Page 129 of Savage Throne
“Yes.” I bobbed my head. “That’s perfect.”
She signaled to the other. “Get the fur, please.”
A woman ran off.
The others didn’t look at me directly, but their glances flickered in my direction, quick and uncertain. I could feel their thoughts buzzing in the air like an invisible current, thick with questions they didn’t dare ask.
Were they wondering why I wanted the guns?
Or was it something deeper?
Maybe they were questioning the kind of woman I was becoming—the kind of woman who would sneak weapons into a feast meant to showcase unity and power.
The kind of woman who didn’t trust the man she loved to finish the job alone.
I hoped that they understood that I wasn’t the serene queen they were trying to craft me into—some special, glamourous Mountain Mistress.
I was terrified.
TerrifiedforLei.
TerrifiedofLeo.
And maybe, just a little, terrified of myself.
If Lei couldn’t finish the job, then I would.
Minutes later, the attendant returned with a huge turquoise fur, and two others carried in my gown.
Wow. I’m wearing that. Well. . .damn.
I watched them in the mirror as they began to transform me into someone I barely recognized—a queen.
Or more correct. . .a Mountain Mistress.
The gown they slipped onto me shimmered like liquid starlight. Deep, vivid blue, it rippled with silver threads and hugged my curves. At my waist, it flowed outward in a cascade of elegance and then pooled at my feet like a royal waterfall.
Cinderella would have been very fucking jealous right now.
I shivered under the attendants’ touch, though the chill wasn’t from the air—it was the realization that this moment was monumental.
This is really happening.
I was no longer Monique from Glory.
Now, I was the official Mountain Mistress of the East.
What the hell did Banks think? My sisters? How much more would our lives change?
Currently, the title still felt foreign, too big, too heavy. But at least now the pressure of it didn’t crush me. It shaped my soul, grounding me as if the mountain itself had settled into my bones.
Alright. It is what it is. If this is my role, then I’m going to act the part until. . .I really become it.
The attendants continued to fuss over me. One smoothed the shimmering gown over my curves. Another zipped me up in the back.
I gazed down at the deep, luminous blue of the sleeveless gown, sparkling with flecks of silver embroidery, as though someone had captured the night sky and stitched it into silk.
“It fits perfectly,” one of the women whispered behind me.
