“For you, Highness,” Nimat answered. “The cook didn’t know what you would like so sent one of everything.” She shooed the remaining servants away, then signaled for Adrienne to make herself comfortable.
Mushira entered the garden, joined the others, and relayed to Adrienne, “King Malik sends his happy regards about your decision to leave your rooms this morning, Princess Adrienne. He hopes you will excuse him from attending you, as there are many preparations he must oversee for the wedding in five days.”
“Not a problem,” Adrienne said cheerfully. She sat on the blanket and stared at the food with no idea where to start. “Okay, everyone sit down. You’re going to help me eat all of this.”
Hani and Nimat obeyed. Mushira fixed Adrienne a plate first then sat. Adrienne looked at Khursid and the Primaries. “You’re not sitting.”
Khursid replied, “I did not think your invitation extended to me, Highness.”
Adrienne rolled her eyes. She pointed to the blanket and commanded, “Sit.” After Khursid obeyed, she turned her attention to the Primaries. “Let me guess, you three don’t think I’m talking to you, either.”
All three men wore clothing and weapons identical to Khursid’s and Qamar’s. The man in yellow was the shortest of the black-haired trio by two or three inches. He had one of those baby-like faces women always fall for. His soft brown eyes made him look as dangerous as a newborn puppy and just as cute.
The two remaining men were completely identical. They had the same green eyes, squared jaw and small mole on the left side of their chins. It was a good thing one wore red and the other blue, or Adrienne would have thought she was seeing double—or the magicks were at it again.
“Did you mean for us to join you, Princess Adrienne?” asked the man in yellow.
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. Take a load off. Relax. I don’t bite.” The man in blue smiled at her words. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but held himself back.
All three men sat on their knees. They didn’t relax, but Adrienne hadn’t thought they would. “Introduce yourselves again. I don’t remember your names.”
The man in blue, who had smiled before, bowed. “I am Bayard, Princess. I am the Primary who wears all blue.” He held out his hand to indicate his twin. “This is my Uncle Flavian, the Primary in red.”
Adrienne choked on the piece of bread she had put in her mouth. A general uproar ensued before the bread was dislodged and Adrienne pronounced healthy again.
She drank a full glass of water, then asked, “Your uncle? You look exactly alike. I thought he was your brother.”
Flavian nodded. “That is to be expected. I am a shifting mage, Princess. My talent is changing my appearance to look however I choose. I don’t really look like Bayard.”
“Isn’t that a little dangerous? For Malik, I mean? If you can change the way you look all the time, what keeps someone from impersonating you?”
“Very smart, Princess,” Flavian complimented. He pointed to the side of his neck. He had a tattoo of Malik’s crest below his ear. “This is a magickal imprint. It cannot be copied or forged. Malik wanted me for his Elite guards because of my particular talent, but he knew it might make him vulnerable. Thus, he marked me.”
Bayard added, pulling down the collar of his shirt to show his tattoo, “Indivar and I opted to wear the tattoo as well, to show our solidarity. Ours are hidden and one of the best kept secrets of the Primary Elite.”
“My talent also comes in handy with the females in the palace. I can look like any man they wish. It has made me very popular,” Flavian boasted.
“I bet,” Adrienne said. “I take it you’re not married?”
“No, Princess. I am blessedly single. The only one of us with any type of familial obligation is Indivar. He has a four-year-old daughter.”
“You’re married?” Adrienne asked happily. She gave Indivar an encouraging look to elaborate.
“No,” Hani answered quickly. Everyone looked at her. She cleared her throat. “Rena’s mother does not acknowledge her and doesn’t deserve to be called a lady of Ulan’s court.”
“Lady Piper is the heir of a prestigious noble family,” Indivar said. “She cannot claim a child born of a momentary lapse of judgment. She has to marry a lord worthy of her family’s power and produce legitimate heirs.”
“Legitimate heirs again,” Adrienne grumbled. “So Rena gets pushed aside? That’s not fair. Why can’t Piper raise her daughter even if Rena won’t be her heir?”
Mushira explained, “Lady Piper is a distant relation of the royal family. As such, her family is under tremendous pressure to remain powerful and show that, though distant, their power still rivals the royal family.” She shook her head in a pitying manner.
“Until King Malik, Lady Piper’s family has always succeeded at their goal. Our king refused the Mage Guild’s training. Trial and error were his teachers. Such learning made him one of the most powerful mages on all of Bron,” Indivar said. “Lady Piper must find a powerful husband to produce children who will hopefully equal your children, Princess.”
Adrienne muttered, “Always trying to keep up with the Joneses.”
“Excuse me, Princess?” Bayard asked.
“I’d like to meet Rena,” Adrienne said, changing the subject. They had gotten too close to her reality again. She smiled at Indivar. “Looks like you’re going to be stuck with me all day. There are plenty of us here. I think we can keep an eye on one four-year-old. Who watches her, anyway?”
“The cook,” Indivar answered. “You want me to bring her here now, Princess?”
“No time like the present.”
Indivar bowed and left to retrieve his daughter.
