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“No, I’m afraid not. I’ll have you know that I asked the blacksmith to make it so that I can remove it myself if the situation calls for it. Alright, it requires ... a ... little ... effort ... but ... voila! I can do it.”

He exhaled a genuine sigh of contentment.

“Don’t wait for me, go first,” suggested Dovah, as magnanimous and good-humoured as ever.

I gladly obliged. It was a delight. The coolness of the water against my hot, clammy skin made me feel alive again. Like a phoenix reborn. I advanced forward until the surface of the small lake was level with my shoulders; I still had a small margin of safety left.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of water and discovered that Dovah was no longer on shore. Had he joined me? When I saw his head pop up beside me, I got my answer.

He smiled broadly at me, then pushed his hair back with a wave of his hand. There was something mesmerizing about seeing his wet hair and watching the water make his face shine under the pale moonlight.

“Aren’t you better off here than under your woollen cape?” he asked me with a mischievous look.

“Certainly,” I agreed.

For a moment, we were content to watch each other, with only the gentle melody of the lapping water in the background.

“What were you doing in the outer hall at this hour?”

I studied him for a moment.

“You don’t think I was looking for you?”

He raised an eyebrow. So, that was it.

“It’s the truth,” I assured him. “This isn’t the first time you’ve gone out at night only to come back at dawn with blood on your clothes. It’s enough to make you wonder, as a wife, don’t you think?”

He smiles at me. An undeniably seductive smile.

“I’m touched that you’re worried about me.”

“I’m not worried about you.”

“Oh?”

“If you return home in one piece, it means that it’s the state of your opponents that is worrying.”

Dovah gave a masculine laugh. Very manly. I wondered if he was trying to seduce me.

“I confess. So?”

“So, I’m curious. You’ve got me terribly curious. About you.”

“Terribly?” he repeated, approaching surreptitiously.

I nodded and let him do so, but I remained on my guard.

“Yes, you are. And you’re a little scary, too.”

“Ah, that ...”

“I notice that you do not deny it.”

“It’s hard to argue with that.”

“And you’re getting awfully close to me.”

“That, too, is hard to refute.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m terribly attracted to you.”

With that, he disappeared under the water.

“Dovah!” I cried.

I scanned the surface, but there was not the slightest clue as to his position. Suddenly, I felt his hands grab me by the waist and lift me out of the water. My eyes widened in surprise and panic.

“What are you doing?!”

He smiles again.

“Can’t you tell? I thought it was clear: I’m catching you.”

“Can you let go of me now?”

He pretended to think.

“I don’t know.”

But Dovah finally let me go with great delicacy, slowly lowering and sliding me against him. Upon reflection, there was something indecent about feeling his naked body through the thin, soaked fabric of my dress. In fact, it was as if we were both devoid of clothes ...

I jumped back.

“I think I’ve refreshed myself enough. Shall we go back to our room?”

Dovah studied me silently for a long time. He looked like a powerful predator gauging the quality of his prey.

“Do I scare you that much?” he finally asks.

I opted for frankness. I sincerely wanted honesty to be the basis of our relationship as a married couple.

“In more ways than one, in fact. There’s something elusive about you that seems dangerous. Until I really know what it is, it’ll be difficult for me to feel completely comfortable in your presence. And then, you know, I’m not used to being, uh, so intimate with a man.”

“I think I understood that detail. But ...”

Dovah scratched his throat thoughtfully, and I did everything in my power not to let my gaze wander over his sculpted torso.

“ ... you’re attracted to me, aren’t you?”

I held back a groan of shame. Yes, indeed, he had extracted this confession from me in the bedroom, before Nadrisse interrupted us.

“Would you like me to repeat myself to satisfy your ego?”

In response, he smiled widely.

“Yes.”

His honesty was sometimes disarming.

“Not out of ego, but because the possibility that I please you delights me,” he corrected nonetheless, without breaking his smile.

The rest of the night passed peacefully, even if sleeping with the feeling of him near was an exercise I’d had little practice in.

A curious surprise awaited me when I awoke.

Or rather, three. The first was the absence of Dovah.

The second was double. Two women, to be precise, smiling at me from the foot of my bed.

One was a tall, curvaceous brunette whose long hair was braided into two plaits, and whose eyes were black, while the second, more slender, had light-brown hair curled to her shoulders. The latter’s eyes were brown, tending slightly towards pale green, and shone with a friendly glow.

One detail about them jumped out at me: they were both dressed in the fashion of Muvarian servants, wearing a white linen tunic and sleeveless surcoat with side lacing, blue for the brunette, green for the curly-haired one.

“My name is Luanda, and this is Marione. Lord Dovah has asked us to be at your service, Lady Ashana. He even sent the Isamane’s attendants away. We’re here to help you,” she added.

I straightened up and smiled back at them. Inwardly, I frowned. Did Dovah have any idea why I hadn’t brought any Muvarian attendants with me?

“Pleased to meet you, Luanda, Marione.”

I cleared my throat reflexively. It was sometimes a sign of nervousness for me.

“Ahem. I see you are wearing Muvarian clothing. Although I’m very touched by your gesture, I wonder if it won’t be hard for you, given the lack of habit.”

The woman whose name was Luanda smiled, this time with genuine sincerity.

“It’s Lord Dovah’s idea. Above all, he wants you to feel comfortable.

He knows it’s not going to be easy for you to integrate into the Osacan court, so you have a choice.

