Did he also know what happened to her ears? Or maybe even how she got to Matherin in the first place? A nasty sensation coiled in the pit of her stomach that felt an awful lot like betrayal.
What did it matter where she came from? She was a nobody, and she’d always be a nobody. Nothing was going to change that.
Reaching up to touch her ear again, she shuddered as she remembered how the stranger’s touch had felt. He’d been nothing but searing hits and hard edges while they’d fought, but the glide of his fingertips over her ear had been hesitant and gentle.
She dropped her hand and shook the thoughts away as she tossed the dagger to the other side of the bed. Curling up on her side, she silently begged sleep to take her.
∞∞∞
Vera jolted awake to several loud knocks at her door. Heart beating rapidly in her chest, she’d never been more grateful to be awake. Her dreams had been full of horrors she couldn’t escape and a metallic tang lingered in her nose.
She rubbed her eyes, frustrated at the lack of restful sleep. Stress always brought forth nightmares, and she’d definitely fallen asleep ten feet deep in worries.
Pushing hair out of her face, she looked toward the window. She was surprised to see it was still dark out. She hadn’t expected Elric to fetch her so soon, knowing how her night had gone.
Another knock sounded, making her grumble. She sat up and grimaced, feeling like she’d been trampled by a fucking horse. She tried to push herself straight off the bed, but her muscles protested so much, she had to make do with pathetically rolling off. Part of her hoped they didn’t leave today after all, because riding Umber was going to be pure torture.
She only made it halfway to the door before the knocking came again. “I’m coming!”
She swore Elric lost more patience every year. It was irritating and certainly didn’t help her current mood. She continued muttering to herself as she unlocked the door.
Swinging it open with force, she put on her best glower. “Gods be damned, Elric, I can barely—”
She stopped suddenly when she came face to face with a gorgeous pair of brown eyes. Wide, completely startled, brown eyes.
“Fuck. No! Oh gods, that’s even worse. I’m so sorry, Trey, I thought you were Elric.” She covered her mouth with her hands, her stomach plummeting to the floor.
She had no idea what to say or do. They’d been friendly so far on the trip, but she also hadn’t spoken like a straight-up heathen before now. He was going to think her completely crazy.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and she felt all the blood drain from her body to puddle with her stomach at her feet when she realized he was no longer looking at her face, but at her body.
He wasn’t laughing or joking or even cringing at her vulgar greeting. He was only staring at her in disbelief as if his brain hadn’t quite caught up to his eyes. Even covered as it was, she could practically guarantee his mouth was hanging open.
She lowered her hands and glanced down at herself. She’d never changed clothes last night. She’d simply rolled over and pleaded for sleep. And as she stood in her doorway battered and bruised, wearing a filthy tunic and trousers, in full view of one of the prince’s guards, she had a sudden feeling she’d officially hit rock bottom.
“Are you hurt?”
Wait. “What?” His question pulled her from her thoughts, and she forced her gaze up in time to see him roving his eyes over her face, brows drawn in concern.
“You’re bleeding.” He took a step toward her but paused before crossing the threshold of her room. “Tell me, are you hurt?”
Damn, she’d forgotten about the splattering of blood on her tunic from the male’s nose. “Oh no, the blood isn’t mine, it’s—” She froze. What in all Aleron was wrong with her? She’d been careful for fifteen years, and now all of a sudden she couldn’t seem to stop making one blundering mistake after another.
Clearing her throat, she stood straight and desperately tried to recover what little propriety she apparently didn’t actually have.
“I’m fine, Trey. Thank you for checking on me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I just woke up and need to get…changed. Is there something you needed?”
Speechless again, he continued staring at her, his mouth for sure hanging open beneath his mask. She might have laughed at his expression had the situation been literally anything else.
She’d almost closed the door when he finally stuttered, “We’re leaving within the hour. There’s been an urgent matter brought to his highness’s attention, and we must make haste back home.”
So Elric had already talked to him then. She sighed. Everything was spinning out of control, and she highly doubted it was going to end well for her.
Summoning her remaining pride, Vera forced her lips to say, “Thank you, I’ll be down in just a moment.”
Not giving him a chance to respond, she shut the door and leaned against it. Shit, there was no way Trey would let this go but speaking to him while dressed like this wouldn’t help her case.
It wasn’t like she could invite him into her room to speak anyway. She could only imagine Elric’s reaction to that. She just needed to get changed and downstairs as soon as possible and speak to him before he said something to Prince Eithan.
What could go wrong?
Chapter 9
VERA
Stepping off the stairs to the main floor, Vera shifted again uncomfortably. She had tied her dress as loosely as possible without being considered improper, but it still hugged her black and blue torso more than she’d prefer.
When she’d finally removed her tunic, she’d been less than pleased to find her body riddled with slightly swollen, dark bruises. She certainly wasn’t unaccustomed to them, but these were incredibly sensitive. The male had hit harder than Elric ever had.
By the luck of the gods, the largest marks were hidden beneath the fabrics of her dress, with just a few visible bruises on her arms and the thin cut on her throat.
Leaving her plait unpinned, she’d draped it over her shoulder to partially cover her neck, and then tucked her arms into her cloak. Thankfully, although she’d received several hits to the head, none had landed on her face.
She knew she needed to eat, but her stomach was already full of knots. Where was everyone? Maybe she should retreat upstairs to see if Elric was still in his room.
She’d just started turning back when she caught sight of a masked face standing by the front door. Trey. Noticing he’d caught her attention, he waved her over.
Taking a deep, soothing breath, she edged around the tables toward him. She could do this. It would be fine. Faster than she’d have liked, she reached him. There was the briefest flicker of uncertainty in his eyes before they crinkled in what she could only assume was a hidden smile.
“Right this way, Miss Vera. Everyone else is ready, but Lesta said to let you sleep as long as possible. He’s out preparing your mount.” He held the door open for her as if nothing abnormal had happened.