“I know,” she growled in irritation.
“Do you want to talk about Dean?” Kaliana asked.
“What? Why?”
Kaliana raised an eyebrow. “Honestly, do you want me to spell it out?”
“No, I do not,” she said. “Let’s focus on Killian. I thought that I was convincing at Beltane. He said he liked that I was bold. Maybe I should go to him.”
“My brother likes a chase,” Kaliana insisted. “You should make him feel like he is the one waiting.”
Cyrene sighed and sank down next to Kaliana to cease her relentless pacing. “What happened with you two that night at your father’s hunting lodge?”
Kaliana stiffened. “Nothing. Why do you ask?”
“Because I can read you, and he said it to hurt you.”
“Nothing, Cyrene. Really.”
“Why did he want to hurt you, Kaliana? I thought he was happy to see you home.”
Kaliana set the brush down and looked out to the gardens that were so plain without the elaborate Beltane decorations. “My brother was never happy to see me. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we are twins. It is very uncommon in Tiek but also cherished. Twins mean good luck and good tiding for years to come, especially in royalty. When my mother had twins, the entire land rejoiced. It is one of the reasons that the people love Killian so much. He brings them good tidings simply by being born a twin.”
“But he doesn’t like to share,” Cyrene guessed.
“No,” she said. “He does not. He sets his sights on something, and nothing can get in his way. For him, that was the throne. And, even though I had no way to inherit, he made sure that I stayed out of his way.” She turned her face to Cyrene. “He couldn’t get rid of me because my very existence was what made him so cherished. Killing me would mean bad tidings. But it also meant that we had to grow up together because the people wanted to see us together. He kept me away from everyone else. I was only ever allowed to have him.”
“That’s awful.”
“It was,” she said. “I never had a friend until I moved to Byern. Well…maybe not there either. It was rather the same actually.”
Cyrene winced. Kaliana had not been kind to her, but she had never thought about what it would be like to be a foreign princess in a place where she knew no one either.
“One Beltane, when we had just turned twelve, we went to my father’s hunting lodge. Neither of us had been raised at court. We were always sent away, so this was no different. Killian wanted to have his own festivities. We worked together all week to get everything prepared—the bonfires and flowers and decorations and foods. Then, the night of the festivities, I came down in my new dress, and he told me that I wasn’t invited.” Kaliana glanced back to Cyrene. “He made me watch from my bedroom window at the revelry with everyone that we had invited. Then he had the audacity to come into my bedroom late that night and tell me all about what I had missed. I knew then that my brother would stop at nothing to get rid of me, so he could have the throne all alone.”
“Creator,” Cyrene whispered. “I am so sorry. I cannot even believe that he would do that. You are his sister!”
Cyrene could never imagine her siblings doing something like that. It was unthinkable. No wonder Kaliana had come to Byern so embittered and angry.
“I tell you this not for sympathy. It was long ago. Actually, being here again is making me remember why I hate court so much. I just want you to be aware of the things Killian will do to get what he wants.”
“Well, he has met his match then,” Cyrene said. “Because I will do anything to get what I want.”
“Including marrying him?” Kaliana asked.
Cyrene frowned and tasted bile at the suggestion. “Even marrying him.”
It was another day before the invitation came for a private dinner with Killian. Cyrene changed into one of the gowns that Kaliana’s friend had sent them. She’d had one of the dressmakers help to redesign it to the latest fashion. It wasn’t as elaborate as her Beltane dress, but the cleavage was a bit lower, and she suspected that was all it would take.
Dean appeared a minute later in the all-black guard clothing that he had been wearing since they arrived. She had to admit, he was striking in it. His light hair stark against the uniform.
It was the first time they had looked at each other since the proposition at Beltane. Perhaps the fertility gods really had been working through her that night.
“Are you ready?” she asked him.
“To watch you flirt with Killian for several hours at dinner while I have to stand over your shoulder?” he asked, strapping Shadowbreaker to his belt. “Not particularly.”
“I have no plans to flirt. We are going to negotiate for his army.” She stepped forward and pressed her palm to the hilt of her sword. She missed its sturdy presence against her back. She drew magic out of herself and into the honeycomb of the ruby. She hadn’t been able to use any here and felt the sweet ache that said she needed to release it.
“If you say so.”
“Are you jealous?” she teased, not moving a step.
“I cannot be jealous of a prodigious braggart and fool, but I can wish to be on the receiving end of your fluttering eyelashes.”
Cyrene gently placed her hand on his sleeve and met his gaze. “I do not enjoy having to flirt my way to an army. I would much rather withdraw Shadowbreaker, use my magic to hold him in the air, and make him give me his army. There are many other things I would rather do with my time. But they do not matter because they will not give me an alliance with Tiek.”
Dean softened at her words and nodded. “I know. You’re right. I will play my part just as you are playing yours. I just wish that we did not have to play them.”
His words said much more about them than it did about dealing with Killian, but Cyrene just nodded. Now was not the time for that conversation.
An escort appeared for them, and with a, “Good luck,” from Kaliana, she and Dean left the room and walked to Killian’s private dining chamber. It was a large room that connected into his living quarters, as elaborately decorated as the rest of the palace. The table was big enough for six, but only two places were set with fine bone china and gold wine goblets. A collection of covered silver platters had been laid out, and two servants waited in the wings. Dean took up a place against the wall, preparing to be a fly on the wall for their negotiations.
Cyrene stepped toward her place at the table just as Killian entered through the opposite door. He was dressed resplendently in loose breeches and a fitted black jacket with gold buttons and rich golden thread embroidery. A white cravat was tied elegantly at his throat. An enormous ruby signet ring glittering on his hand was his sole adornment.
He stepped forward and took her hands. “Domina, you look stunning.” His fingers moved to the diamond at her throat. “I adore this piece. I have never seen its like before.”
“Thank you, Majesty,” she said with a coy smile. “It is an old family heirloom. I believed it lost for many years and recently recovered it.”
“How fortunate. I could not imagine losing something of such…beauty,” he said, his eyes sweeping her figure. “Please, allow us to dine.”