Page 75 of The Shrouded Queen
Softly, I said, “Thank you.”
Those bright yellow eyes didn’t leave my face, fiercely intent, like he was seeing through my skin. “Your runes, they’re…”
Here it comes. I sank deeper into the pillows, bracing myself.
“Green.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Your runes are green.”
Green?Ignoring my aching muscles, I slid off the bed, holding tight to the mattress as my knees buckled.
Keir caught my elbow and wrapped his arm around my waist, half carrying me across the room to the full-length mirror. Each step was on a knife’s blade, my legs trembling with the pain radiating through me.
All that faded when I saw my reflection.
Strange swirling symbols curved along my forehead. Not raised like scars, but faded into my skin, as if they’d been there for years. And Keir was right; they were a deep green, like a crocodile’s hide. I shook my head, leaning in so close that my breath fogged the glass.
Runes of red signified a god’s blessing, Shifters’ were blue, and regular mortals’ were black. I didn’t have magic, and I certainly wasn’t a Shifter, so…
My eyes met Keir’s in the mirror. He wore that stony expression, giving nothing away. My heart galloped in my chest. “What does green mean?”
Instead of answering me, he moved in front of me, large body blocking the mirror as he leaned forward and sniffed my forehead, nose grazing my skin. I held perfectly still while he inhaled a second time. His eyes turned a molten gold.
He’d scented me a handful of times before—that I was aware of. His nose was probably always trying to sniff me out and catch me in a lie. But there were only two other times he’d scented me likethis. Just before we were about to cross that bridge to Kaldfold, when I had begged him, the first real mistake I’d made, and after Hedin’s death. His eyes had darkened then, too. The widening of his pupils over the brilliant yellow irises were like twin eclipses.
His hands settled on either side of my neck, hot—the intense heat of a Shifter—and callused, scratching gently against the sensitive skin there, sending bolts of lightning shooting through my body. His thumbs applied just the slightest bit of pressure to my jaw, tilting my head back as he drew in a third inhale, and my heart pounded in the silence.
I couldn’t hear the sounds of Frostguard through the windowsor the soft crackling of the hearth. It was just Keir’s deep breaths and my pulse rushing in my ears. Absently, his thumb smoothed against my jaw in a single stroke that I felt all the way to the tips of my toes.
“Keir?” I whispered.
His searing eyes fell from the runes to mine and melted the rest of the world away. Keir’s gaze was always probing, always seeking more, and it felt as if he were actually succeeding now. My cheeks heated, my insides felt unsteady. When his pupils dilated further, gaze growing darker, my breath caught in the back of my throat, and I had the insane urge to lean forward.
He wrenched away from me. Suddenly, as if he’d been burned, blowing air sharply out of his nose to get rid of my scent. I could feel the exact imprint of where Keir’s hands had been, a brand along my neck and jaw. A deep line formed between his brows as he stared down at me with those unfathomable yellow eyes.
“What?” I blushed harder when I heard how breathless my voice sounded.
“You…” His runes twitched as his throat bobbed. Before he could say more—if he’d even planned to—the door was thrown open and Rade rushed in, Velka on his heels.
“What are you doing out of bed?” he said. “You should be rest—” He stalled when I turned and he saw my runes. Questions chased each other across his face.
Velka’s nostrils flared, yellow eyes landing on Keir. “What’s going on in here?”
I waited for his answer, too. For him to tell her what he smelled, why he was looking at me like that. But Keir dropped his eyes, studying the floor, face twisted in consternation.
Before Velka could push for more, Rade nudged Keir out of the way and took hold of my elbow. Concern had won out against his bewilderment. “The Seer is always a trying ordeal, Amunet. You need to rest.”
“What happened to me?”
He weighed his words carefully. “You are not just blessed by the gods. You areofthem. A stronger reaction is to be expected. Which is why you need to be resting.” He situated me on the bed again and offered a gentle smile.
“My king,” Keir broached, “I think we should speak.”
My eyes snapped back to him. Keir’s hands were fisted at his sides, his body tense, and his yellow eyes were focused solely on Rade. A conscious effort not to look at me.
Nerves rushed through me at a dizzying speed. Surely if I’d been exposed, he would’ve already killed me. Or blurted it out here and now.