If you prefer to wear Muvarian clothes, we will do the same.

He even told us to give you this message: ‘My lady, here are your allies. Count on them as you count on me. They will be a great help to you.’”

Marione took a step forward, then did an awkward curtsy that I found adorable.

“He’s waiting for you on the training ground. After you’ve had breakfast, of course, Lady Ashana,” she added, blushing.

The two women exchanged embarrassed glances.

“We are laundresses,” continued Luanda. “I hope you’ll excuse our lack of manners. Marione and I don’t know much about etiquette. To tell the truth, Lord Dovah saved us from a terrible situation last night, and being in your service saves our lives. So ... thank you.”

Both bowed deferentially. I began to understand and felt a surge of admiration tinged with affection for my husband and his charitable, humane gesture, even if I could not help wondering what he’d saved them from. Or from whom. I felt my smile warm, then widen.

“Very well! I am happy to be no longer alone in this castle, and I’d like to thank you for taking care of me. But first, let me explain what your tasks entail.”

While Marione served me my breakfast, consisting of an omelette with a very strong-tasting herb, bread, dried meat, and dried fruit, I explained to them what the position of chambermaid and lady-in-waiting entailed.

They listened to me religiously, then asked me timely questions, before becoming interested in my homeland, its customs, and especially its religion, which was very different from the worship of the Dark Gods.

Once I was ready—I was not yet comfortable enough with Osacanian fashion to dare adorn myself again in all those transparent sheers—I felt a pang of guilt for Luanda and Marione, who found themselves engulfed in Muvarian dresses.

However, with great kindness—which touched me all the more—they assured me that it did not bother them, and that on the contrary, it had a taste of exoticism in their eyes.

Under the intrigued gaze of a few members of Nadrisse and Elendur’s court, as well as the royal guard present, the three of us made our way to the famous training ground where Dovah had requested me.

The latter was located slightly outside the castle courtyard and was accessed via a narrow, roofless corridor whose walls were so high that I felt a kind of vertigo contemplating them from the ground.

I quickly spotted my husband. He wore no armour and was fighting with swords against three soldiers, two of whom I recognized immediately, as they had accompanied us on the journey to Osacan.

When he caught sight of me, he immediately stopped, and smiled contentedly as he discovered the two young servants at my side.

“My wife!” he exclaimed loudly.

I took it upon myself not to blush. Would I ever get used to the title of wife to this man? I really hoped so, even if I didn’t have a tenth of his charisma.

At once, a score of men turned their heads simultaneously in my direction—which was the intended purpose, I suppose, of such a maneuver on Dovah’s part. I paid attention to my posture, standing up straight to appear confident.

For some strange reason, I didn’t want to shame him in any way.

Since childhood, I had quickly written off the idea of marriage.

We lived in a world where a woman’s room for maneuvering was extremely limited, and even more so if she didn’t marry.

I came to understand that without a husband, women were nothing.

And in my mind, because of the demonic colour of my hair, I would end my days differently from my sisters.

My father, then touched by my anguish, proposed that I unofficially assist him in the management of our country.

So, I hadn’t really paid much attention to my mother’s teachings to my sisters about the duties of a future wife, instead eager to assimilate everything I could learn in areas such as justice or finance.

I suddenly realized that my mother and sisters, too, hadn’t imagined such a turn of events for me either. Should I be happy about it, or sad?

Alas, I didn’t have the answer to that question.

Dovah approached me with a feline gait, supple, full of confidence.

All the women—myself included—were unanimous on this point: he was a very handsome man, if not the most handsome I’d seen so far.

Dressed entirely in black, as usual, a colour that accentuated his dark aura, he embodied the virile and mysterious male in all his splendour.

“My lady, did you sleep well?” he inquired.

He’d asked in a neutral tone, but a moment in his obsidian gaze told me he genuinely wanted to know.

“Like a dormouse, I thank you. Our night swim did me a lot of good.”

From the way he smiled, I thought I’d said something strange, even though I had been careful not to let him know that his presence beside me in bed troubled me greatly.

“I’m glad. Come over here, I have a gift for you.”

A gift? I thought with surprise. I approached, suddenly curious. He motioned to one of his men, Cyrian. Cyrian handed him a protected object wrapped in a piece of tanned leather, which Dovah carefully removed.

It was a dagger. A magnificent silver dagger.

The hilt was shaped like a dragon, its long, curved neck ending with its head, mouth open.

The guard was formed by its outstretched wings.

The sheath protecting the blade consisted of the dragon’s tail, which seemed to curl up to the tip. It was a stunning object.

“It’s a dagger to match my sword,” announced Dovah in his deep, almost velvety voice.

With the tip of my finger, I brushed against the sublime sheath. I shuddered, then looked up to discover Dovah staring at me with heightened attention.

“Her name is Cinder, and she’s now your weapon.”

Without thinking, I accepted his gift with both hands, my eyes plunged into those of my husband. He murmured a few words in the unfamiliar language Paivrin had used to unite us, and for a brief moment, his eyes glowed. Red, reptilian eyes, split by vertical pupils.

I shook my head mechanically. An illusion? Magic again? Perhaps not. Who was my husband really? This last question made my heart beat faster. He continued:

“As we’ve already discussed it and you seemed to agree, if you still wish, I can teach you dagger fighting.”

“Yes, I want to learn, Dovah!”

The answer flew from my lips without my having to think about it. And I felt it, perhaps truly for the first time, the desire to become stronger.