CHAPTER EIGHT

He takes me to a table at the window.

I sit.

A servant brings in our breakfast.

I am starving.

I grab a bread roll and some cheese and stuff them into my mouth.

Lucius watches me.

Lucius smiles. "I am glad to see you have come to your senses," he says.

"I have," I say.

"I was not pleased with the way you looked at Tanner. I was very angry."

Tanner's name sends a shard of grief through my heart.

I focus on the food. It will be good to eat. I will need my strength.

"Now he is dead, there will be no more nonsense," he continues. "I will have complete control of you after the wedding."

"Yes," I say.

"We will marry this afternoon."

This afternoon? That gives me no time to enact my plan!

"Let's plan the wedding," Lucius says. "What flowers do you want?"

Flowers are the last thing on my mind.

"White," I say, absentmindedly. "And purple."

"All right," he says. "And what about food?"

I am silent.

"Do you have any requests?" he asks. "I will have the head chef prepare anything you like."

Lucius is going to make this as difficult for me as possible.

But I must pretend to go along.

"Can we have music?" I ask.

He smiles, pleased to see me getting on board. "Yes. What kind?"

I look up at Lucius as I take a bite of the roll.

He is watching me, smiling.

"I love violins."

"Then we shall have violins." He makes a note on a piece of paper. "Do you want to know about the dress?"

"Yes, please," I lie.

"It is a beautiful dress," he says. "It is pure white. You will look beautiful in it."

"Just pure white?" I ask.

"Yes. It is exquisite."

He looks at me like I am an object.

"I have a special hairstyle for you," he adds. " I imagine it is quite different from the way you do it."

"So many preparations," I say, trying to sound excited.

I look past him, and notice the forest just past the lawns. A river runs through it.

I remember the plant the girl told me about.

"I have a request," I say to him.

He looks pleased. "Yes?"

"Can I bathe by the river?" I ask him.

He looks suspicious. "Why? The maids can bring you water here."

"It is a tradition where I'm from. To bathe in the river before your wedding."

He narrows his eyes.

He is not sure he can trust me.

Of course, he is right not to. But I smile and look as innocent as I can.

"Okay," he says finally.

My hope lifts. I will be alone. I will be able to find the flower to kill him.

"But take you must take the maid with you," he adds.

My stomach drops. I try not to show it on my face.

"I have a maid?" I ask. I try to smile at him.

"You do. You would have met her yesterday had it not been for your subordination." He hollers at the door. "Trudy!"

The door opens.

A woman comes in.

She has an evil look in her eye.

"This is Trudy, your maid," Lucius says. "She has been charged with looking after you for the time being."

I force smile.

The woman looks at me with judgmental eyes.

Lucius addresses her. "Take Kayla to bathe by the river. Our wedding will take place this afternoon."

"Yes, your highness," she says.

I stand from the table.

He grabs my hand.

"Do not stray," he warns me.

Then he kisses my hand.

Shivers run down my spine.

Trudy leads me to a room.

My bed chamber.

It is beautiful. The floor is marble. The chandelier is made of gold. The walls are covered in gold and silver leaf. They glisten.

This is where I was supposed to sleep last night, in these magnificent surroundings. Not the jail cell. Before Tanner attacked Lucius. Before everything changed.

I go inside and strip to my underthings. I am covered in bruises.

Trudy watches me, silently. I feel embarrassed. I feel like she is judging me.

"Can I have some privacy?"

She shakes her head. "I am instructed to watch you at all times."

I put on a long white, floaty dress.

I look at myself in a mirror.

I look different.

The grief is all over my face.

I remember Tanner.

I remember the way he looked at me.

I remember the way I felt when he touched me.

I feel like I am about to cry.

Trudy walks to the vanity table and picks up a brush. She comes back to me, pushing me into a stool in front of the mirror.

She starts unpinning my hair.

It falls, messily around my shoulders.

She starts to brush it out, her strokes are rough.

I think of my mother. Of how gentle she was when she brushed my hair. I cannot believe she allowed me to be sent to this doom.

I stare at Trudy in the mirror.

"I know it must be hard for you," she says, as she works the knots out my hair, "but you must prepare for your destiny."

She smiles.

I hate her. She has no sympathy for me. She is a cold, evil witch. As cold as Lucius.

"Your wedding is this afternoon," she says.

My heart is heavy.

I do not want to think about it.

I feel my eyes tearing up.

I can't let her see my pain.

She starts to braid my hair.

"I want it loose," I say.

She shakes her head. "Your alpha wants it this way."

She plaits it tightly.

My heart is aching. I want to cry. But I can't.

I try to imagine Tanner holding me, instead. Kissing me.

I remember how he said we would run away together.

We should have run.

But now he is gone.

And I must avenge him.

I must free myself.

I must kill Lucius.

A cold, calculated, quiet determination comes over me.

"I am ready to bathe," I say.