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Chapter Sixteen

V eric kindly walked me back to my room at the end of the evening.

He animatedly pointed out his favorite aspects of the palace’s architecture as we walked.

He truly came alive while talking about Tenebris, his passion awe-inspiring but also somewhat disheartening.

It had only taken a single night in his presence to see how painfully clear it was that he was going to miss this place terribly.

And I felt downright awful that I was the reason he was being dragged away.

After bidding him goodnight, I lost myself in my thoughts as I sat in front of the mirror, combing out my hair.

There had to be a way to ensure some semblance of his happiness in Athenia.

Surely, I could use my funds to redecorate Hyrax Estate.

While I couldn’t rebuild the manor in Tenebrisian style, I should be able to add brightly colored textiles and pillows like those common here.

We could even hire a chef familiar with Tenebrisian cuisine.

Perhaps I could find a temporary cure for my sea sickness, allowing us to return to Tenebris regularly.

We could build a home here to visit when the air got cold in Athenia.

Veric had been nothing like I’d expected, and I couldn’t help feeling disappointed in myself for not considering him more deeply before tonight.

I had been so consumed by my hatred for this arrangement that I hadn’t stopped to think about the fact that he, too, was being forced to marry a stranger.

And if that wasn’t difficult enough, he was also being uprooted from his home, his family, and the culture he so clearly adored to spend the rest of his life in Athenia—with me.

This arrangement wasn’t just hurting me.

If there was a way to make this easier for Veric, I would find it—for him and for both of us. And maybe, just maybe, after enough time, I could grow out of the burning want that consumed me every time I met Clay’s eyes and learn to show a fraction of that affection to Veric.

I wasn’t expecting any more company that evening, so the gentle knock at my door startled me. Jumping from my seat, I clutched my chest. Tentatively, I called my magic to my fingertips, and grasped the dagger in my hand as I approached the door, relaxing only when a familiar voice called my name.

“Thea, let me in.”

I pulled open the door quickly, glancing at him in confusion.

Clay was alone, leaning against the doorframe with heavy-lidded eyes and a lopsided smirk. His disheveled hair dangled slightly in front of his eyes, and I felt an overwhelming urge to brush it back even as he chuckled at the dagger in my hand.

“Are you going to stab me?

“What do you want?” I asked with exasperation, pulling my rust-colored robe tighter around me.

His grin widened, more playful than usual, as he held up a bottle of wine like an offering. “I want help finishing this.”

Gods. That was the cause of the playfulness and the mischevious smirks. He was drunk.

I frowned. “It’s a bit late for a visit, don’t you think?”

His head tilted to the side and he pulled his lower lip across his teeth. “No one has to know.”

“It’s improper. ”

“So what?”

Who was this man and what had he done to the Clayton Vail from last year who had insisted on decorum at all costs?

This was a terrible idea. Allowing Clay into my room, drunk, alone, in the middle of the night was a terrible idea. There was no way I could let this happen.

“I’m still angry at you!” My voice raised an octave as I struggled to find an excuse to turn him away, and I wondered if he could hear it for the lie it was.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m offering to split the finest wine in this kingdom as an olive branch.”

“Well, what would your fiancé think of that?” I shot back.

He groaned, holding a hand to his chest as he rocked back on his heels, but his smile didn’t falter. “Trust me,” he said, “she’ll be thrilled to hear about this.”

That… was intriguing.

And I was definitely running out of excuses to stop myself from grabbing his shirt and pulling him inside. Want for him coiled in my stomach as I stared at him, at the line of his jaw and the fullness of his lips and the effortless confidence of his stance…

No.

Clay wasn’t exactly sober and one of us had to be responsible. Getting drunk with him was not responsible.

His expression turned serious for a moment, his gaze trailing to where my hand rested on the door. “He’s going to chain you tomorrow.”

I froze, the words hanging ominously between us. That couldn’t possibly mean what it sounded like… could it?

“It’s a tradition of House Zion,” Clay explained, stepping forward so suddenly that I stumbled back.

“Instead of the typical marriage bracelets, we use the Chains of Zion. They’re forged by Dragonfire.

During the ceremony, the magic hardens them, making them unbreakable until one spouse leaves this realm. ”

I thought of the bracelets I’d seen the Queen of Athenia wearing. I had, of course, known they were symbolic of her marriage to the Dragon, but I hadn’t realized they were so permanent .

