Page 29 of Ruby Red Sky
Cassia kept her head down, remembering my instructions. Then, Annalise said, “Child, you may face me.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” She bent a little, unsure what to do, before she clasped her hands at her waist.
“This is Cassia, my bride,” I stated.
Our audience remained in rapt silence, and I felt the pressure of thousands of eyes upon us. The atmosphere was taut, electric, full of anticipation for something, anything, to happen.
My job was to make sure nothing did.
“Is it?” Annalise circled her, examining her from head to toe. Cassia froze in place, her chest unmoving while she held her breath.
The Queen stepped away and scanned the crowd before returning to face me. I expected a verdict, an insult, perhaps even to be struck down where I stood. But nothing happened.
“My Queen,” I addressed her, turning to the side. I motioned for Kiam to step forward. “May I introduce Kiam.”
As expected, he bowed his head to the floor. He wasn’t unaffected, and I made note of the resulting tells. The quirk of his lips, shoulders raised just a fraction of a centimeter, the twitch of a finger. He was my friend, but I wouldn’t turn down an advantage when it was presented.
“My Queen,” he said; his voice weighted with longing and reverence. “It is an honor to be in your presence.”
She held her hand out and he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Yes, it is. Thank you,” she replied.
With the Queen distracted, the murmuring of the audience started. It was faint, not enough to be obtrusive, but enough for me to hear the speculation. Would Annalise strike Cassia down? Would I be stripped of my title as Lord? Some of the voices were outraged, others bitter. But most longed for a show, something to reassure them I hadn’t just turned the Realm upside down.
Kiam worked his considerable charm, and I wouldn’t be especially surprised if Annalise kicked out her latest pet and replaced him with my friend this very evening. The thought caused me a brief moment of concern, but it wasn’t as if he would heed any advice.
“She’s going to eat him, isn’t she?” Cassia whispered, her lip trembling.
She didn’t seem to expect an answer while she scanned our surroundings as if she were searching for a glowing red emergency exit sign. She meant the Queen would eat the two of them. “Kiam is an adult. A fool, but an adult.”
“What do we do now?” A million questions prickled her brain, insistent enough I could almost see them suspended in the air around her head.
My thumb brushed her knuckles. “We wait.”
Her posture began to slump. “Lukas,” she waited for me to meet her eyes, “I want to go back to the room.”
My attention snagged on the fact she hadn’t asked for home this time. “Later. There is more to be done.”
The noise of the crowd began to rise before I heard Annalise say, “You intrigue me, Kiam. Lukas had the same quality long ago, when he was very young.”
Then she returned her attention to Cassia and me. “Lukas, you mean to bring this human into our family?"
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have.” That wasn’t entirely true.
“Liar,” she hissed. “You haven’t claimed her. You haven’t marked her.”
The flames of the candles dimmed down to short beads of light as a gust of wind ripped through the hall. The air sucked out of the room, sweeping the atmosphere free of every sound, every breath, every trace of life itself, replacing it with a deep sense of mortal dread.
While I stood steadfast, Cassia was bent at the waist, her mouth hanging open. Streaks of water ripped from the corners of her eyes and dampened the hair by her temples.
I held onto her, stopping her from falling to a carpet that had been transformed into a river of blood, the colors of which matched the fibers of the floor covering.
It stopped as suddenly as it started, the storm of Annalise’s theatrics washing away.
Cassia was held up only by my forearm, her stomach bent over the muscle. “My word suffices.”
The Queen’s laughter rang through the rafters like the sound of a thousand bells. “If only Wyvon could see you now.”
“But our King isn’t present, is he? He trusted my wisdom.”
