Page 64 of Wolf Caged
She sighed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tailor before, or a seamstress. Some of the dresses in the window were beautiful. They look softer than the dresses worn at the castle. They flowed so elegantly on the mannequins.”
“And you shall have them all.” I tipped my wine glass towards her and her eyes lit up. I held back a grin as I added, “I shall add them to your debt.”
She scowled at me and then a slow smile wound its way across her wine-stained lips. “You’ll buy them for me… because you’ll want to see me in them.”
I did not bother to deny that.
I listened as she prattled on about her visit to the town, fascinated by how her face lit up as she spoke of the things she had seen. She was my captive—my property—and yet she seemed to be enjoying herself. Making the most of her situation? Or was she truly enjoying her time in my court?
“Enough about me. I must be boring you. What about you? What did you do today? You looked ready to flit away in black smoke this morning.” She sipped her wine and attacked another slice of meat.
“This morning?” I frowned over my wine at her.
She set her fork back down, the meat forgotten as she gazed at me. “When I saw you in the garden, crossing towards the castle, trying to outrun a gaggle of rather excited highborn who were dogging your every step.”
“I am flattered you watch me wherever I go. Perhaps you fear you might lose my attention to the ladies of my court?” I held her gaze, my fascination only growing as she snorted and rolled her eyes.
This was the candour I craved with her.
This back and forth between us, as if she was not a servant and I was not a king.
No one dared speak to me as she did.
“If you want such vile, horrible women warming your bed then go for it. I have no stake in this game of yours.” She took another sip of her wine and then lifted the glass in the air, saluting me with it. “I’m not interested in you.”
“Liar.” I smirked at her.
She huffed and inspected her wine, some of her warmth fading as she studied it rather than me. “If I was watching you, it was only to see if one of your oh-so-dainty ladies might trip and fall on her face in her hurried pursuit of you. It would have brightened my day no end. Some of them need to be brought down a peg or two.”
I frowned now, my wine forgotten and my amusement gone as my shadows stirred in response to her words and the way she withdrew from me, seeming to curl inwards as if to protect herself.
“Do you have reason to desire such a thing?” I asked, voice as cold and dark as my shadows as they inched outwards, eager to scour the castle for the one who had upset the little wolf. “Has someone said something to you?”
She straightened and shrugged, and then cleared her throat, as if that would rid her of whatever was bothering her.
“It’s painfully clear I don’t belong here… trapped in this stuffy castle surrounded by stuffy fae who think themselves far superior to everyone else.” Her voice was too bright—too forced. Someonehadsaid something to her, and it had wounded her, the little wolf who was normally so bold and so brave. “I’ve never met such haughty, entitled and grossly rude people.”
I was very much not amused now.
Shadows flowed from me, snuffing out the light of the fire and surrounding her, even though she did not notice, was too busy staring at her wine and avoiding looking at me.
“You will report any derisive remarks anyone makes about you to either myself or Jenavyr.” I dug my emerging claws into the arms of my chair, anchoring myself in place as she lifted bleak eyes to me, that look cleaving something within me. Shadows spilled from it, dark and treacherous, hungry to make whoever had wounded the little wolf pay for their insolence.
“What do you care?” she bit out, anger flashing across her face as she bravely held my gaze, her eyes fixed on me but the way she stiffened telling me she had noticed my shadows and how they blanketed the room, a wall between us and everything else. Everyone else. “You don’t seem to give much of a damn about them. You couldn’t get away from them quickly enough.”
“You are right. I do not care much for them. These lords and ladies belong to my court through their bloodlines. Through tradition. Their place in my court is written in the blood of their forefathers. I merely have to tolerate them, but my indifference towards them has led to some overstepping and believing they have power in my court and a right to do as they please.” My shadows closed in around her but her eyes never strayed from me, even as her shoulders tightened further, revealing she was well aware of their movement towards her.
My voice turned colder as anger burned through my veins, stoked by the thought that my failure to control my court might have led to Saphira being exposed to their more vicious side.
I had given them too much free rein, and now some among them believed they had a right to speak to another in my circle in a manner that had obviously wounded her.
“Tell me who offended you and they shall be dealt with.” The tips of my fingers blackened as I gripped the arms of my chair,struggling to hold back my wrath as I waited for a name, a direction to aim my fury.
Saphira folded her arms across her chest. “So you can murder them? Jenavyr told me how you deal with those who anger you. I’m not a snitch, and I can fight my own battles.”
“So I can punish them as they deserve and put them back in their place,” I corrected, and amusement rippled through me, a shimmering band of light that loosened the hold the darkness had on me as I studied the fierce little wolf who glowered at me, her chin tipped up in defiance. “And can you fight your own battles?”
She huffed. “I can.”
