A subtle dig. My maids are my attendants. He is my guard. It’s the kind of insult any denizen of Belterre Castle would pick up on.
Killian doesn’t react.
“If I must,” he mutters, then quickly resumes his stoic mask. “A public ball is the ideal opportunity for someone to make an attempt on your life. I will ensure your safety. No need to worry your pretty, empty head about it.”
I cast him a narrow glare. “Empty?”
The barest, calculating smile tugs at the corners of his lips. I bite back my own. The lion tugging at his leash, letting me know I do not control him.
I like this game.
Attendants open the heavy carved oak double doors to the grand library at our approach. I have spent more time in this chamber than any other during my time at the castle. As much as I could get away with. Prince Alistair’s library never fails to awe me into rapt silence.
Light streams through huge stained-glass windows depicting the history of Belterre. The fae race we first worshiped as gods, until they realized humans would out-populate them and triedto constrain us with magic. At the end of the ensuing war, they retreated to the sky and left behind the monsters. Some say it was a punishment. The rest of the panels depict the heroic knights of yore battling the fae beasts to drive them out of Belterre, and the happy ending of a prosperous people.
Outside, a large shadow wings across the line of windows, a stark reminder that I am responsible for ruining all this peace and prosperity, however unwittingly.
Below the high windows are long, high shelves of books. Larger tomes rest upon shorter shelving in the center of the room. Tables for study are placed strategically around the room. Scribes in long gray robes scurry around like oversized mice.
I make my way to the section labeledHistorywith a long brass plaque and grasp the ladder with both hands. Its wheels squeak faintly as I move it down the line to where I left off this morning, when I was called away to prepare for my presentation ceremony.
“Allow me.”
Killian stops the movement with one hand placed casually on the rung.
“I have managed for ten entire days without your assistance, Sir Ironheart.” My pulse quickens at his nearness. Still gripping the sides of the ladder, I squeak my way down the line. His arm falls away. Disappointment curls like smoke around my heart.
Not here. Not now.
A wicked idea pops into my head. Or, if it’s going to be here and now, it has to look like an accident.
I stop at random, somewhere in the vicinity of the place I started this morning, but I’m no longer focused on the books. I sweep my skirt aside and place one toe on the lowest rung.
“You shouldn’t be climbing.” Killian’s alarm is real, and I experience a pang of guilt for what I’m about to do. “I’ll call for a scribe to fetch the book you want.”
“I don’t know what I’m looking for yet. I was browsing this section earlier, before you came riding in on your black stallion. I was raised on a farm, Sir Ironheart. I know how to climb a…”
With each sentence, I haul myself up another rung until I’m near the top. I glance down to make sure he’s hovering anxiously at the bottom, steadying the ladder with one conveniently outstretched hand.
Pressing my palm to my chest, I gasp, “A century ago, they didn’t tie the laces so tight. I feel…faint.”
Then I topple off the ladder straight into his arms. Killian grunts on impact. I cling to his neck and blink up into his scowling face.
“You saved me,” I breathe, fluttering my eyelashes.
“Cute, Briar.”
He drops the arm beneath my thighs without making the slightest attempt to grope my ass. Alistair wouldn’t have passed up such a golden opportunity, not that I’d have given him one. Once I’m on my feet again, Killian rubs his injured arm. Guilt flashes through me.
“Did I hurt you?”
“It’s fine.”
“The healer said it would help to have someone massage the scar tissue,” I lie, my pulse racing. “Let me see.”
He jerks away.
Killian’s hard glare bores into me, but there’s fire glinting within the steel. When I smile, I see the clash within him. This time, it’s me yanking on the leash, pretending I’m in control.
