The Lyre Thief by Jennifer Fallon

Author:Jennifer Fallon [Fallon, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2016-02-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

34

CHARISEE USED THE excuse of returning Broos to his rightful owner to visit Kiam’s room. The hall was dark, lit only by the moonlight checkering the patterned hall runner with light from the large window at the end of the hall. The rest of the house was asleep and far out of earshot from the guest wing. She led the dog along the hall, glancing over her shoulder to ensure there was nobody else about, although she had her story prepared if anybody challenged her right to be wandering Warrinhaven Palace in the middle of the night, dressed in nothing more than her nightgown.

The halls were deserted. She wasn’t challenged. Her carefully prepared excuses were unnecessary. As she reached Kiam’s door, rehearsing the conversation she planned to have in her head with him, Jakerlon’s words kept interrupting her thoughts.

“You are the most wonderful type of liar there is,” he’d told her, “because the person you lie to most often is yourself.”

She knew she was lying to herself. She knew Broos didn’t need to be escorted back to Kiam’s room. But somehow, it seemed less dishonest to pretend she had a reason to visit him other than a selfish concern for her very survival.

That was the other lie she was telling herself—that she was only here at Kiam’s door in the middle of the night because of the danger she would be in on her—or rather Rakaia’s—wedding night.

Her hand shaking with a mixture of fear and anticipation, Charisee glanced up and down the hall once more and then forced herself to knock on Kiam’s door. A few moments later it opened to reveal the assassin wearing only his trousers, barefoot and obviously fresh from bathing. He had the broad shoulders and narrow hips of a fighter, Charisee noted, as she consciously forced her gaze upward to look him in the eye.

“I brought Broos back for you.”

“Is he giving you trouble, your highness?” His eyes were gray—like a stormy winter sky. She’d never been so acutely aware of that before. He was looking at her as if he knew exactly what she was doing here, but was going to make her go through the charade of pretending he didn’t have a clue.

“Not really . . . Can I come in for a moment?”

He stood back to let her enter. “Are you sure?”

She nodded and stepped across the threshold, waiting until he closed the door behind her before she said anything more. Broos bounded over to the bed and claimed it by stretching out across it sideways, leaving no room for any human occupants.

Charisee smiled at his antics, and then turned to Kiam. He was studying her curiously, waiting for her to explain the reason for this late-night visit.

“I need your help,” she said, walking a little further into the room, as if putting some distance between her and the assassin would make this easier. She had to tell Kiam at least a version of the truth if she hoped to merely survive her wedding night.

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