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He touched my face, and I covered his hands with mine.

“Do not cry, my sweet,” he said, his lips close to mine. “This is likely the only honorable thing I will ever do in your name.”

I believed him. He was the curse placed on this land when the first drop of my blood touched this earth. He had killed kings and ended bloodlines. He had conquered and would continue, and I felt a single sliver of fear at how unaffected I felt by such a thought.

Instead, I kissed him, and as my arms tightened around his neck, he rose to his feet, and I followed. We stumbled back, knocking into my vanity, but Adrian did not seem to care. He only used it as a perch, guiding me onto it as he gathered my skirt, hands skimming my thighs before teasing my heat. I groaned, letting my head fall back, an opportunity Adrian took advantage of as he sucked hard on my neck, letting his teeth press against my skin as he did.

I grew frustrated with his playfulness and reached for his hand, thrusting his fingers inside me. Adrian said nothing, only kissed me harder. He kissed me everywhere—my mouth, my jaw, my neck, my breasts—and all I wanted was to open for him more, feel him more, but I was already wound tight, and my entire body felt like a heartbeat, pulsing and throbbing.

He kept his pace, a rhythm that had me breathlessly begging him to keep going. He pulled back to watch me as I came, and though quiet, the release left me shaking. Adrian withdrew and placed his fingers into his mouth before he kissed me deeply.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes,” I whispered, and then we laughed together.

It was a beautiful moment, a brief second in our lives that felt simple and easy compared to what we faced outside this room—a life that would not wait.

Adrian helped me stand. “I will leave you to finish getting ready,” he said. “Today we have court.”

I could only imagine what stories we would hear. It was the first court since Ravena’s attack, since the aufhockers’ behavior had changed, and I was filled with an acute sense of dread.

Nine

Isolde

It did not take me long to restore my appearance. I smoothed my skirt and pushed my hair over my shoulder, hoping that it would help cool my heated skin, which was covered in a fine layer of sweat. I was slightly jealous of how quickly Adrian had pulled himself together.

I was still eager to speak with Ana and had time before court. I retrieved my daggers, fitting them to my wrists beneath my sleeves, and left my room in search of her, finding her in a smaller room down the hall from the sanctuary where the remaining wounded had been moved to finish healing. The room itself was long and narrow, more like a wide hall, with patients lined up in a row on cots.

When I walked in, Ana was rewrapping a leg wound.

“My queen,” she said when she saw me, smiling softly.

“M-my queen!” The patient, an older man, seemed to panic at my presence. He tried to push himself up onto his elbows, but I stopped him.

“Do not trouble yourself, please. I expect you to heal, not to bow.”

“You are kind, my queen,” he said as he started to relax, letting his head fall into his pillow.

“I am hardly kind,” I said. It was the last word I would use to describe myself.

“You fought for us,” he said. “You fought with us.”

I did not know what to say because I felt very differently about how I had fought.

“All done, Petar,” Ana said, patting his newly bandaged leg.

“Thank you, Lady Ana,” he said as she rose to her feet. “Thank you.”

Ana met my gaze as she came around the cot, wiping her hands on her apron. “I did not expect to see you before court.”

“I hoped to speak to you first,” I said. “If you have time.”

“Of course,” she said. “Would you like to walk?”

I hesitated. “I think we should find a more private place to speak.”

Her brows knitted together, curious, but she did not question me, only followed as I led her to the great room in the library. It was where I did most of my research, and Lothian and Zann seemed happy to entertain my thirst for knowledge.