Page 91 of Born of Starlight
“You’re sure? Tall older woman, gray hair.” His head tilted, eyes narrowed as a worry line furrowed his brow.
I remembered the redhead’s too-long skirts—ill-fitted as though not her own. Emmerick’s jaw jerked when I returned a shake of my head.The palace walls could have been breached.
“Tell me everything,” he commanded.
I told him every remembered detail of the girl that had spent hours in my bedchamber. “You need to warn the Queen immediately.” I swallowed hard, hands still trembling.
He nodded, releasing my arm. “Should we tell Fenris?”
“No,” I said too quickly. “He may be involved. We go on as if we know nothing and keep our eyes and ears open.”
My throat tightened thinking of the vials I had given her—the first, harmless in the wrong hands. The second, lethal.I’ve given an imposter the advantage of invisibility. Fool.
My hand reached out to catch the Commander by his sleeve. “Emmerick.”
He paused.
“I gave her a vial of invisibility serum.”
“You didwhat?” The weight of his disappointment was crippling.
“I thought she was a maid—that I could help her survive wartimes ahead. She seemed kind.”
He steadied a breath. “You are good-hearted. But we must be more careful. I cannot risk the Queen’s life…there isn’t an heir. More than likely, the girl was someone curious to meet you, curious enough to impersonate a maid. But we can’t be sure.”
“I know, I’m so sorry—do not leave Sybilla’s side.”
He nodded. “You be careful too. Something doesn’t feel right.”
Then, with a squeeze of my shoulder, Emmerick darted toward the candle-lined path of the courtyard, his steps charged with purpose.
Chapter26
Fenris
The band played dull, proper music—a string quartet of stuffy-looking stout men. To be among party-goers was numbing where joy should be.
The vine-covered stone walls seemed to meet the night sky above. The courtyard was strung with tea lights overhead. A fountain bubbled by the band’s stage and reflected the light overhead. It was charming.
I would have once loved a party like this. The possibilities to woo and charm. Wallflowers swayed in the corners, awaiting someone to whisk them away, something the former me would have enjoyed doing.
Footmen served bite-sized food and endless bubbling wine from trays. Most avoided me—rumors traveled fast in any court, and it would be no surprise that I might put these people on edge.
No one’s reaction to me mattered because my eyes were glued to the one person they shouldn’t be. The same woman who nearly killed me this morning. That burgundy dress hugged every curve, and it rendered me senseless.
Asterie was a graceful and nimble fighter, but she had no idea where to put her feet while dancing. Men who mustered thebraveryto dance with anenchantress of the night skyunder the moonlight lined up one after another.
Too polite to say no to any of the men who requested a dance, Asterie struggled, tripped and stepped awkwardly through the evening but seemed entirely distracted. It boiled my blood to see her with other men in the form of other women. The wives of her partners gushed and giggled to see a vision of themselves dancing across the polished marble—a party trick to them. Proof of their husband’s loyalty.
What boiled my blood more was when her featuresdidn’tshift—men laying their desire out for her so blatantly on that dance floor as if they had any right to her. It was no different than men clawing up the side of her tower.But what right did I have to be angry?
Asterie was watching me too, not out of interest, but more out of skepticism. I gave her a knowing smirk, which was met with an aggressive scowl. Irking her with my mere presence had become my new favorite game of the evening. She kept looking around the courtyard like she was casing it for something.
Unable to stand by any longer, I began to approach her.
A handsome noble stepped between us. Asterie looked over his shoulder at me and missed that the fucker was looking down the bodice of her dress. Something feral grew in me. She wasn’t a display in a museum…his eyes creeping into such intimate places made me want to break the hand he held out to her.
I’d noticed her beauty long before royalty stuck her in a dress. Even sleep-deprived, with thorns in her hair and Lynx blood across her face, she was more beautiful than any woman I’d ever met.