Adrienne watched him leave, then turned her attention to Hani and asked, “So, how long have you had a crush on him?” It was a guess on her part. Hani choking on juice and blushing confirmed Adrienne’s words beautifully. “Does he know?”
“No!” Hani clasped her hands in front of her and pleaded, “Oh, please, Princess Adrienne, don’t tell him. I don’t… Indivar is still in love with Lady Piper. He—”
“I don’t mind if you want to watch Rena during the days. Don’t let her distract you from your duties, though,” Adrienne said with a wink.
Hani let her jaw drop. She recovered herself and said, “Thank you, Highness. Thank you so much.”
“You should join them.”
Malik, with Feyr beside him, watched Adrienne and the others from his perch in a nearby tree. He’d planned to watch for a short time then join her, but he couldn’t get himself to move.
“Malik?”
“No,” he whispered. “She is laughing and happy. My presence would ruin that.”
“Since when has that stopped you?”
“Do you not need to be with your mate?” Malik snapped. He glared at his cat.
Feyr laughed. “My mate attacks me whenever I go near her. Mulit females don’t like males nearby when they are ready to give birth. I wouldn’t hurt my cubs, but it is hard to argue with years of female instinct.”
“You do not need to be here. Leave.”
“I will when you do.”
Adrienne’s laughter interrupted Malik’s next comment. He turned his gaze back to her. “Soon,” he whispered.
“Not soon enough.” Feyr jumped to another branch when Malik lashed out at him. He laughed at Malik’s growl. “Temper, temper, old friend.”
Chapter Ten
The day of the wedding arrived. Adrienne had enjoyed learning more about the people who would be closest to her for the rest of her life. The only person she remained unsure of was Malik.
She avoided or ignored him and in doing so, she had lost the chance to learn more about him. Seeing him only reminded her of the inevitable.
Her reflection stared at her with sad eyes. She would be married soon, and thankfully Mushira had dictated modesty for the occasion.
There were no translucent fabrics or gaudy brooch
es—Adrienne wore a simple yet form-flattering long-sleeved white dress. It dragged the floor a good five feet in her wake. She was scared she might trip over the material and embarrass herself in front of the palace folk, who’d become less vocal in their disapproval of her.
She’d started having every meal in the dining hall. That made Malik happy, but she didn’t do it for him. It was the only way to learn. The more she interacted with her soon-to-be subjects, the less daunting they all seemed.
Her fear of screwing up because of lack of knowledge went away as well. The information download from Malik had an auto-update feature. Every time anyone mentioned something unfamiliar, she “remembered” the explanation. Malik had explained this was normal. If she had access to the information all at once, the overload might put her in a coma. Given the circumstances, she welcomed the drip feed approach.
While the spell was active from the first moment she awoke on Bron, she hadn’t absorbed enough magicks to utilize it properly. Even now, her fount of knowledge stopped producing if she overexerted herself with too much magicks practice.
She moved away from the mirror and sat in the window seat. Khursid moved to stand behind her, but she ignored him. Outside, the garden lacked any gardener-plant battles to amuse her, since it had been tamed the day before. During one of her visits to the garden, she had coaxed a few of the plants into giving up their blossoms so she could decorate her room. The magicks that animated the plants wore off once the blooms were severed from the body. While the plants probably meant her no harm, they were still dangerous.
The same sentiment could be applied to her husband-to-be. She pushed away from the window seat and went to her bed.
Every thought led back to Malik and the wedding ceremony scheduled in less than an hour. The closer it got to sunset, the more agitated she became.
Anxiety had attacked her when she started dressing. Tremors had coursed through her body and made the preparations harder. After Mushira declared Adrienne ready, the shaking stopped, only to be replaced by an overwhelming urge to jump out the window. A joke to that effect had Khursid standing in front of the windows and moving to her side whenever she got too close. Adrienne didn’t scold him about it since she wasn’t sure she might not try.
“Truly, Princess Adrienne, there is nothing to be so agitated over. You should eat so you are not lightheaded,” Mushira urged. “You will not get another chance before the celebration feast later tonight.”
Hani, who was polishing Adrienne’s tiara, added, “That is three hours from now, Highness.”
“Not hungry, and please stop mentioning food. My stomach is already trying to crawl out of my throat,” Adrienne pleaded.
The sound of footsteps on the carpeted floor outside the bedroom made Adrienne jump from her perch and face the door. She wrung her hands until the footsteps passed, then slumped into her previous position with relief.
Adrienne put her head in her hands. A tiny stabbing pain started at the base of her neck. From experience, she knew it wouldn’t take long for it to spread, and she would have a full-blown, take-no-prisoners adrenaline headache.
She wanted her mother. She wanted her father. Hell, she even wanted her bratty twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. A wave of homesickness hit her. Her family wouldn’t see her get married.
They would never see her again, for that matter.
They were probably worried out of their minds about her and she had no way of letting them know she was okay—for now. Who knew what would happen to her after the wedding. Malik might turn into a real monster after she was legally bound to him.
Adrienne’s headache doubled when Malik entered the room. She hadn’t heard his footsteps—not that she’d ever heard him before, since the man moved as silently as his cat. She backed away from him and ran into the bathroom.
