Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (25 page)

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Why do you look like you committed murder or something and that you’re about to get charged for it?”

He opened his mouth to reply, but it wasn’t his voice that answered her. From a darkened corner, another man’s voice echoed through the room. “Not murder, my lady, just treason.”

Her gaze landed on the man as he approached slowly, looking at her and Garrick as though memorizing every detail. His golden hair gleamed in the candle and firelight, and though some of his hair was flowing freely,
it looked like
most of it was bound in the back with a tie. A silver and blue crown sat atop his head, and across his chest was a matching sash. A shiny sword hung at his side, the light of the candles catching the different surfaces as it gleamed back at her.

“Treason?” she asked, looking back and forth between Garrick and the man who was presumably the Blue Blood King.

Rather than answer her, Garrick bowed his head to the other man. “Cedric.”

His mouth twitched. “You are so right, cousin, introductions are in order.”

“Of course. Cedric, this is my lady, Danielle. Danielle this is Cedric, my king.”

Cedric’s gaze left Garrick’s and traveled to Danielle. “It
is
a pleasure.” He stepped forward as Dani curtsied. It was a lot more difficult to do in a large gown than she thought it would be, and she stumbled slightly before righting herself. He held his palm upward between them, and she reached forward to place her hand against his. Only instead of letting their palms touch, his fingers gripped her hand, and he held her in place. “So lovely,” he said quietly. “My foolish cousin has so rudely omitted where you hail from, Lady Danielle.”

Her smile faltered, but she quickly reconstructed it. “I’m from
…
Ohio
,” she said, telling the truth.

“
Ohio
. I’ve never heard of it.”

She shook her head. “It’s not nearby.”

“Indeed.
Well,
Lady Danielle, I would like to offer the services of my home to you. I understand you’ve had quite a journey and I can see that my cousin has failed to care for
you the way any gentleman would.
”
He tossed
a glare at Garrick. “You are welcome to stay here at the castle. As a personal guest of mine, you understand.” He bent then, touching his lips gently against Dani’s knuckles once, twice, and three times before he stood to his full height.

“Thank you,” she stammered, blushing as she averted her eyes.
She didn’t want to screw up here, didn’t want anyone to know Garrick had lied about her being his lady.
“I would love to.”

Cedric’s eyes glowed with humor even as Garrick’s smile turned into a sneer. He stepped forward, placing himself between the two of them. “Cedric,” he growled. “She doesn’t know the customs here. You can’t just do that.”

Cedric just laughed. The two of them were matched for height and build, but where Garrick’s features were brown, Cedric’s were golden blond. “I don’t see how that matters
,
cousin,” he said. “She ha
s just agreed, whether she realizes
it or not.”

Garrick’s hand gripped her arm and he stepped backward with her, even as more snickering came from the king’s mouth.

“What did I just agree to?” she asked, looking up into the warm depths of Garrick’s eyes.

“It’s not your fault.” His gaze flicked to his cousin in annoyance. “He just made you a formal offer to be his while you’re inside these walls. He sealed the offer by kissing your skin, and you accepted it.”

Her face fell. “What do you mean I’m
his
while I’m inside these walls?”

Cedric beat Garrick to the punch. “It means that as of this moment, you are mine
to do with as I please
.”

Dani was immediately whisked away by Cedric’s servants and taken to a room where maids behaved every bit as whirlwindish as Gabriella. A bath had been drawn, the servants having heard about Dani’s new predicament almost as fast as it had occurred.

They quickly undressed her, gawked at her filthy condition, and took her measurements. While some scampered off toward a large wardrobe, others pulled Dani toward a large white bathtub with golden claw feet. The stress she’d felt ever since hearing of her new “arrangement” melted away as she sunk into the oversized tub and warm water closed around her body. The water was scented, and the fragrance soothed her all the more. Even as the maids scurried around, grabbing this and that to help with her bathing, she sat back against the edge of the tub, reveling in the feeling of the first actual bath she’d had in years. Sponge baths and cold trickling water with questionable soaps had
nothing
on the real deal.

“Time to sit up, my lady,” one of the maids said, tugging on Dani’s wet arm. She sat up and closed her eyes just before a bucket of warm bath water was dumped over her head. She sputtered and swept water from her face, and the maid dumped soap on the top of her head and quickly lathered it in.

Holy crap, it felt good. Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head.

That had always been one of her favorite things growing up: having someone else wash her hair as their fingertips an
d nails gently massaged her scalp
. She closed her eyes again, letting the sensation calm her even more.

“More water, mum.”

Before she could respond, another bucketful of water cascaded down on her, and then another. And another. Satisfied there was no more soap in her hair, the maid quickly applied what Dani hoped was conditioner and dumped more fragranced liquid into the bath water. Waiting a few seconds, she sloshed more water over Dani’s head and rung out her hair.

“Time for a wash,” the maid said, grabbing more soaps and rags to complete the job.

Dani eyed the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Shelly, miss.”

“Shelly, I
can
do it myself, you know.” They were rushing this along, and she wanted more than anything to just stay in the tub for the rest of the night.
Especially if it meant avoiding meeting anyone else.

“Sorry, miss. King’s orders to get you presentable.”

“For what?”

“Oh, you’ll see, my lady,” she replied, patting her kindly on the shoulder.

Dani cocked an eyebrow at the plump little maid. “Do you do this often?”

