Page 55 of Wolf Caged
She didn’t dress like the highborn.
No elegant gowns for this female.
She wore black leather pants and a royal blue long-sleeved blouse that matched mine, but beneath her breasts she wore an onyx leather corset over her blouse. Her outfit was rugged and made for work, not something I had expected the sister of a king to be wearing, certainly not in this world.
She looked far from a beautiful princess.
She was a striking warrioress.
Right down to the sword sheathed at her hip.
She noticed me staring at it and loosed a soft chuckle.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect the sister of a king to dress as you do… like I am… let alone carry a weapon.” I grimaced through my apology, sure it wasn’t enough.
“Ah, so I should be wearing hideous dresses and be keeping my hands clean and soft?” She gazed down at me, silver eyes bright with amusement as she half-smiled and I grimaced again, feeling terrible for what I had said as she added, “Many in this court believe the same, though they would not dare to mention it beyond secret whispers between trusted allies. My brother saw to that.”
“How?” That question left my lips before I could stop it, curiosity pulling it from me as I openly stared at her now, the thought of learning more about the king making me want to press her for the answer.
She simply said, “He executed those on his council who were against my being allowed to earn a position within his army.”
I halted beneath the arch of the smaller gateway between the highborn and common districts. “Heexecutedthem?”
For speaking out against his sister and daring to believe they knew what was best for her.
“It was a rather bloody affair, but then court politics often ends that way.” She seemed rather blasé about her brother murdering people merely because they hadn’t agreed with him.
“What happens ifIdon’t agree with him?” My mind raced, filling with gruesome images, and my heart galloped with it.
A sigh rolled from her as she patted my arm where it rested over hers. “My brother can be…ruthless. But he only does what he believes is necessary to maintain order within his court, and this court is not as bad as some of the others. Kael can be… I am sure he is often conflicted about the things he must do as king. But there are many things we do not agree on and he has not killed me yet.”
She meant the last part as a way of lightening the mood, a joke of sorts, but I couldn’t find much to laugh about in what she had said. I had begun to relax and lower my guard in this place, but now as I looked around the highborn houses and the street behind me, and the castle that loomed above it, some of the light this place had gained in the last few days shuttered and died out.
And all I saw was darkness and shadow.
The sneers of the nobles as they looked at me.
The whispered comments passed between the females, and even the males.
The way some openly eyed me as if they wanted to tear me down, while others gazed at me as if I was something they could steal and drag into the shadows to do the gods only knew what with.
I suddenly wanted to return to my room, where I felt safe.
Jenavyr rested her hand on my arm, her touch light but firm, and her voice pitched low, serious at last as she said, “No one will dare harm you, Saphira. It would be their head. My brother would not tolerate it.”
He would execute them.
And something buried deep within me whispered that he would enjoy it.
That he would take pleasure from making someone bleed and hurt.
“Why did your brother buy me?” My voice trembled as I tore my gaze from the nobles and forced it back to Jenavyr, attempting to block out the darker side of this world I could only see right now.
There was light in this world.
I had witnessed it.
It wasn’t all shadows and blood.
