A Court This Cruel & Lovely (Kingdom of Lies, #1) (78)

My heart thundered, an entirely unwelcome awareness flooding my body. “I don’t wonder what you’d look like naked!”

“Ah, you wouldn’t need to wonder, would you? Because you watched me bathing at the inn, you wicked thing.”

My cheeks blazed. I thought back to the way he’d stretched, as if on display. Because he had been. This man was a predator at his core. Had I really thought he hadn’t felt my eyes on him?

This conversation had quickly slipped out of my control.

Lorian shifted closer to me, leaning down to sniff at my neck. I pulled my head back and planted my hands on my hips. “Whatever you’re doing here, stay out of my way.”

His expression turned serious. “Only if you restrain yourself from spying on me.”

“Fine.”

He stepped back, his eyes still intent in that strange way.

He cursed, and then he was kissing me. His lips caressed mine achingly slowly. As if I’d stopped time for us. Warmth traveled through my body, my limbs strangely languid. One of his hands slid to my ribs, right beneath my breast, and I wanted to arch my body, wanted to writhe until he was touching me higher.

He slowly lifted his head. His expression was cold, but his eyes…blazed. “Unless you want to end up in my bed, stay away from me.”

Of all the—

I shoved against his chest, and he took his time stepping back. “That will never happen,” I hissed, ignoring his low laugh. I stalked out of the room.

Tibris was waiting for me in the servants’ hall near my chambers.

“Is everything okay?”

I leaned close, keeping my voice to the barest whisper. “Lorian is here.”

His face twisted into a deep scowl. “The mercenary?” he whispered back. “Did you know about this?”

“Of course not. I don’t know what he’s up to. I swear.”

I could see Tibris mentally calculating what Lorian’s presence meant for our own plans.

“How did he get in here?”

“You’ll love this. He’s pretending to be the Gromalian prince.”

Tibris let out a choked laugh. When he realized I was serious, he sighed. “Stay away from him, Pris.”

“Oh, I will.”

“The dungeon guards are already drunk. It seems they took advantage of the distraction in the castle. We should go see Asinia now.”

Shame stabbed into my gut. I’d been busy kissing Lorian, while Asinia and Demos were waiting for us. “I need to get some food for her and Demos.”

He held up a sack. “The cook likes me.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“You look good, Pris. Royal.”

While I hated the thought of looking royal, it was exactly what we needed. “Thank Vicer for me. I need to check on Wila.” If she would even be willing to speak to me. “She’s the reason the plan worked.”

Tibris was right. Both guards were slumped against the wall, one of them with his eyes at half-mast. It was difficult to pull the thread of my magic to me today, maybe because my mind was circling through so much information. But I managed to pause time long enough for us to sneak past the guards and make our way down the stone steps.

After experiencing a royal dinner, the dungeon seemed even worse. The scent of excrement and hopelessness was heavy in the air.

“Setella,” a voice whispered, and I whirled. Wila was in one of the cells closest to the stairs. She had a black eye and a split lip.

“Go work on Asinia,” I told Tibris. His gaze flicked between Wila and me, and I just nodded at him. “It’s okay. Go.”

Fury burned through me as I knelt outside her cage.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“My real name is Prisca,” I whispered. It was the least I could give her.

Wila studied me. Her eyes were strangely clear, and she seemed older than her years. “Prisca. I like it. Vicer may not have told me who you were, but I figured it out. I hated you at first, you know.”

“I know.”

“I thought you were just another girl playing at being a rebel. We’ve been fighting back for years, and you thought you could stroll in here and change the world. It made me want to hit you.”

I smiled. “I can’t blame you.”

Wila smiled too. It must have hurt her lip. “But I was watching every move you made. You know, all this time, none of us ever tried to get that close to the queen?” She waved her hand over my new dress. “You’ve been here mere days, and today, we could have killed her if we’d wanted.”

“I wanted to.” It was terrifying how much I wanted to. I’d changed so much since I’d left my village, I barely recognized myself.

“I know. So did I. I would have listened to her screams and laughed and laughed.” Wila smirked. “But you’re thinking bigger. And that’s why I agreed to do this. Because you’re going to make them pay.”

Her confidence both strengthened and terrified me. Gods, I hoped I could be the person she thought I was.

“I will. How long did the queen say you have to stay down here?”

“I’m not getting out.”

“What?”

She just ran a hand over her face.

Fury blazed through me. “I’ll get you out of here with the others.”