Page 38 of Wolf Caged
“No.” Darkness rolled off him, his voice firm and almost chilling as his gaze narrowed on me. “Some things are not optional. I issue an order and you must follow it.” He pulled the contract I had signed out of thin air and waggled it at me. “It is all here, signed in your blood. Whether or not the things I request are orders or suggestions is down to you to figure out… but know if you get it wrong and refuse an order, you will be punished.”
He was teasing me again, amusing himself with my fear and my ignorance as I fumbled my way around his world and him,trying to learn what was right and what was wrong in order to survive.
If he wanted to be amused, I would happily entertain him with the wit he had requested I bring with me tonight. I would show him how sharp my fangs could be.
I gestured to the empty table. “What kind of dinner am I attending anyway? An invisible one? There is no food.”
Kaeleron angled his head towards the double doors in the wall behind him that were as beautifully carved with scenes of nature as the ones I had entered through.
Servants marched in. Many servants. Each carried a silver tray ladened with dishes they set out on the table and two carried a huge gold soup tureen between them. Platters of roasted meats, bowls of boiled… potatoes… I thought, but they were a light purplish colour, together with dishes of vegetables and other things I did easily recognise were laid out between us. Carrots. Peas. Golden-crusted pies. Some kind of cabbage. Jugs of the rich gravy I had secretly enjoyed while shut in that awful cell.
“This is all very… human… food.” I salivated as the aromas hit me, my stomach gurgling in anticipation as the servants laid out cutlery and plates before me and filled my long-stemmed glass with what looked like red wine.
Oh gods, I hoped it was red wine.
Another servant placed a bowl on the plate before me and ladled a cream-coloured soup into it that smelled faintly like parsnips and spice.
I pulled the glass towards me and subtly sniffed it as I lifted it towards my lips, pretending to take a sip as I checked to see if it was wine or blood, but of course he noticed.
The king gave me a bland look, dismissed his servants and poured himself a healthy glass of wine. “I do not dine on blood or the entrails of my enemies.”
“That’s not what I heard. Neve said entrails of your enemies was your favourite dish when she was giving me the run down on your majesty.” Would it be rude if I just grabbed several of the platters of meat and dragged them to my end to devour them before he could select a slice or two?
I squirmed in my seat, finding it hard to remain as civil as my clothes made me appear as my mouth watered and my wolf side snarled at me to claim every scrap of meat for myself before he could steal any of it.
He canted his head, watching me like a hawk watched a mouse. “I doubt that. But… I am curious. What did my seer have to say about me?”
I had lost myself in staring at the roast beef—or I hoped it was roast beef because it certainly smelled like it and I wanted to dive into it—and only the weight of his stare pulled me back to the world and it hit me he had said something.
“That you’re not a monster. I haven’t made my mind up about that yet. The jury is still out, I’m afraid. But this,” I gestured to the sumptuous food spread before me, half of which seemed familiar while others were new, like the sweet cakes and sticky buns that sat beside a clear pitcher of glowing violet syrup that smelled incredible as I pulled it towards me to get a closer look, “is a good step towards improving my opinion of you.”
A deep, rumbling chuckle escaped him. “Feast, little lamb.”
That word halted me in my tracks with a spoonful of soup halfway to my mouth.
Feast. Fight.Fuck.
This certainly was a feast, every inch of the table covered in delicious looking food, and I wanted to taste every item, to eat my fill until they had to roll me back to my room.
My gaze drifted to the male at the other end of the table and my wolf side growled at the sight of him, lounging in his high-backed chair, firelight dancing across the angular planes ofhis sculpted face as he watched me with a glimmer I couldn’t decipher in his cold silver eyes.
Was this the thing unseelie did better than my kind, or was it one of the others?
Fight?
Or fuck?
My cheeks began to heat and I scrambled to cover the reaction, grabbing my glass of wine and lifting it to my lips as I turned my head away from the light of the fire to conceal part of my face. I drained half the glass, not caring how I looked. If I blushed now, I could blame the alcohol.
I studied the long wooden side table that occupied the entire right side of the room as I calmed myself, gaze dancing over the silver trays of crystal goblets and decanters filled with liquids in shades of amber to crimson. Inset pillars added interest to the plain black marble walls, both accented with pure gold. Warm light from the chandelier suspended above the dining table chased over the gold and the facets cut into the glassware, drawing my gaze up to it.
Beautiful.
Not just the chandelier made of globes of golden magic that drifted among gold vines and leaves, but the ceiling above it.
I had never seen a ceiling like it.
Elegant golden cornicing surrounded it on all sides, like a frame for the stunning masterpiece someone had painted on the ceiling. A fresco that made me feel I was deep in a forest, surrounded by trees and gazing up at a sky filled with aurora and stars. The more I looked at it, the more I noticed the details. Dragons flying over faint jagged mountains beyond the trees. A stag-like creature grazing among the rugged trunks. Night birds perching in the branches. Motes of glittering gold light drifted around the ceiling, almost as if the stars were moving.
