Page 62 of Wolf Caged
I could order it, as part of our contract, and offer to knock a handsome sum off her debt, but that did not sit well with me and instead I found myself making plans, forming a route that would lead to the little wolf speaking to me of her past and herself.
“Send the handmaidens for Saphira.” I put my back to the window. “She will dine with me within the hour and will tell me of her visit to the town.”
Jenavyr bowed and made for the door.
As it closed behind her, I turned back to the little wolf where she perched on the wall now, near the thundering falls.
“I will know what you make of my world.”
Chapter 14
KAELERON
The little wolf swept into the room right on time. My first test for her had been a choice between two dresses, one more revealing than the other. She had chosen the more traditional gown.
Her gaze lowered to the strapless corseted dress as she noticed me gazing at it. The material faded from light teal at her breasts to deep sea blue at the hem, and had been encrusted with pearls and diamonds around the top of the corset, the mass of them appearing as if it were the crest of a wave. More pearls and diamonds had been stitched over the length of the dress, glittering in the firelight, and gathered more densely near the hem.
“I preferred the colour,” she mumbled, “It made me think of the sea.”
A sea I had noticed she enjoyed watching.
A dress I had picked for its colour too.
“The other one seemed a bit plain in comparison.” She arranged herself in her chair at the other end of the long dining table, wrestling with the heavy skirt and pulling a face at it as shestuffed the layers down the gap between her thighs and the arms of the chair.
A female clearly unused to wearing dresses.
“The other is the colour of my court.” I waited, holding back my smile as she stiffened and blanched a little. Would she snap those delicious fangs at me or turn meek? I hoped it was the former.
She did not disappoint.
“Such a boring colour. I thought you would prefer black, or onyx, or obsidian.” She gave up trying to arrange her skirts, her look conveying exactly what she thought of the colour of my court.
“Those are all words for black, little lamb. Do remember I am quite intelligent and not at all as stupid as you wish me to be.” I poured myself a glass of wine and used magic to fill hers at the same time, earning a little jolt of a gasp from her. She had forgotten a lot since our last meeting apparently. My intelligence and my magic. “Royal blue, silver and black are the colours of my court, and have been since long before I took the throne, and will continue to be long after I am gone.”
“Will that be soon?” She sat up straighter, an eager glint in her eyes. She was mocking me again, or teasing me at the very least. “If you die, do I get set free?”
“You are property of this court until you are granted your freedom.” I took a long draught of my wine and relaxed into my seat as the potent drink eased the day’s tension from my muscles and mind.
Or perhaps it was the little wolf’s presence that eased the latter.
“I figured as much,” she muttered. “Scratch the dying part then, please. I don’t want to find out who I might end up with as my next owner. Oh! Or would it be Jenavyr? I could live with that.”
“Jenavyr would not ascend the throne. Females are not heirs in this world, much the same as they are not heirs in yours. Another would claim my crown, and believe me, little one, they would not be offering you contracts and methods of repaying your debt to me. They would want to lay claim to more than my crown. They would want to claim all of you.” Each word that left my lips had Saphira tensing further, her gaze growing wary as she struggled to hold mine and pretend she was unaffected by the prospect of falling into the hands of a male more likely to claim what had been paid for.
“Fine. You can stick around,” she mumbled into her wine. “Better the devil you know, and all that.”
I swirled my wine in my glass as I studied her, enjoying being able to openly look at her without my sister scrutinising me, watching me for a weakness and a way of making me surrender the wolf back to her pack.
“My sister failed to mention much about your visit to the town. I believe she keeps your secrets well.” I smirked when she stiffened, her shoulders hiking upwards as her fingers tightened around the stem of her wine glass. “But I have ways of making you talk.”
Her pretty face darkened into a scowl. “If you even think about ordering me to tell you things, I’m going to read it as a suggestion and ignore you.”
My smirk became a grin. Such a fierce little thing.
“And what if I used other methods to convince you instead?” I patted my thighs. “If you sit here a while, I am sure we could loosen that tongue of yours.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think my tongue is the thing you want to loosen. The wine does that enough. I would say it was my panties you want to loosen, but I haven’t failed to notice you don’t supply them with my pretty dresses when I’m summoned to play doll.”
