Page 90 of A Kingdom of Shadows

I throw my head back and chuckle, lowering myself, so I can scratch his ear. "Like a king," I say, scrunching my nose with a smile. "Now—" I stand and glance at them both, "—If you'll excuse me, I should head back to my room."

They both look at me as I bunch up the bed sheets like a dress skirt and lift my head as I walk out of the chambers with deliberate confidence. I cross the hall, enter my room and close the door as I press my forehead against the wooden frame, reeling in what happened with Darius last night. It still seems almost too surreal to have occurred, yet the pleasurable pain throbbing between my legs tells me otherwise.

"You made love last night."

Upon hearing Arlayna's voice, my body jerks as I spin around to see her sitting at the edge of my bed, poised and observant. Not at all someone who cares to be intruding.

I arch a brow. "You kissed Aeron."

She stands, fluffing out her gown. Despite her composure, the tension in her shoulders tells me otherwise. "He kissed me, and how did you know that?"

"Tibith."

"Ah."

Silence clings to the walls of the room. It's not ideal to be naked beneath bed sheets in front of royalty, yet here we are. "Have you been in here for long?" I ask, striding across the room to find something to wear.

Arlayna follows my movements, swiping a finger along the wooden bedposts. "Enough to know you are fascinated with carving most of our furniture."

I bark out a dry laugh, sorting through the bedside drawers. A draft of air on my backside has me gasping, thinking I've exposed myself.

It's only my imagination.

"Here," Arlayna says, and I turn as she throws clothing my way. I catch it with one hand and glance down at the forest green shade of the tunic and pants. "You will need it tonight—it's laced with fruit extracts to cover your human scent from trolls. They're known to detest all nice-smelling things," she adds when I sniff it and cock a brow in surprise at the citrusy smell. "The stone should be within a well where an oubliette hides."

It seems too simple.

And that can only mean it's not.

I put on a brave smile. "Anything else?"

"Don't get eaten."

An uneasy laugh scatters out of me at her stoical tone. "I will try not to."

She bows her head and moves to leave. I stop her just as her hand reaches the doorknob. "Arlayna."

She turns halfway.

"As to your thoughts the other day. You were right," I confess as she cocks her head in mild curiosity. "I do care deeply for him." I always have, and perhaps that means more than something. Perhaps Darius's version of love is pain is just a fraction of a much greater act.

I hate everything about you as a person and as a shifter.

The memory of my words back in Emberwell stings the back of my mind.

And I promise you, once I get the vial and you get your stupid little pendant, I will hope to Solaris I never see you again in my life.

What a terrible lie that wound up being.

"I thought so," Arlayna muses. She turns again before stilling. Silence pierces the air before she says, "I must say... through an Elves eye, sometimes we can see beyond what any other being can. Yet last night was the first time I saw a glow surrounding you both as you danced."

My stomach twists, and I'm paralyzed as she looks at me.

"It was blinding." A twitch of a smile. "Like the sun."

Chapter Thirty-Five

Like the sun.

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