Page 35 of The Broken Elf King
I reached out and grasped both of their hands. “Thank you. I really appreciate you.”
They both beamed at me. “Of course, Kailani. It’s a great honor.”
After they had me in the dress, I slipped into some silver heels and then sat down while they intricately braided my hair.
There was a knock at the door and one of the handmaidens answered.
“A gift from the king,” a male voice I recognized said.
A gift from Raife?
I peered over my shoulder to see one of Raife’s trusted Bow Men at the door. The assistant took the gift from him and brought the small package to me.
It was wrapped in pale blue silk. I untied it to reveal a beautiful glass bottle of perfume.
There was a note.
Thought this would smell amazing on you - Raife
My heart hammered in my chest at the romantic gesture. The girls doing my hair must have peeked over my shoulder and read the note because one of them sighed. “That’s so sweet.”
I smiled, unsure if the perfume gift and desire to smell it on me was genuine or all part of the lie.
When the girls were done, they left and I sprayed two puffs of the fragrance, one on my wrist and one on my neck. Inhaling deeply, I smiled. Itdidsmell good.
There was a knock at the door and I strolled across the room, pulling it open.
Raife stood there in a dark gray silk tunic with a high collar. His hair was slicked back into a ponytail at his nape, and I suddenly forgot to speak.
“Wow,” he said, as he looked me up and down.
I grinned. “I got your gift.”
Stepping forward, I held my wrist to his nose. He clasped my hand in his and pulled me closer so that I was only inches away from his body. Leaning his nose into my wrist, he inhaled and sent a shiver down my spine.
Emotions were coming off of him strongly, and none of them had to do with grief or anger as they normally did. These were all desire and satisfaction.
“Ready, my lord?” a Bow Man asked in the hallway, and I was snapped from my trance.
Raife dropped my hand and slipped his fingers into mine, again stroking my palm as he did. It was a subtle signature move that I wasn’t sure he knew caused me so much delight.
Walking the hallway hand in hand, we nodded to the staff who had lined up to get a look at us.
“Congratulations, my lord,” one of them said.
“Wishing you many years of happiness, Your Highness,” another said.
He thanked them and smiled and waved until we stepped up to the open doors of the large ballroom. Hundreds of voices could be heard inside, and I suddenly became nervous, my palms going slick with sweat.
Raife looked sideways at me. “Is the woman who once took a slave trader to the ground… scared?” I reached over and lightly punched his arm, causing the Bow Men to tense beside us.
“No. I’m just… nervous.”
Raife grinned. “Same thing.”
“Is not,” I argued.
Before we could talk about it any further, Raife had pulled me into the room. Then over a hundred pairs of eyes were on us.
