Page 88 of In Violent Waves

“That’s alright. The dress is stunning enough,” Lyra replied.

“The dress would be just fabric without you.”

Lyra couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her face. Her gratitude was cut off by pounding on the door.

“That will be your escort,” Daisy said.

Her periwinkle hair shimmered in the dwindling light as she hustled to the door and swung it open. She collapsed into a bow. “Your Highness.”

Lyra rolled her eyes; she couldn’t imagine bowing and scraping tohim.

“Is she ready?” His tone wasn’t rude, but it wasn’t nice either.

She stalked to the door, coming up behind Daisy and resting her hands on her hips.

“How about a ‘Hello, Daisy’?”

Wilder stood frozen, staring at her. His gaze grazed along her exposed collarbones and the low-cut neckline of her gown before meeting her eyes again. She felt naked under his inspection. And she wasn’t the only one.

Daisy cleared her throat. “She is, Your Highness. Do you find her acceptable for dinner with the king and queen?”

Wilder hadn’t stopped staring at Lyra. “Very acceptable.”

He cleared his throat and took a step back, allowing Lyra to pass through the threshold.

“Great work, Daisy. You’ve achieved the impossible.”

Lyra froze and glared at him, but Daisy beamed at his compliment.

“Theimpossible? And what would that be?” Lyra hissed, stepping close to him.

“Making you look anything but monstrous,” he whispered into her ear.

He didn’t know how right he was.

Although he hadn’t meant it as a compliment to her, she appreciated it all the same. Especially, having been pampered and doted on by Daisy—she was still a creature of the sea.

“And don’t you forget it, Princeling.”

She was a thing of beauty. No, she was the epitome of beauty.

The navy gown hugged her curves and pooled at her feet. As if the ocean wrapped her in its dark and lovely embrace. They walked side-by-side to his parents’ private dining chamber. This dinner was not expected to be pleasant, and he was already dreading the vitriol that would spew from her mouth the moment she felt offended.

“Try to be pleasant, and this evening will pass swiftly,” he said to her.

Guards walked in front and behind them. His usual escort increased due to her. It felt unnecessary now after having seenher at training. She was the furthest thing from a danger. It would be more likely she would injure herself if she tried to hurt anyone else.

“I will be if they are.”

He cut his attention to her once more, and he noticed how her gown was lavishly intricate. She no doubt would fit in with the courtiers here. Except there was the glaring absence of any jewelry. Besides the sapphire necklace she never took off. She was without earrings, a necklace, or bracelets. He frowned at that.

“Fine. I’ll try my best,” she grumbled, misreading his frown.

He shook his head. “That’s not—never mind.”

The guards stationed on either side of the black, arched door held it open for them. He had been in this room more times than he could count. His mother preferred an intimate dinner, just the three of them, and not the extravagant dinners in the dining hall that his father enjoyed.

There was a time he wondered why that was, but as he got older, he realized his father needed that show of power. To have courtiers fawning over him.