Malik looked after his retreating bride with concern. He’d felt her agitation all the way in his throne room where the ceremony would take place. He had rushed to her side in hopes that he could somehow help remedy her anxieties.
Mushira forced a smile. “Please, forgive her, Majesty. The princess finds herself—”
“I know, Mushira,” Malik said in a reassuring tone. He shared Adrienne’s case of nerves, if not their intensity; therefore, he wasn’t angry.
He went to the door of the bathroom and tapped lightly.
“Go away.”
Malik smiled sadly. “You know I cannot, my lady. The ceremony is but moments away.” He placed his palm flat on the door. “I have come to escort you.”
“It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding ceremony.”
“That is a superstition of your world, my lady, not mine. I assure you, my escort is perfectly normal.”
No reply, only tiny electric shocks running up and down his arms—Adrienne’s panic.
This was a waste of time. She wouldn’t see reason. Unfortunately, her time was up, as was Malik’s. He’d allowed her to avoid him the past three days because that ensured he wouldn’t rip the clothes from her body and find out what her passion felt like. Even the presence of her entourage wouldn’t have deterred him.
He only had to be patient a little while longer. That was the mantra he repeated over and over to keep himself in control so he could deal with the situation at hand in a calm manner.
With a small push of power, Malik’s hand passed through the door to grab Adrienne’s arm. He pulled her through and made sure no part of Adrienne or her clothing remained in the door before he let her go. Releasing her too soon would have melded the two. He could separate them easily but the process was painful to a living creature and would only add to Adrienne’s panic.
Adrienne stared at Malik in surprise. She hadn’t imagined it. He had pulled her from the bathroom to the main room through her bathroom door. Through it! It hadn’t hurt, but it was disconcerting.
She swatted Malik’s hands away then stepped back. “You pulled me through the door.”
“Would you have come out, my lady?”
“Hell no!” The look she gave him showed the stupidity of his question.
“Then it was necessary.” He placed his hands on either side of her head at her temples.
She tried to pull away but found she couldn’t move. “What are you doing?”
“Relieving your headache.”
Of course, thought Adrienne. She had forgotten about her magicks, or else she would have stopped the headache herself.
Malik released Adrienne when her headache alleviated, and stepped back to give her room. Her panic remained but the pain was gone.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Nimat move in front of the bathroom door, barring Adrienne from fleeing back inside.
He looked over everyone in the room. Khursid and Qamar stood in front of the windows, Hani had moved to block the closet in case Adrienne thought to hide there, and Mushira hovered behind him.
Though they could not feel Adrienne’s agitation as Malik could, they responded to it by treating her like a caged animal ready to bolt at the first sign of weakness. This probably didn’t help Adrienne’s current state of mind.
He made a snap decision. “Out! All of you.” His tone left no room for argument, though Mushira and Khursid both seemed as though they would. A single look made them keep their silence and follow the others out of the room.
After the door firmly shut behind the last retreating back, Malik spoke softly to his bride. “Adrienne, I know I have not given you much time to adjust, and an unfortunate happening marred your arrival here. I cannot change those things. However, I can make the rest of your time here happy, if you allow me.”
He put his hands on her shoulders. It was all he could safely do, except he shouldn’t even do that much. Touching her was dangerous without the others around to bring him back to his senses. He focused on Adrienne’s agitation and tried to make it his own as a way to combat his lust. Only a few more hours and all his patience would be rewarded.
Adrienne looked up at Malik a
nd knew he meant it. She could read the sincerity in his words, and in his eyes, and feel it of him. He was concerned for her.
“You really want to make me happy?”
“Yes.” He breathed the word on a sigh.
“I want to see my parents,” she demanded.
Malik’s relieved look vanished.
Good, she thought. What did he have to be so happy about when she was miserable?
“I want my favorite stuffed animal from my bed. I want to yell at my bratty brothers for coming into my room without asking. I want to walk across the stage at my college graduation. I want to get my master’s degree. I want—”
“Stop,” Malik yelled over her tirade. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and stepped away.
“Why? That’s what would make me happy. Some spell says I’m your queen and you just snatch me away from my life and throw me into yours. You didn’t ask me! You still haven’t!”
Adrienne didn’t want to yell. The others were right outside the door and they might hear her. She couldn’t help it. She’d held back her frustration and anger all this time, venting in her head but never aloud. With people always around, there was no privacy for her to tear into Malik like she wanted.
Except now.
The wedding day had arrived. This was her last-ditch effort. Even if it didn’t work, she would have the satisfaction of telling Malik just what she thought about all of this, and of him.
“You wish for me to ask for your hand?”
“No! I wish to go home.”
Silence.
Adrienne whirled away and went to the windows. She stared at her reflection. This was not the wedding dress she wanted for herself. It was nice but it lacked any fringe and flounce. She hadn’t wanted the Cinderella deal but thought her dress would at least be made out of silk or satin, or a reasonable facsimile—not something that felt like cotton and looked like linen.
“Answer me something, Malik,” Adrienne said in a soft, subdued voice. She was too tired to yell anymore. She had gotten no sleep the night before, anxiety had claimed her morning, and it all caught up to her.
Adrienne Page 10