She seemed to think about this for a minute. “Umm, yes. King Cedric has always had an eye for the ladies,
and he has us do this for his
…
consorts,” she finished, apparently deciding that was the best explanation.

“
Consorts
?” Dani gawked.

“Why yes,” she beamed. Her smile fell as she noticed Dani’s shock. “You are lucky to be in such favor. Cedric has yet to choose a queen.”

“Well
,
it’s not going to be
me
.”

The maid looked down at her for a minute, different expressions crossing her features. “I like you,” she said suddenly. “You’ve got spunk. And Cedric needs someone who can stand up to hi
m. If I do my job right, then maybe it
will
be you.
Oh, wouldn’t
it be something to have a queen who has lost her essence. I really think that would pull our people together, and give others who’ve lost their essence hope again. Harpies took my cousin’s, and he’s just never recovered. He barely made it away from those winged fiends, but he’s never been the same. And Anna over there, her own brother lost his, and…
”

Shelly
jabbered on as she
worked earnestly to get her ready, despite Dani’s protests that she’d be
anything
to Cedric. She’d practically scoured her clean, scrubbing and scrubbing until all the muck that had accumulated on her body
and under her fingernails had
finally washed free.

Being clean felt immensely better than even Dani had imagined it would. But her momentary joy a
t
being squeaky clean disappeared as more maidservants pulled her into the room and made her stand on a stool as they hurriedly dressed her in layer after layer of fine clothing. Weird underwear she’d never seen before. Another slip like the one that Gabriella had lent her, only of a silky fabric. Another hoop skirt, only this one held five hoops and was much wider than the previous one. And then came the dress. It itself had layers and layers of skirting. It was a light, shimmering blue, trimmed with silvery lace and sparkling adornments. The maids dropped it over her head and smoothed it down until the bodice sat in position. They cinched and cinched and cinched, even as Dani had to hold on
to two maids in order to keep upright. They made it a lot tighter than Gabriella had made the other gown, and Dani regretted everything thinking
that
had been tight.

“
Right then
,” a maid breathed. “Time to get her nose powdered and her hair fixed.”

The other maids hopped to it, leading Dani to a vanity that was littered with bottles and containers of makeup. One of the maids stood behind
her
, flicking her fingers out as Dani’s hair not only dried in an instant, but also whirled up in a lovely hairdo. She
inspected
it as she turned Dani’s head this way and that, flicking her fingers once more, and making small adjustments to the new hairstyle. Her hair looked smooth and fluffy at the same time somehow. It tied in the back and flowed freely the rest of the way down in large curls. Her makeup was done almost as quickly, though that maid did it by hand rather than by magic.

“Lovely,” Shelly said before her eyes narrowed. “Oh.” She reached into a jewelry box and pulled two shimmering, dangly earrings out. She brought one to Dani’s right ear. “Oh, how long has it been since you’ve worn
danglees
, my dear?” Not waiting for Dani to reply, and giving up on forcing it in, she flicked her finger and slid the earring in with ease. The other one did too. “Lovely. Just lovely. Now you’re presentable.” She gave Dani a friendly wink. “Come and have a look at yourself.”

Shelly
gripped
her
wrist and pull
ed
her from the chair. She led her to the three-way mirror that Dani had stood in front of while the maids had succeeding in removing all breath from her lungs as they cinched the corset tight.

“Oh yes,” Shelly said. “Just beautiful, my lady. The king will be
so
pleased.”

She opened her mouth to argue that she didn’t care if Cedric was pleased or not, but in that instant, a male servant tittered in and took hold of her hand. He led her out of the room and down the large corridor, where she was taken down the wide staircase to the main floor of the palace. “Come, come,” he said excitedly. “It’s beginning.”

“What’s beginning?” nearly came out of her mouth, but the question was answered before she even spoke. This new servant led her to the top of yet another staircase, where down below she sa
w countless people
chatting with one another as a band played in the corner. The room was decorated in white and silver, with blue accents scattered throughout. Along the far wall, up on a pedestal of sorts, were three thrones of a deep, dark blue that contrasted greatly with the lighter coloring of the rest of the large hall.

“My lady,” another servant said as he gripped her elbow. “I shall announce your arrival, and then you may descend the stairs to the gathering.”

Dani’s gaze met his. Her mind was still upstairs, trying to catch up to the whirlwind that brought her all the way down here. “Okay.”

He smiled at her kindly and gave her a gentle shove. “Lady Danielle of
Ohio
,” he said in a tone of sincere professionalism. Numerous eyes turned toward her, looking expectantly at the strange newcomer. “And this evening’s honored guest of our lord and king,” the servant finished.

Dani stepped onto the first step, hoping to hell that she didn’t fall down the large staircase. Even as she thought that though, her eyes found Cedric, who was walking toward the staircase at a rush. He reached the bottom of the stairs and took them as regally as one could before holding out his hand for her. She took it, letting him lead her slowly down the stairs as hushed murmurings echoed around the room at her arrival.

She was about halfway down the staircase when her gaze met Garrick’s. He was now at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her with an expression that she couldn’t read, but somehow made her blush at the sight of it. She gave him a small smile as she and Cedric reached the landing.

Garrick didn’t move from his spot, and Cedric was forced to step around him.

“Dani,” he breathed. His eyes
wandered
over her face before moving down her bodice and skirts. His eyes lingered on her body before he finally brought his gaze back up to her eyes. “You’re
…
I mean, you’re. . .” His voice trailed off.