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The Maiden had strength. An inner kind of resiliency that many didn’t have. She was also…fuck me. She was beautiful.

And those two things felt like a problem. A big one.

Pink crept over her cheeks as I continued staring at her. Her lower lip trembled before she pressed both together. Our eyes locked. Her gaze was unflinching, and there was no ignoring her obvious discomfort. I didn’t get it. She was lovely, and those scars didn’t detract from that. Fuck, they actually added to her features, but…

But she lived in the world of the Ascended.

One where flawless beauty was coveted and worshiped. A world where some would only see those flaws, but not all. Not even every Ascended would see nothing but those scars. But those who did…

Suddenly, I understood why the Duke had said what he did about my interest in the Maiden. I figured out that fucking nasty eagerness in his stare and smile because he, too, saw how uncomfortable she was. Everyone in the damn chamber did. But he reveled in it.

“She’s truly unique,” Duke Teerman said pleasantly. “Isn’t she? Half of her face is a masterpiece,” he went on, drawing a tremor from her. “The other half a nightmare.”

For a moment, I no longer saw her, even though I hadn’t taken my eyes off her. All I saw in my mind was the Duke and my fist punching repeatedly into his fucking face. I saw myself ripping out that tongue and then shoving it down his throat so he choked. His commentary was unnecessary. The Duke was fucking unnecessary.

“The scars aren’t a nightmare,” the Duchess said. “They are…they are just a bad memory.”

They weren’t a nightmare or a bad memory. They were proof of what she’d survived. Badges of strength. There was nothing wrong with them or her.

I stepped forward, absolutely done with these comments. “Both halves are as beautiful as the whole.”

The Maiden’s lips parted on a sharp inhale as she watched me place my hand on the hilt of my broadsword. I bowed, my gaze still holding hers as I recited the pledge given by the Royal Guards that Jansen had instructed me to speak earlier—the vow I already knew because it was part of those spoken by the King and Queen of Atlantia to their subjects.

“With my sword and with my life, I vow to keep you safe, Penellaphe.” Speaking her name caused that prickle at the nape of my neck to return and spread across my shoulders and down my spine. In the back of my mind, I knew I shouldn’t have said it, but it was important that she knew someone saw her in this moment when the Duke sought to humiliate her. It had nothing to do with my plans and maybe a bit to do with the fact that I knew exactly what it was like to be stripped of everything that made you who you were, becoming not someone but something. And maybe it also had to do with wanting her to know that I found her utterly exquisite because my tone deepened, and I heard it in my voice. “From this moment until the last moment, I am yours.”

POPPY

There was no easing into the transition from Rise Guard to one guarding the Maiden. My new role kicked off immediately as Vikter and I accompanied Penellaphe and Tawny to…

Actually, I really didn’t know.

The four of us had walked out of the chamber and were currently making our way through the dining hall.

Stopping, I faced them. The Maiden and Lady halted. Vikter’s stare narrowed. Her companion’s eyes were wide, and she had both lips sucked between her teeth, appearing as if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. The Maiden was once more veiled, hidden again.

“Where would you like to go?” I asked her.

The Maiden said nothing as Vikter’s eyes slitted even more. Her silence reminded me of when she’d first entered the Red Pearl, back when I thought her incapable of speaking above a whisper. But I now knew better. She could speak quite clearly and sharply.

When she wanted to.

Seconds ticked by in increasingly strained silence, and it hit me that everything that had gone down in that chamber had followed us out here. I wanted her to answer, to speak to me, but she was clearly still troubled.

I glanced at Tawny.

Her lips popped out from between her teeth. “Her chambers…” She paused. “Mr. Flynn.”

One side of my lips kicked up. “Hawke is fine.”

A smile appeared as she glanced at the Maiden. “We would like to return to her chambers, Hawke.”

“That all right with you?” I asked the Maiden.

She nodded quickly and then hurried past, leaving behind a faint trace of her fresh, sweet scent. Tawny walked much more sedately, her smile easing into a grin. Vikter was the only one who didn’t seem to be able to walk past me without making contact. His shoulder bumped mine. I bit back a laugh as I fell into step behind them.