She didn’t have to tell me twice. I stripped while she helped me slide into the snug dress and fastened it.
I normally was not vain, but for once, I wished I had a mirror so I could see myself in this strange woman I’m sure I resembled. Obviously, the person who would be staring back at me with those forest eyes was not the Sapphira I knew. Maybe for the night I could smile, laugh, and dance and not be a woman who had to save a princess and prince.
“We need to finish this hair and then get to that ball; it’s probably already started. But you have to wait for me because I wanna see all those haughty Faes’ faces when you walk in.” I heard her words but I relished in the luxury over this dress against my skin, allowing me to feel confident and powerful.
Dris put the majority of my curls into a low bun at the top of my nape. Little tendrils of curls roamed free as she pulled out little silver clips the size of twigs or coral from a bag she had brought with her. She placed them strategically in my hair. Once she was satisfied with her handiwork, she left to put on her own dress and told me she’d meet me down there.
I sat on the bed, looking up at the sunset. It was going to be a full moon tonight, and despite knowing that I shouldn’t, I lifted up the train of my dress and left my room for another.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Rune’s quarters were on the opposite side of the palace near the woods. I’d seen it a few times, and the servants I worked with usually ushered me to do the cleaning near his room. I think they were afraid of him and thought that he’d open his door and chew them up.
My stomach twirled into a ball of knots as I stepped closer and closer to his wooden door. The torches outside were dimmed, which made me regret my decision. I couldn’t shake the desire to see him, especially while wearing this dress that gave me courage and strength.
I knocked and heard the scrape of a chair against the stone floor, then Rune flung the door open. His bare torso revealed the muscles of his ripped abdomen, with only a pair of pants covering the rest of him. He wore a necklace on a simple silver chain with a black circle pendant. I’d never seen him wear jewelry, so the necklace was odd.
“What do you want?” he snapped, the furrow between his eyebrows growing deeper. He did not like what he saw. Shocking.
“Tonight is a full moon, and I hadn’t seen you the past few days. I wanted to say goodbye before you left for your werewolf cave thing.” My heart throbbed with the thought of him suffering alone.
He didn’t say anything as I noticed his broad chest, abdomen, and so many muscles and ripples of pure strength and brutal training weaved into his body. He radiated the beast inside. A true warrior, who’d fought in battles and had the scars on his body to prove it, including the one small white dot on his shoulder from Nyx’s sword when they first met.
I shouldn’t have come here tonight. I was wrong for looking at him like this, for wanting to wish him goodbye. The pull, the something inside me refused to listen.
“Well goodbye.” I turned to leave and flee the scene of my betrayal.
“I couldn’t be near you. I’m sorry I stayed away.” His strong hand grabbed my wrist and stopped me from leaving. My head snapped to look at him, at his stretched arm and grip attached to me.
“I thought we were friends.” I tried to bring the conversation back to neutral territory.
“We are,” he groaned, his hand releasing me like the mere touch of my skin had scalded him. His fingers moved through his hair as he peered up at the skies like some assistance would come to him from above. Little spikes of black hair poked up from his fingers gripping the strands. My body shivered from the craving to replace his hands with my own, to feel his silky ebony hair between my fingers, gripping him closer.
Heat blossomed in my chest; my breaths trembled with another full body shiver. His nostrils flared, his hands moved from his hair to the doorway. The powerful, corded muscles in his arms flexed, like he needed all his strength to root his feet where they belonged.
Why did my body and soul yearn to do something I wasn’t sure I could come back from? It felt right, though, and I couldn’t explain it. I’d experienced that overwhelming desire back at the waterfall when his body settled over mine, his air becoming my air, my cravings echoing inside his icy stare.
“I wish I could be with you in there, Rune, so that you’d know you weren’t alone.”
A small sigh escaped his lips. The sound crushed something in my chest. The need to reach out to him, to soothe him, tore at my control. Every breath turned into a fight to hold back the words that would doom me.
“Goodnight, Sapphira.” His strangled voice was filled with suffering.
I shouldn’t have come. The dress was not some mask that hid my flaws and vulnerabilities like some superhero. I was open for Rune to see, and it felt wrong.
“Goodnight, Rune,” I whispered.
His door shut, as I walked back through the hall. My thoughts and emotions scattered with the draft flowing out to the throne room, where the laughter and murmuring of the celebrating Fae congregated.
Dris stood by the entrance in a shimmering silver dress that looked like stars. Her wild hair was free, and she wore matching silver shoes to complete the ensemble. I plastered on my best smile, hoping to deter her from asking questions of why I looked like I’d been attacked. She saw through it. The owl essence in her was too keen at seeing things beyond what was obvious, but her pink lips remained sealed.
Her arm linked around mine in a friendly way that I understood with gratitude. She was here for me, my friend, and to be there for anything I needed, like entering a throne room of Fae who looked at me with a mixture of hunger and disgust in their eyes.
“I don’t think this was a good idea,” I whispered, hoping the others weren’t listening to me as we walked up the dais where the king and queen sat on their respective thrones. The king dressed his lithe body in an all-white tunic and black pants. His long black hair was unbound, and his crown of obsidian sat happily on his head.
The queen peered down at her hand, her lips moving like she mumbled, and tears stung my eyes. I wanted to hate her for what she tried to do, but I couldn’t harbor any emotion toward her except to love and please her.
“Sapphira, welcome. I’m glad you could make it, and I’m so happy the dress fit you so stunningly.”
The king had officially ruined this beautiful garment that covered me like his personal present, wrapped how he wanted me to be. The food I’d ingested earlier threatened to come back up the way it went in. The sour churning in my stomach made me want to run to the nearest bathroom I’d cleaned many times and rip off this dress as I vomited.
“She is most grateful, your highness. You are very kind.” Dris spoke for me and pulled my arm so the rest of me would fall into a bow with her. The king’s head bowed in response, as close as we were going to get to some sort of respect from him.
“Enjoy the night, Sapphira.” Chills ran down my arms as the king spoke directly to me again, ignoring Dris at my side. I was thankful for her Fae senses as she noticed the king’s behaviors and said our thanks before steering us toward the refreshment table.
“We are going to need something strong to get through this night.” Dris poured herself some of the pink wine and handed me a glass. I hadn’t drunk any sort of alcohol in a long time, so I would be a mess if I drank a lot. One drink wouldn’t hurt me. I was in desperate need of something to numb myself.