“It’s meant to symbolize the strength of the union,” Clay continued, his voice quieter, “in honor of Zion’s unbreakable love for his wife Isidore.

Tomorrow, at the engagement celebration, when you accept his proposal, Veric will chain your left wrist. At the wedding, he will chain your right wrist. Those chains will stay there for the rest of your life. ”

A coldness settled over me as Clay’s eyes grew distant, focused entirely on my hand.

“Why are you telling me this?” I whispered.

He chuckled, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you want to know what to expect?”

We both knew that wasn’t why he was here. It wasn’t why he’d shown up at my door with a bottle of wine. It wasn’t why he’d moved his room to the hall where I was staying. It wasn’t why he’d insisted on coming on this trip in the first place.

He sighed, sensing my frustration. “I’m telling you this because tonight is the last night you’ll be just Thea.

Here, in Tenebris, you’re not a Councilwoman.

No one cares if I come into your room or if we stay up all night talking.

But tomorrow? Once that chain is on your wrist, you’ll be Veric’s fiancé.

Everything will change. So I’m asking you to spend one night with me before that happens. Nothing more, nothing less.”

I wanted to remind him that while Veric’s chain wasn’t on my wrist yet, his was most certainly on Elaina’s. We weren’t just Thea and Clay. We couldn’t be .

But I couldn’t move past the looming dread his words had inspired. He was right. Tomorrow, once that chain was on my wrist, there would be no going back. Everything would change.

Well, fuck. I supposed I deserved a night off from being responsible.

Reaching out, I took the wine bottle from his hand. I held his gaze as I brought it to my lips and drank deeply. His smile grew, and I stepped aside to allow him to walk into my room.

T enebrisian wine must have been far stronger than anything back home, because a single glass had my head spinning.

Admittedly, there was something… nice about just sitting and laughing with Clay.

He was still so shockingly relaxed here.

I savored every moment I got to see him like this, comfortable and happy.

Lounging back on the on the floor, leaning against the couch with an elbow propped on his knee, he smiled softly as he recounted a story about some mischief he and Iris had gotten into as children.

His gray eyes sparkled as he stared up at the ceiling, his expression distant yet content.

“Play a game with me,” he said suddenly, his gaze snapping to mine.

I took another deep drink from the bottle, eyeing him warily. “What kind of game?”

A game felt…risky.

Perhaps it felt that way because we were alone in my bedroom, me curled in a blanket on the foot of my bed and him only a few feet away.

Perhaps it was the glint in his eyes. Or perhaps it was the heat lingering between us ever since we had danced together despite both of us being engaged to others.

His face lit up with a genuine smile, the kind so rare it left me momentarily stunned.

I could probably count on one hand the number of times I’d seen him smile like that and I remembered them all because they had all amazed me with their utter beauty.

The fact that my mere willingness to humor him had earned it made my chest tighten.

I would play any game he asked to see that smile again.

“I’ll ask you a question,” he explained. “And you answer truthfully.”

My stomach sank and faces flashed in my mind—Hyrax’s and Caldrius’. This was indeed a risky game for someone with as many secrets as I had.

“And the fun of this game?” I teased, narrowing my eyes.

“We take turns.”

I should say no.

But then again, I hadn’t ever been very good at saying no to him.

Curling my feet beneath me, I sat up and tossed my hair back over my shoulders, catching the way his gaze followed the strands. “Fine. You start.”

He didn’t hesitate. “What’s your favorite food?”

Of all the questions he could have asked, that was not one I’d expected. It was hardly prying or invasive. Wasn’t the point of this game to dig for truths?

“That’syour question?” I asked, incredulous.

He shrugged. “I don’t know the answer, and I want to.”

I eyed him suspiciously, but answered. “The little chocolate tarts from the kitchens that are usually reserved for your father.”

His eyes widened. Those tarts were infamously the Dragon’s favorite dessert, and he’d made it clear they were to be prepared only for him.

Those tarts were guarded like they were the finest jewels in the kingdom.

Except the kitchen boy had a crush on Nessira and would give her the shirt off his back if she asked for it .

“How do you manage to get them? I can’t even get my hands on those!”

I grinned triumphantly. “That’s another question.”