I don’t want to argue with a violent man, so I say, “I’d like to see my room now.” I lift my forehead from him. Finding his hand, I hold it. “Please take me there.”
He raises my hand to his lips, kissing it. “Come then. I will show you Mercy.”
CHAPTER 12
DISCOLORATION
Mercy has unobstructed views of the most beautiful aspects of Urbenoster: the grounds of Kyon’s estate, the water surrounding the fortress, and the mountains in the distance. The waning sun glows red on the horizon when the gray stone walls fall away, forming a portico of archways and pillars as we walk. Cool mountain air stirs my hair. What strikes me first is that we’re close to the wide river that surrounds the grounds like a moat. Elaborate sailing vessels hydroplane over the surface of the water, hardly disturbing its placid veneer.
We enter a suite of rooms. A formal sitting room adjoins the bedroom. My new bedroom is more than elegant; it’s divine. Kyon trails me into it. I walk ahead of him to the doors on the far wall. They open onto a magnificent terrace overlooking the water. In the distance between the towering buildings, the snow peaks of the mountains cast grandfatherly shadows on the city as the sun retreats behind them.
“What’s your next move, Kyon?” I rub my upper arms with my hands, trying to ward off the chill of the mountain air.
“Hearts and minds.”
“Whose?”
“Everyone’s.”
“How?”
“We have to build on your little-lost-priestess-returned-home persona.”
“You mean with the citizens of Alameeda?”
“I mean with all the Houses. You are seen as the priestess of the prophecy here in Alameeda. To our allies and to all the other Houses, you have been the catalyst for war. We have to make you sympathetic—the stoic leader rather than the villain. Excelsior, will start his campaign against you immediately, now that he knows unequivocally that I won’t give you up to him.”
“How powerful is he?” I ask.
“Not nearly as powerful as us.”
“How do we make me look sympathetic?”
“We do what no one else has done. We show you to the world. We unveil the hidden priestess. We endear you to them.”
“I’m not a people person.”
“On the contrary, you’re everything they want. I’ve watched you at the Rafe palace. You have an innate ability to adapt—be what they want you to be.”
“Most people don’t know what they want. What they want changes daily.”
“You’ll change with it.”
“And Excelsior?”
“You’ll find out his plans,” Kyon replies. His arms wrap around me from behind and pull me against his solid chest. He’s so warm, a balm against the cold, mountain air.
“I’ll see what I can do. Let me lie down so you don’t have to catch me when I leave.” I try to move back inside, but Kyon doesn’t release me.
“Later. You’re weak.”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not,” Kyon disagrees. He takes my hand and leads me back inside my room. Positioning me in front of an enormous full-length mirror, his hand touches my chin as he directs me to look at my reflection. Dark circles hollow my eyes. Kyon’s hand skims over my skin, descending to the front of my neck. He fondles the beautiful flower on the black-ribboned choker at my throat.
My voice is shallow when I murmur, “What kind of flower is that?”
Kyon’s reflection in the mirror studies me with eyes that miss nothing. “It’s a copperclaw, Kricket. They’re extremely rare.”
His finger skims the ribbon that fastens the flower to my throat. Meteorlike fire burns beneath my skin wherever he touches me. His eyes follow his fingertips as they glide over the silken threads.
“Do you like the flower?” he asks.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t like flowers; they die.”
“Copperclaws endure. Once they bloom, they never die.”
“Never?”
“Nothing that I will ever give you will be ephemeral, Kricket.” He gently nudges my hair aside. Bending to me, his lips caress my bared skin. As soft as moonlight, his mouth whisper-kisses promises of bliss. Sharp-edged desire howls through my body like a scream at midnight.
I make a small sound of pleasure and lean my back against him, closing my eyes. My knees weaken and I’m strung out and shaky from the intoxication he’s offering. His hand moves to my waist, turning me around so that I face him. Opening my eyes, his blue ones are a sea on fire. “I need you, Kricket,” he murmurs.
My breath catches. He kisses me. His silken tongue strokes against mine. An aching ecstasy chases through me, proof that I’m dark and broken inside. A cage closes around my heart, sealing it in glass. My heart beats against its transparent confines, knowing that when it sledgehammers hard enough, it will shatter and die from a thousand cuts.
“What do you want from me?” I ask against his lips.
“Everything.”
“I can’t give you that.”
“Then I’ll take it,” he says. He kisses me again, letting me go only long enough to pull his shirt off over his head, dropping it on the floor. He’s unbearably handsome.
One of his hands weaves in my hair, while another goes around my back, pulling me to him as he captures my lips again. He lifts me up in his arms and carries me with him to the bed. Sitting down on the edge of it with me on his lap, he grasps the back of my dress and pulls it apart. The buttons fly off in every direction.
I press my lips to his heart and breathe his name. “Kyon.” The stone-heavy weight of it drops in ripples on his flesh, sinking against the depth of his skin until it’s gone. Gently, I disengage his hands from me. His eyes are devouring as his gaze promises to make a meal of me. Rising from his lap, I back away from him, as I would from any extremely dangerous thing.
Kyon rises from the edge of the bed and slowly stalks me. I bump into the door frame behind me and adjust, backing through the doorway into the lavare. Only steps away from me, Kyon growls, realizing that I mean to escape from him. I push the button on the door frame and the door drops down from the ceiling between us. Standing there, facing the barrier, I wring my hands, terrified that he’ll open it—even as my wildly beating heart presses up against its glass cage, hoping to be cut.
It becomes apparent that he’s not going to break the door down. I turn around to the mirror across from the door. I can hardly look at myself. Am I Kyon’s consort? And if I am, what will that do to Trey? I reach up and untie the black ribbon from my neck. Holding it for a moment, I stroke the petals of the copperclaw before abandoning it on the vanity.
Going to the shower, I turn on the water as hot as I can bear. I strip off my silver dress and get in. I don’t let myself cry until water runs down my hair and covers my face. I can’t even be honest about my tears to myself. I have to hide them. I rub the area of skin over my heart, trying to ease its painful ache. Then I sit down in the shower; the water pelts me as I bring my knees up to my chest and rest my chin on them. I need to see Trey. I have to figure out what to do now. My skin turns cold even under the heat of the water.