Page 14 of Wings of Ice and Steel

‘Rules?’

‘Yeah. Who I can and can’t talk to. He’s got a bee in his bonnet and I’m a bit tired of listening to it.’

‘Well, that’s fair.’ Nieve shot him a half-smile and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes to enjoy the caress of the breeze. Somewhere, in the distance, an owl hooted in the dusk and the sound helped take Nieve away for a minute to the frozen mountain forests of her homeland.

‘Anyway. I should stop sulking and turn in,’ Lucius said with a grunt. ‘And you should probably do the same.’

‘I’m not sulking,’ Nieve said, eyes still closed.

‘Hmm.’

She felt Lucius’ bulk shift, and then his warm presence was gone. Feeling soothed by the quiet and somewhat calmer, Nieve opened her eyes. Out of interest she glanced at the window Lucius had been staring at. A shadowed figure was moving about, getting ready for bed. With a jolt, Nieve recognised the figure, and her suspicions were confirmed when they paused in plain view. Ariadnne. Lucius had been staring at Ariadnne’s window. Nieve’s calm fully dissipated, chased away again by surprise.

Why had Lucius been watching her?

An inappropriate whisper of jealousy tickled the back of her throat—did Lucius like her? Perhaps there was something between them she wasn’t aware of, they were both varanyen, after all.

Her mouth dried as Ariadnne’s silhouette passed back out of view. She wondered if she thought about their fight the way Nieve did, or whether she thought of Nieve at all.

And how offended Sol would be if she reconsidered Melixanthe’s offer?

Six

Ariadnne

There were two hours until Lord D’avant’s ball and sweat slicked Ariadnne’s brow as she made her way back to her room. Melixanthe trudged behind her, nursing bruises after the morning’s training. Servants hurried past, voices raised. It wouldn’t be long before guests arrived from the city.

The expectant atmosphere increased Ariadnne’s dread. She could, in fact, dance, but the idea of having to remain civil to the somewhat lecherous High Lord while she did didn’t sit well, no matter how used she was to being somebody’s pawn.

The door to Ariadnne’s suite opened, and Kayla emerged, jumping in surprise.

‘Shards! You scared me.’ She clutched her chest. ‘The butler fellow asked me to drop off a gift from the High Lord. I’m supposed to pass on that he humbly requests you wear it.’

Ariadnne’s brows rose, already able to tell that she wasn’t going to appreciate the ‘gift’.

‘I’ll come and see,’ Melixanthe said as Ariadnne pushed open the door, probably to stop Ariadnne from destroying whatever it was out of pique.

Laid out on the bed was an exquisite dress of silver, iridescent fabric. It had a plunging neckline at the front, and very little material at the back.

Ariadnne froze. Every one of her scars would be on display.

‘I’m not wearing it,’ she said flatly.

‘Unfortunately, I think you have to.’ Melixanthe’s brow crinkled.

‘It is not in our contract for me to wear dresses like that and dance.’ Ariadnne didn’t even want to touch it.

There was a small, wooden box next to the dress. Ariadnne picked it up and lifted the lid. An enormous sapphire gazed back at her. Resting on a deep blue cushion, it was set in a silver clasp and attached to a delicate chain. Matching earrings sat on either side of the necklace.

‘You can’t tell me this isn’t too much?’ She held it out to Melixanthe, who sat.

‘Ah,’ she said. ‘It looks like our High Lord wants to court you, Ariadnne.’ She raised a hand to cover a smile.

‘I’m glad you find this amusing.’

‘Lordlings want every shiny thing they see. I wouldn’t worry. We’ll play nice until it’s time for us to leave as we don’t want to impair Guild relations with the Kingdom, but the Guild will never allow him to pursue his interest. It will be done soon enough.’

‘I’m not going—’