The Maiden’s head moved then to where I stood. The nape of my neck prickled. Her clenched hands relaxed, the fingers straightening. I inclined my head, watching the pace of her breath quicken.
“As a member of the Maiden’s personal Royal Guard, it is likely that a situation may occur where you will see her unveiled.” The Duchess spoke, but her tone gave me pause. Her voice was always soft, but there was sympathy there now. “It can be distracting, seeing someone’s face for the first time, especially a Chosen, and that could interfere with your ability to protect her. That is why the gods allow this breach.”
My attention flew back to the Maiden, and my damn heart gave an unsteady skip. Holy shit, I was going to see her with no veil and without a mask.
“Commander Jansen, if you will please step outside,” the Duke asked.
Jansen nodded, quickly obeying the request. The eager look in the Duke’s eyes was now in his smile, and it struck me what he’d said the day before. How confident he’d been when he said that he wasn’t concerned about me having any sort of interest in the Maiden.
“You are about to bear witness to what only a select few have seen,” the Duke said, his gaze on her. “An unveiled Maiden.”
The Maiden’s hands trembled in her lap.
“Penellaphe, please reveal yourself,” the Duke requested, and his fucking smile had warning bells ringing.
Something was off.
She didn’t move for several seconds. No one did. My gaze flew to her companion. Tawny had closed her eyes, and when they reopened, I saw a faint sheen to them. I glanced at Vikter. He looked stoic as he stared down at her.
The Maiden still hadn’t moved.
“Penellaphe,” the Duke warned, and my hands fisted. “We do not have all day.”
“Give her a moment, Dorian.” The Duchess twisted to him. “You know why she hesitates. We have time.”
What in the actual fuck was going on here?
The lower half of her face turned pink, but that slightly pointed chin of hers lifted, jutting out stoically. She rose at the same time Tawny did. Her companion reached for the chains and clasps, but the Maiden got to them first.
My skin started to chill as I watched her yank the chains apart, her movements quick and jerky. The material loosened, then slipped. Tawny caught it, easing the veil off.
Then the entire right side of her face was revealed to me.
It was oval-shaped, cheekbones high and defined, the one eyebrow bold and naturally arched. There was that red hair I’d glimpsed at the Red Pearl, wrapped in some sort of complicated braided knot that looked like it took way too fucking long to create. With the veil gone and in the well-lit chamber, the strands gleamed with a deep, red-wine hue. Her profile was strong.
Beautiful.
One side of her lips tipped up as she stared at the Duke. Just a small bit, a faint smile, but my stomach clenched.
Tawny returned to her seat, holding the veil as the Maiden faced me.
Fully.
And I saw.
The entirety of her full mouth. The stubborn chin and sharp curve of her jaw. Her nose dipped at the bridge, and the tip was slightly upturned. Both brows carried that natural arch, framing clear green eyes.
That was where the similarities between the two sides of her face ended.
There was a lingering bruise from Jericho, one I doubted was noticeable to anyone else, but there was also a jagged streak of flesh, a pink a bit paler than her skin. It started below her hairline and sliced across her temple, coming damn close to her left eye, then ending at the side of her nose. A shorter, long-since-healed gouge cut across the left side of her forehead and her eyebrow, right through that arch. Again, so damn close to that emerald eye.
My gods, she was so damn lucky to have both of her eyes. But the pain the wounds that left those scars likely caused… It must have been unbearable. Especially those kind. Because I knew what had caused those scars. The Craven. I’d felt those claws dig into my body more times than I could count, but the only difference was that my flesh almost always healed. A mortal’s would not. But godsdamn. The inner strength she must have to survive such an attack was inconceivable.
The Maiden had strength. An inner kind of resiliency that many didn’t have. She was also…fuck me. She was beautiful.
And those two things felt like a problem. A big one.
Pink crept over her cheeks as I continued staring at her. Her lower lip trembled before she pressed both together. Our eyes locked. Her gaze was unflinching, and there was no ignoring her obvious discomfort. I didn’t get it. She was lovely, and those scars didn’t detract from that. Fuck, they actually added to her features, but…
But she lived in the world of the Ascended.
One where flawless beauty was coveted and worshiped. A world where some would only see those flaws, but not all. Not even every Ascended would see nothing but those scars. But those who did…
Suddenly, I understood why the Duke had said what he did about my interest in the Maiden. I figured out that fucking nasty eagerness in his stare and smile because he, too, saw how uncomfortable she was. Everyone in the damn chamber did. But he reveled in it.
“She’s truly unique,” Duke Teerman said pleasantly. “Isn’t she? Half of her face is a masterpiece,” he went on, drawing a tremor from her. “The other half a nightmare.”
For a moment, I no longer saw her, even though I hadn’t taken my eyes off her. All I saw in my mind was the Duke and my fist punching repeatedly into his fucking face. I saw myself ripping out that tongue and then shoving it down his throat so he choked. His commentary was unnecessary. The Duke was fucking unnecessary.
“The scars aren’t a nightmare,” the Duchess said. “They are…they are just a bad memory.”
They weren’t a nightmare or a bad memory. They were proof of what she’d survived. Badges of strength. There was nothing wrong with them or her.
I stepped forward, absolutely done with these comments. “Both halves are as beautiful as the whole.”
The Maiden’s lips parted on a sharp inhale as she watched me place my hand on the hilt of my broadsword. I bowed, my gaze still holding hers as I recited the pledge given by the Royal Guards that Jansen had instructed me to speak earlier—the vow I already knew because it was part of those spoken by the King and Queen of Atlantia to their subjects.
“With my sword and with my life, I vow to keep you safe, Penellaphe.” Speaking her name caused that prickle at the nape of my neck to return and spread across my shoulders and down my spine. In the back of my mind, I knew I shouldn’t have said it, but it was important that she knew someone saw her in this moment when the Duke sought to humiliate her. It had nothing to do with my plans and maybe a bit to do with the fact that I knew exactly what it was like to be stripped of everything that made you who you were, becoming not someone but something. And maybe it also had to do with wanting her to know that I found her utterly exquisite because my tone deepened, and I heard it in my voice. “From this moment until the last moment, I am yours.”
POPPY
There was no easing into the transition from Rise Guard to one guarding the Maiden. My new role kicked off immediately as Vikter and I accompanied Penellaphe and Tawny to…
Actually, I really didn’t know.