Page 768 of Hell Hath No Fury
Arturo got to his feet and lowered his horns, charging furiously, but the noise he was making had already alerted the guards and I could hear them running closer.
I threw the door closed with a wild laugh, my vines binding it shut with fierce strength just before he collided with it and the entire thing rattled on its hinges.
Guards running down the corridor, a call for help, someone else shouting that they’d seen Arturo drinking the night away in The Whale and Whelk and then claims that he must have lost control in a drunken stupor. Four men dragging him away while he mooed furiously.
I laughed louder as the vision faded, listening intently as that exact scene played out in real time beyond the door.
I waited until his moos grew more distant then banished the vines securing my door and tugged it open, gasping in surprise as I took in the few guards who were still there.
“What in the name of the stars is going on?” I asked, the picture of innocence and surprise.
“Looks like a bit of drunken foolery, Princess, sorry for the disturbance,” a guard replied, bowing low.
“I assume the culprit will be held accountable?” I replied, trying to look stern while fighting hard against my amusement to banish it from my face.
“We will speak to his father and explain the situation,” the guard agreed. “No doubt the punishment will be swift.”
I nodded my acceptance of that before bidding them goodnight and closing the door again. Arturo’s father would indeed punish him soundly for making such a fool of himself in public, and I had to assume my betrothed would be more than a little hesitant to come knocking on my door without being called for again.
I ran across the room until I slipped inside the silencing bubble I’d left in place around my little sleeping Gabriel before letting my smile show.
As I sank back down onto my bed, the visions from my nightmares pressed in again;burning, screaming, war. A man with the darkest eyes I’d ever seen, violent and empty and alone.
I bit down on my lip, wondering what it all meant, hoping I could figure it out in time to make a change that would save those screaming people.
I didn’t sleep again, simply lying in bed for the rest of the night with my precious boy in my arms, nursing and fussing over him until the sun rose and spilled through the gauzy white curtains that covered the huge window to the left of my room.
I could feel the heat rising already, the intensity of the sun pressing in and making me kick the covers from my legs.
By the time my handmaid arrived to attend us, Gabriel had long since woken and was babbling and smiling at me as I worked my hardest to entertain him.
“Your parents have asked for your attendance at breakfast,” Elena said softly.
I fought the prickle of disappointment that ran down my spine at the summons, understanding what it meant. I was to be seen around the palace today. So Gabriel would be cared for in my absence without me once again.
My instincts balked at the order, but I had no option to argue it. My parents weren’t cruel by nature, but they were strict. They ran their court efficiently and without reproach. If I failed to do as requested then they would enforce a punishment, likely take Gabriel away from me for longer than a day or even threaten to have him removed from the palace entirely if his presence meant I wasn’t following up with my duties.
I’d already had to fight for the right to have him in my room at all. They’d wished to have him taken straight into the care of a wetnurse when I’d first returned, but I had begged on my knees for the right to care for him myself and they had given in. So long as I kept up with my duties.
I fought away the tears which wished to roll down my cheeks at the thought of being torn from him for hours, hoping hewouldn’t miss me too much while I was forced to maintain this ruse.
Elena took him gently and I yielded, though the ache in my heart only grew as I released him to her care.
I focused on him, training my gifts onto his future so that I couldseeall avenues the day might take for him.
“Don’t go for a walk in the western gardens,” I said in a soft tone. “There’s a wasps’ nest there and he’ll get stung if you venture that way today.”
“I’ll make sure to avoid it,” Elena promised, giving my arm a reassuring squeeze as I dipped my head to kiss Gabriel goodbye.
Aside from the possible wasp sting, I saw no danger in his future and no unhappiness apart from him crying for me, but there was nothing I could do to aid that.
I withdrew, despite my instincts aching for me to stay and I headed into the bathing chamber attached to my room where I found a bath already run for me, wildflowers and goats milk lacing the steaming water.
I disrobed and bathed quickly, dressing in the golden gown which had been laid out for me. It was thin, several sheer layers making up the skirt of it which left a silhouette of my body on show through the fabric while maintaining my modesty and allowing me to keep cool while wearing it. Or at least as cool as it was possible to be in the heat of a Voldrakian summer’s day.
Another of my handmaids appeared to brush my ebony hair and I allowed it, though I had always preferred to care for myself. It had taken years to persuade them all to allow me to bathe and dress in privacy. The hair was a compromise.
She left it unbound, placing a thin golden chain around the back of my head adorned with tiny golden lilies over the loose curls which fell down my spine. The back of the dress was open to allow room for my wings to extend if I needed my Harpy, and I liked the freedom of that, the warm air along my spine seemingto urge on the shift in me, but I’d keep my wings contained for now.
