Shade of Ruin (Shadowed Debts Book 1) by Evelyn Hart

Author:Evelyn Hart [Hart, Evelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-09-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Vyran and Calyr are certain. Only Kasan hesitates.

The hunters are too close. We must act soon.

~Inni the Destroyer, A History of Magic and Dragons

“Flames,” Cole says to the dressmaker’s wife, who looks over me, a tape measure in her hands. We’re back in the same shop that Cole had dragged me to after our little fiasco in the market. Except that this time, the dressmaker and his wife are not leaving. The dressmaker’s business isn’t what I’d expected. I’d thought we’d walk into a shop filled with dresses and gowns, and we’d pick one out. Like picking out a good loaf of bread.

I was wrong. So wrong, in fact, that Cole nearly broke into that unending laughter like when I’d made a joke about Lee and Darian carrying us to Draenyth.

I’m standing on a small platform and the dressmaker is looking at me like I’m a broken thing that needs fixing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt quite as judged as I do right now. Cole, the dressmaker, and his wife are staring at me, and all I’m wearing is my undertunic.

“She doesn’t smell like flames…” Lorcan, the male dressmaker, says, a brow raised. “She doesn’t smell like anything, to be frighteningly honest, Lord Cole.”

He’s holding a needle in his teeth while his wife, Fiona, runs a tape measure over my body. She’s not exactly nice about it, either. Now I understand why Cole said that seamstresses terrify him. Her hands move with deftness, but whenever I try to shift, she gives me this look that reminds me of Vesta when I’d done something incredibly stupid.

So I stand silently as the three of them decide what to do with me. I don’t get any choices, and I don’t offer any opinions, but that’s probably for the best. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a dress that would be appropriate for the table of the King of the Fae.

“Flames,” Cole repeats. “She’s my betrothed, and I would like her dressed in flames.”

Lorcan’s brow arches even higher. “I am yours to command, Lord Cole, but may I offer a suggestion?”

Cole gives a nearly imperceptible nod without looking away from me. “Why not blend the other Great Houses into the dress? Why not show a little bit of earth, steel, and shadow? She is obviously not completely from the House of Flames, so if you dress her in your colors, she will be a possession, not an individual.”

Cole’s eyes roam over my body before he says, “That’s true. I don’t want my father to think that I’m claiming her like a toy. She’s… important to me, so letting her have something beyond myself in her dress is probably the right decision.”

Lorcan nods his head emphatically. His hand moves to the thin white beard that looks like an icicle hanging from his chin, which matches the coldness I see in his eyes. “That’s what I assumed, Lord Cole. As soon as Fiona is done measuring, we’ll get to work spinning it. I

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