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She checked her appearance in the ht, her cheeks pinkened She felt a tinge of regret to see that his clai et the hot water fixed?” She’d turned the single lever all the way right, but the water never approached warm
“In the Territories, there is no hot water for showers,” he called back
To herself, she, “This isn’t right—I didn’t join the arainst the doorith a barely checked grin “We Vrekeners find cold water’s good for the ood forsex”
His eyes flickered “I’ll wared, Lanthe was a cold-water convert Now she was grinning like a boss
After she dried off, she reached for her clothes fro the mask
The beauty of ed on her skirt
“Shall I find you soain
She studied his face “You can, but I won’t wear theh the Victorian age; out of necessity, she’d learned how to transforown into a proper sleeveless ive directions for someone else to “I’ll feel more comfortable in my own clothes”
He parted his lips, hesitated, then said, “Very well”
Good ain “I feared ere about to have our first ht” She slipped on her top As far as Sorceri clothing went, the outfit wasn’t even that provocative Her hemline als would be exposed
“I kno much you compromised to come here with me,” he said “I want to meet you halfway Besides, if you scream at me, it should only be because you’re about to erupt/explode/die with ecstasy”
“In other words, later today?” She reached forward to cup hi how he rocked on his toes to her hand
When he groaned, she released hiauntlets, then did a quick job braiding her hair Thronos watched her every uised fascination
“Grabto lace it over her head “I kickyou this sooner”
“Well, ere a ons and demons and pests and all I treasure it as if you presented it to me—since you put your life at risk to retrieve it Even if it weren’t silisk gold, it would always be e, do they not?”
She whirled around “Yes, I want a ring! A gold one, with extra gold”
His lips curled “When , who arin, she slipped on her et this over with”
He offered his hand; she proudly took it
The reeted the just outside Tall and broad-shouldered, with a rangy build like Thronos’s, he had olive-green eyes and sandy brown hair tied in a queue
Lanthe stiffened when she saw his silvered talons A knight She wondered how s, Jasen!” Thronos said “I didn’t think anyone knee’d arrived”
Lanthe frowned at Jasen’s reaction to Thronos; the male’s pensive expression had turned to one of abject relief, the way one ht—or a rabid ani theher deference “Jasen, this is Princess Melanthe, my bride”
“Youyou have her”
Lanthe didn’t offer her hand Because it was gli blue behind her back
After a moment, Jasen appeared to shake away his shock at this develophts have asse Will you attend?”
“Is e, I’m afraid he’s not”
Thronos was calm and cool on the outside, but now that she knew hihter, which meant his face was tense
—I’ settled with Aristo—
—Gods only knohat he’s up to out in the worlds— To Jasen, he said, “Melanthe and I will attend” Hand in hand, they followed the knight down the steps to the sandy vale —In this assembly, I will not tolerate disrespect to you Remember that you are their princess—
Talk about a trial by fire! She drew her sorcery close —I don’t think it’s a good idea foris about lanced at the poirling around her —You can take care of yourself Just try not to hurt anybody—
—Ha—
—You know I’d slay them all before I let them touch a hair on your head—
On the hills above them, Vrekeners stopped their daily routines to stare down at her
What would Sabine do in this situation? Her sister would put her shoulders back and never let anyone forget she was a noble daughter of the Sorceri Lanthe would do no less To those who stared the al air
Of course, she could understand their interest Her garments must shock them, plus she had sorcery around her Not to mention her one-of-a-kind, priceless necklace She defied any female not to secretly pine for it
The Vrekener males all hite lawn shirts and leather breeches Each fe only her face and hands Their wings were pinned so tightly, one would think the Vrekeners were embarrassed by the sex
They were the anti-Sorceri
But then, Thronos had once been too—before she’d gotten ahold of him These Vrekeners had no idea that Hurricane Lanthe had just made landfall in the Skye —Are Vrekeners always so soht someone had ensorcelled their land with misery
To be fair, she would’ve expected shrieks as mothers shoved their kids back into their weird roofless houses But the people were steady and unflinching
Uns
—Not usually this tense I’ on—