Page 22 of Stranger's Choice
Sebin didn’t know what was going on. His conversation with Lhashiki gave him a good idea who was behind Auraelie’s wardrobe change, but it didn’t explain why she had just gone into his bedroom. What he knew was that he absolutely, positively, without a doubt was not following Auraelie behind that beaded curtain.
He groaned and fell back against the cushions. Auraelie in her tunic and trousers was temptation enough. He was going to be dreaming about the sight of her in this costume for days. Weeks. The rest of his life. Even her glare didn’t deter him—her spunk was a large part of what attracted Sebin the most. He had to pull himself together before she came out of the bedroom. No looking anywhere but her face. Five hells, he shouldn’t have looked anywhere else already, but without any warning, how was he supposed to prevent himself?
The beads clattered together, but Sebin didn’t sit up or look away from the ceiling.
She said nothing.
He risked a peek and saw she had donned his dressing gown to cover herself. Sebin tilted his head back up to the ceiling. After seeing her when she first walked past, the sight of his dressing gown swallowing her up should have been a relief. Instead, he was now plagued by strange thoughts about how much he liked seeing her in his clothes.
He had to say something, anything, to dispel the tension. “I take it that is a dancing costume you have on?”
Sebin rolled over and pressed his face into the cushions. Why in the five hells had he said that?
“What did you say to Lhashiki?”
He could hear Auraelie’s teeth grinding together. He sat up and held his hands out, palm forward. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to show his harmlessness, asking Auraelie to stop, or warding off the anger pulsating from her. “I didn’t say anything. She asked me what I liked about the city. I gave a noncommittal answer, and the next thing I know, she’s telling me I should ask you to dance for me.”
“And are you going to?”
“No!”
Auraelie deflated at his vehement denial. She uncrossed her arms and moved over to the cushions where she usually sat for their evening chats. She lowered her veil, something she had started to do when they were alone, even if he hadn’t offered her something to drink. “Sorry. I know it’s not your fault. I’m the one who messed up and said what I shouldn’t have to Lhashiki.”
“What did you say to make her subject you to this?”
“I admitted that you hadn’t slept with me.”
“So this is meant to tempt me.” Sebin shook his head. “Curiously, if I had been foolish enough to ask you to dance, what would have happened?”
“Well, I don’t actually know the Dance of the Seven Veils. The only thing about it I do know is that the woman starts with seven veils, and by the end of the dance, she has none. So I wouldn’t have really danced.”
“But you would have taken off the veils?” Sebin scoffed. “I somehow doubt that.”
“If you ordered me to, I wouldn’t have a choice. I’ve been told to treat you as I would the Emperor. I can’t refuse a direct order.”
“Like an order would make you do anything you didn’t want to.”
Auraelie went silent. Her shoulders hunched and she stared at the ground.
“You wouldn’t.” Sebin said, even while he saw clearly that she would. “If I ever gave you an order, you’d at least snap at me, right?”
She finally looked up. “You want me to snap at you?”
“If I don’t notice that I’ve given you an order and you feel you have to obey it? Absolutely. I never want you to make you do something against your will, so tell me if I give you an order, so I can take it back.”
Her chin came up, and a hint of her fiery spirit returned. “You just did.”
“I take it back,” Sebin said, unable to hide his sigh of relief completely. “I humbly beg you, Auraelie, to let me know if I ever tell you to do something you don’t want to do.”
She bit her lip. “You won’t tell the Emperor?”
“I won’t tell the Emperor. No one should be in a position where they can’t even say no.”
She nodded. “I’ll tell you.”
“I haven’t done it already, have I?” Sebin had certainly never ordered her to do anything horrible, but if she couldn’t say no, then even a minor, accidental order was unacceptable.
She shook her head. “You never even ask me to do anything.”
