t it get you in trouble?” Nava asked. “My pride can handle this dress tonight. Maybe I’ll even make it work for me somehow. I’d rather do that than have you catch the scorn of King Oberon.” If only she had learned to sew. Laurie had tried to teach her multiple times but to no avail. Nava had refused.
Leela reconsidered, her skin glistening as perspiration cropped up on her powdery skin. “I might get in trouble.” The fae's forehead scrunched. “But maybe we don’t have to get you a new dress. Perhaps we just have to alter this terrible thing. It will drive me mad to not do something about it. I despise Marni.”
“There is nothing that would make it worse,” Nava agreed. “Maybe we can take the sleeves and high neck off.”
“And the sash has to go as well.” Leela peered inside the garment, and her frown deepened. “Honestly, miss, I doubt this will even hold through the night. It’s not properly sewn.”
The evil seamstress had had less than a day to sew the whole dress. The lack of proper technique did not surprise Nava. However, maybe she had intended for it to fall apart and ridicule Nava mid-dance. The ballgown had been the least of her concerns earlier when Marni’s helpers delivered it. Something had entranced her into the horrors of the way her body was awakening. Not even Fael’s words were registering.
The heat taking over her senses, her increased libido, and her mind being stuck in passionate memories and their almost-kiss from a couple of nights ago—none of it was helping matters.
Bringing her hand over her fast-beating heart and her soulmate mark, she took a sharp breath. Nava needed to get herself together. It wouldn’t matter if she was wearing a potato sack, if she could not keep it on once she got a good look at her mate tonight. “Do you know anything about the solstice and how it might affect . . . people?”
“Do you mean magic-wielding humans?”
“Sure, anyone really.”
