“No, but—”
He paused, and part me wanted to retort, but what? That it is the reality of my life and position, and I should just accept it?
But there were footsteps approaching, a heavy sound that spoke of a man rather than a woman, and it snatched away the moment. Such bitterness shouldn’t be aired at a celebration or place like this, anyway. So, as ever, I tried to pretend there was nothing wrong, that it wasn’t there deep inside, eating away at me like a canker.
Trey smiled and leaned forward, lightly brushing his lips across my bare cheek. Surprise rippled through me, but before I could react in any way, he whispered, “And so it begins.”
Someone cleared his voice behind us. Trey turned and studied the rotund figure in the sand-colored robes for a few seconds before saying, in a rather dismissive tone, “Lord V, how may I help you?”
I frowned, running rapidly through all the colors of the houses, and the names of everyone I’d been introduced to. Trey had filled me in on their backgrounds after each introduction and this man had certainly been one of them—I remembered his rather odd mask, which was more an ornate helmet with eye shields. After a moment, I placed him—Lord Vaseye, from the non-ruling earth house Myrl.
Vaseye cleared his throat again, looking very ill at ease with Trey’s coolness. “I wonder if I might speak to you privately for a minute or two?”
“Is it of great importance?” Trey asked. “Because I’m rather delightfully occupied right now.”
Vaseye’s gaze flicked to me—or rather, to the breast the dropped shoulder of my dress was barely covering—and his cheeks grew even redder. I hadn’t thought that possible.
“I believe it to be so, yes.”
“Then I will come. Sorry, my sweet.” Trey turned back to me and leaned in, as if to kiss. And indeed, his warm lips did brush my cheek, but only because he murmured, “Meet back here at three. We can retire and compare notes.”
“Don’t be one second late,” I murmured in return. “Or the knife that sleeps in my bag might just find a home in your heart.”
He laughed, a rich sound that drew more than a little attention. “Warning heeded.”
He stepped back, gave me a bow, and then walked away with Vaseye. I resisted the urge to gulp down the rest of my wine and wandered out of our nook, ignoring those in my immediate vicinity who sought to catch my eye as I walked around the edge of the vast room and studied the crowd.
This masque was not, in any way, what I had expected. Yes, there was some flirting, some caressing, even the odd stolen kiss or two, but it was not the alcohol-and sex-fueled indulgence that most of us in the outer bailey had believed it to be. Maybe that would come after the equinox, when all the maneuvering and alliances had finished for another year, but right now, it was positively restrained. Hell, the watch parties would shock more than a few highbrow sensibilities if Vaseye’s reaction to a barely covered nipple were anything to go by.
There were plenty of shadowed nooks inset into the white walls around this vast room, as well as more brightly lit seating areas. Most of the former were surprisingly unoccupied—although given the restraint in the room, maybe that wasn’t such a surprise. The latter were filled with serious-faced men or older women whose bodies were adorned with all manner of bright jewels, chains, and bracelets, and who chatted animatedly as they cooled themselves with ornate fans.
The bright silver bracelets two of those women wore looked from a distance to be very similar to Saska’s, but there was something about the countenance of the older woman that made me wary about approaching her.
Music started up from somewhere ahead. It was a lovely, sprightly tune, one I recognized and had often danced to. As I moved toward the sound, a blue-clad figure stepped firmly into my path and forced me to stop.
He bowed with something of a flourish, his gaze sweeping my length before it rose to linger a little longer than was polite on my breasts. I gently cleared my throat and his gaze jumped to my face, a slight tinge of pink touching his cheeks.
“Lady N,” he said, “may I have the honor of this dance?”
I hesitated, studying him over my now empty wineglass, desperately trying to remember his name. He was wearing blue, so that meant Rossi allegiance. After another moment, it came to me—Tavish. He just happened to be the youngest brother of Saska’s husband, Marcus, and could be an excellent source of information.
Tease, the wind said. Leave him with heated dreams and desires so that he might be more pliable on the morrow.
The wind, it seemed, was feeling rather wicked this night. And she was also speaking to me far more clearly than she ever had before. In fact, her whisperings were so clear she could have almost been another woman standing beside me. Was it this place? We were in the Rossi stronghold, after all, so her strength and power would likely be infused into the very walls.
“Alas, Lord T, I have promised my first dance of the night to my Lord T. And he, rather annoyingly, has currently disappeared.” As his face fell, I stepped closer and brushed the rim of my glass across his chest. “I would, however, be very appreciative of another glass of that delightful red.”
He bowed, took my glass, and hurried off. I couldn’t help but wonder how old he was—for a surety, he was not only a lot younger than me, but also a whole lot more innocent. He came back within minutes and handed me a full glass of wine with another flourish. I smiled and raised my glass to him. “Good deeds never go unnoted. Perhaps we can talk more on the matter tomorrow night?”
“That,” he said, with a gleam of anticipation in his eyes, “would be most welcome.”
“A date then.” I clicked my glass against his. “Tell me, how goes the lady S? Has she recovered from her trials in the desert?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know, as she keeps mostly to her suite.”
“But I’d expect her lord was glad to see her returned?”
“One would expect that, yes.” He glanced past me, and his face went pale. He bowed. “I mustn’t delay you any longer, Lady N. Until tomorrow night, then.”
He spun and hurried off. Someone had obviously scared him off, but who?
I turned, and the reason for Tavish’s sudden departure became crystal clear. I certainly would have done the same, had our positions been reversed.
Because the man who strolled toward me with dark nonchalance was none other than Lord Kiro himself.
5
He was, once again, dressed from head to toe in black, a color that suited the dark caress of his energy. His silvery hair and eyes glimmered like ice in the brightness of the room, and his mouth—oddly lush and eternally kissable—was painted black to match his rather devilish mask.
I blinked at the direction of those thoughts, and thrust them firmly from my mind. Part of this man’s personal magic was that of enticement and seduction, and knowing that placed the power of it in my hands more than his.
So I held my ground and took a sip of the wine, watching him approach with what I hoped was an expression of disinterest.
He stopped and bowed politely. His energy was a darkly seductive wave that had pinpricks of heat skittering across my skin. While I couldn’t control the reactions of my body, I gave it little heed, and simply did the required curtsey.
“Lord K, what a pleasure to see you again.”
“Indeed, Lady N. You are looking much more—” He paused, his gaze scanning me, a leisurely caress that felt so real it stirred desire and made me ache. When his eyes finally returned to mine, they burned with heat. But whether that was real, or merely part of his power and whatever he was trying to pull from me, I couldn’t say. He smiled. “—delectable in that outfit.”
“My Lord T has very good taste in dresses, it seems.”