Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
We paused outside the dining hall so I could roll the tension out of my neck.
I could feel Serin’s gaze on me. Looking down, I saw something needy in her face. It was a distant cousin of the look I’d seen up in my study when she’d been aching for touch but not sure what she was seeking. Once again, she didn’t know what she needed but was asking for it.
I couldn’t give her a pep talk.
Couldn’t offer her reassurances.
There was too much staff shuffling around.
So I offered her my arm. Then, when she wasn’t sure what to do with that, pulled hers through mine and squeezed her hand around my arm.
Given permission to touch me, she clung, fingers going white with the pressure.
Then I nodded toward Vishen, who pulled the doors open. We’d left Nira upstairs to set up a meeting with the seamstress and keep eagle-sharp eyes on the staff as they came into the room to clean and change the bedding while we were at dinner.
Beside me, Serin stiffened all the more as we moved into the expansive dining space that was dominated by a table that easily seated a hundred.
A hearth sat toward one end of the room. Heavy black drapes hung on the window. Candlelight flickered from sconces on the walls and in candelabras down the entire length of the table.
Three places were set down near the hearth.
My father’s seat was at the head.
To his right side were seats for myself and my wife.
His guards lined an entire wall, their greedy gazes moving over Serin as we passed. I glared at them until their eyes went to their shoes.
Vishen moved with us, standing against the wall directly behind our seats after helping Serin with her chair.
“Father,” I greeted him as I moved to sit.
Cass had changed a lot over the past two years. He’d been a youthful-looking man before his hatred and evil started to eat away at his brain. His unlined face now had deeply dug craters, making him look much older than he was. His eyes had sunken into the lines around them. His skin had gone from clear to ruddy. And his constant pacing seemed to burn some weight he didn’t need to lose, giving him a somewhat skeletal look.
He looked like he’d aged fifty years in two.
“Why is this the first time I’ve seen your lovely wife?”
Oh, so he was in his charm mode.
That would be easier for Serin to tolerate, even if I knew it meant he was at his sharpest. And therefore most dangerous.
“She has been getting to know her new home and duties,” I said, reaching for the wine when he put the bottle down and pouring some for Serin and myself.
The food and drink should be safe, since no one was going to risk poisoning the king by accident—at least not until Grimwood and his friends were ready to make a move against him.
“Ah, yes, a wife’s duties,” he said with a smirk as he lifted his glass for a sip. “The only pleasant part of marriage.”
Not for the first time, my mind went to my poor mother. I hadn’t known her well, but what I did remember was a deep, almost bottomless sadness that made it impossible for her to show me any kind of joy or love.
Then one day… she was gone.
Maybe away to one of the work camps, or some dungeon somewhere. Or, perhaps, Cass had committed the ultimate crime—stripping her of her immortal life.
I shook those thoughts away and refocused on my father.
“It is a perk,” I agreed.
“And how have you been enjoying married life?” he asked, looking past me at a wide-eyed Serin.
Under the table, I squeezed her thigh as I reached for my wine.
“She doesn’t speak.”
At that, Cass’s brows rose.
“At all?”
“At all. I guess that didn’t come up when you were vetting for a wife for me.”
“It did not.” His jaw tightened, and I could practically hear his gears turning; could imagine his thoughts going to anger and treachery.
“I don’t know,” I said, taking a sip then shooting him a smirk. “I think a silent wife has its perks. I don’t have to listen to any bitching and nagging.”
My father’s lips curved too. If there was one thing he could get behind, it was subjugating someone—anyone—else.
“That’s true. All these women do is talk in circles around you.” He zeroed in on Serin again, studying her. “Was she mute from birth?”
“And how would I gather that information when she can’t speak?” I asked.
“Does she have her tongue?”
“She does.”
“Hm. Is she simple?”
“I suppose. Doesn’t seem to have any thoughts of her own. Just does as she’s told.”
“The perfect wife then,” Cass said, toasting me with his glass.
I gave Serin’s thigh another squeeze, hoping she understood that I didn’t mean what I said.
“Is she healthy?” he asked. “She seems a bit thin.”