Page 28 of A Queen’s Game (Aithyr Uprising #1)
“By safe, you mean not letting me leave this suite before you can enact whatever new plan you concoct,” Marietta said, looking out the window, resting her head in her hand.
“Unless I’m with you, of course.” He reached across the table for Marietta’s free hand, but she pulled away.
“And when will that be? When you have the time?”
An impatient sigh left his mouth. “I realize I’m busy, but I’ll make time for you. You will stay in the suite, though. I have books in the other room and cards you can play.”
Marietta stood up from the table. “War books—how fun,” she said, walking into the bedroom, hearing Keyain get up and follow.
“Marietta, please don’t make me out to be the enemy. What I did wasn’t great, but my heart was in the right place,” he said, emotion thick in his voice.
Marietta approached her wardrobe to inspect the clothes brought for her, peering over her shoulder at Keyain. “You’re a lot of things, Keyain. In your heart, you’re not an evil person; you just make terrible decisions.” She looked back at the clothes and sifted through them.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The benched groaned as he sat.
Marietta hesitated, remembering their years together.
“You always chose the wrong hills to die on. I asked you to defend me against slurs about being a half-elf, especially with your acquaintances, and you said I was overreacting. Yet if someone flirted with me, you’d make it a fight.
You viewed me as a possession, not a person like you do all pilinos.
” A dress of pale pink, the fabric thin and gauzy, caught her eye.
The bench groaned again as Keyain stood up. “Is that really how you felt? All of this time?”
The dress dropped from Marietta’s hands as she glared at the floor.
“It’s still how I feel. You assumed you could kill my husband, steal me from my life, and conquer my home without repercussions.
Now you expect me to trust you.” Dark curls fell on her back as she looked over her shoulder.
“How can I trust you? You don’t even see me as a whole person. ”
Keyain’s hulking frame approached her. Marietta turned away again as he rested his hands on her shoulders.
“I have always viewed you as a person, Mar.” She cringed at the nickname but let him continue. “Those acquaintances knew me because of my position here. If I had realized this is how you felt, I would’ve spoken up.”
The nerve—how many times had they fought over this very topic when they were together? “I asked you to, so many times.” She turned, surprised to see his face crumpled with emotion. The unexpected pain in his expression made her recoil.
“And I pushed you away by dismissing you, calling you dramatic.” His voice was a whisper. He reached for Marietta’s hands. “I am so sorry. I am so sorry I uprooted your life, and I promise to do what I can to fix it.”
Marietta looked into his eyes, the green ones she loved for so long, and she didn’t believe it.
He had countless opportunities to rectify his actions in the past. Now, it was too late.
Her hands slipped out of his as she turned back to the wardrobe.
“You can’t fix it because I can’t go back to my life.
But you could at least help me survive in your court.
Trapping me in the suite won’t keep the Queen away for long.
” Her voice had more emotion than she had hoped.
Keyain backed up a few paces. “I know. I’ll find a better plan, but until I can, you’ll need to stay in the suite.”
Marietta rolled her eyes. He trapped her in this suite alone with him, the guards stationed outside, and the handmade he assigned. What little hope she had threatened to burn out. With that revelation, she turned back to the clothes. “There are only dresses, by the way.”
“If you dig, I’m sure there are sleeping clothes, too.”
“No, Keyain—there aren’t any shirts or pants.”
“You’re a lady now and ladies only wear dresses.”
She shot him a look. “I’d appreciate it if you could find me some.”
Keyain sighed as her focus shifted to the wardrobe and found the strips of silk that somehow formed a nightgown. “Is this seriously what I have to wear to sleep? I’m not wearing this.” She held it up to Keyain.
Red flushed his cheeks as he laughed. “The Queen sure likes to play her games. It looks like she wanted a pleasurable reunion for us.”
“Do you find this is funny?” Marietta crossed her arms, brows furrowed together.
Keyain stifled his laugh. “No. No, of course not. I want you to be comfortable, but I promise to not stare at you if you wear them,” he paused before adding, “even if I did, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“That doesn’t mean I want you to see it now!” She twisted away, her tone sharp. “Can you please have someone bring something more suitable to wear?”
“I would,” he said, his voice getting farther as he stepped from the closet, “but if Queen Valeriya planned this, then she’ll know you requested new clothes. I don’t want to give her any reason to doubt our marriage.”
Marietta placed her fingers between her brows. The nightgowns weren’t an option, no matter if Keyain had seen her naked. As if he hadn’t taken enough away, he had this power over her as well.
She balled up the silk and threw it into the wardrobe, frustrated as she looked around the closet.
There had to be something else—something for her to leverage power over Keyain, to even the dynamic between them.
She glanced at his wardrobe. If she couldn’t ask Keyain for what she wanted, perhaps she could take it from him. A smile curled onto her lips.
Marietta stepped from the closet wearing one of his tunics that hit her mid-thigh. “Aren’t you going to ask if you can take my clothing?” he asked with a lazy look on his face as he lounged on the bed.
She placed a hand on her chest, her expression mocking. “We’re husband and wife now. What’s mine is yours,” she said, walking towards the bathroom. Marietta paused in the doorway, glancing back at him. “And what’s yours will be mine.”
A threat, if anything. Keyain could try to trap her in this suite, could try to control everything she said or did, but she wouldn’t make it easy. No, Marietta would bleed him dry—for the life she had lost and for the life she had yet to live.