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“I see the seamstress allowed a change in your usual ballroom attire,” Herrick joked as he passed a glass to Liv.

She accepted it and clinked the glass against Herrick’s.

“The point of a knife may have been involved this time,” Liv said, grinning.

They drank deeply and faced the growing crowd, listening to the musicians who had started playing. The sounds echoed through the ballroom in gentle waves that washed over Herrick’s skin, soothing the ragged edges of his mind.

“You’ve been absent the last few days,” Liv pointed out.

“I’ve been busy,” Herrick replied quickly.

“I’m sure it has nothing to do with a certain red-haired Heir of Flame, though,” Liv said, a smirk on her face. “You two are insufferable, you know. I can’t figure out if you want to fight or fuck each other.”

Herrick choked on his wine, the effervescent liquid going up into his nose. Liv pounded him on the back a few times.

“Did I hit a nerve?” she asked innocently.

“No.”

“Clearly,” Liv chuckled.

“Are you ready to leave in the morning?” he asked her, changing the topic quickly.

“Of course, I’ve been ready to leave since we arrived.”

“Good,” he nodded.

They stood in silence for a few minutes. When Herrick opened his mouth to ask Liv about where Maude was, unable to pretend any longer he wasn’t anxious to see her, the crowd before them all fell silent and parted.Only the gentle rhythm of the music could be heard as Herrick felt Maude enter the ballroom, his skin heating like someone had lit a hearth right next to him.

The first thing Herrick noticed when she entered the room was how she held herself. Maude’s shoulders were thrown back, her chin elevated. She moved fluidly through the crowd as if she were made of shadows. Her deep red hair was untamed, the long, heavy waves hanging down to her lower back. Braids circled the crown of her head and had been interlaced with silver thread, which caught the candlelight and gave her the illusion of wearing a crown made of starlight.

The gown that had been made for her hugged her curves so devastatingly that Herrick could have fallen to his knees at the sight of her. The sleeveless black leather bodice had a high neckline that reached all the way up Maude’s throat to her chin and extended down to her waist, kept together with a silky black ribbon down the front. The skirts were the same matte black shade of the leather bodice, but the closer they got to the floor, the black seamlessly transitioned into a brilliant silver that matched the thread in her hair. A long slit cut into the skirt exposed her extended leg as she walked, her tanned skin silken in the warm light. No cloak hung off her bare shoulders, so the black flames that were inked up her arms were on full display.

There was no argument that Maude was royalty. She carried herself regally, a Queen without a throne.

Maude reached the dais where his family stood and placed a fist over her heart, inclining her head in a show of respect. Royalty in Ahland never bowed, but Herrick would bow before her if she asked him to.

Herrick knew he had never seen a more staggering example of beauty and ferocity in one person.

When she turned away from the dais and cut through the crowd once more, Herrick could not help but watch her as she drew in the attention of everyone else in the room so easily. Liv called out to her from where they were tucked away in the corner. Maude turned at the sound of her name, and quick relief passed over her face before she slid on her cool, calm mask. Herrick didn’t miss the tension and heat radiating off her skin; he could see in her mossy eyes how uncomfortable she was to be in such a large gathering.

“Gods, I’m glad this will all be over soon,” Maude said as she reached them, avoiding his eye.

Herrick cleared his throat, attempting to wipe away any evidence that she had struck him stupid when she appeared.

“Maude, you…” words failed him as he ran his gaze over the woman he was doomed to love from afar.

Maude saved him from having to search for his voice. “Herrick, relax. It’s just a dress.”

Just a dress? That dress will be the death of me, Herrick thought.

He let out a small chuckle, the tension in his body easing away the longer he spent at her side.

Liv and Maude spoke for a time while Herrick tried to melt into the walls behind him, trying not to feel so overwhelmed by his feelings for Maude. A few nobles approached their small group and propositioned Maude for a dance. She graciously declined them all, leaving Herrick with no small amount of satisfaction. He knew that he had no right to feel so territorial over her, but that didn’t stop him from almost growling at any person who asked.

“I haven’t seen you in a few days,” Maude said to him, turning to face him fully for the first time that night.

Herrick looked up to see Liv walking toward Gunnar and a few of the soldiers who were stationed inside the ballroom, winking at him when she finally glanced his way. He turned back to Maude, who was still waiting for him to respond.