Page 154 of To Kill a King
Elessan broke their kiss and worked his way down her jaw to the tender area underneath her ear.
Her breath hitched as he caught her earlobe and dragged it lightly between his teeth.
Something fell from the shelf with a crash. A fuzzy ball of black fury flew through the air and landed on Elessan’s shoulder, claws extended.
“Valek!” He jumped back, dumping Shadow onto the ground with the broken clay jug that had fallen from the shelf.
Shadow glared at them in that condescending way only a cat could.
Heat flooded Aliya’s face as she met the silver-eyed cat’s gaze.
Elessan muttered several colorful words to himself in Elven as he rubbed his injured shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” Aliya said, examining his tunic for damage. “Are you okay?”
Shadow pawed at the door.
He glared at the cat. “I’m fine. But I think your new pet doesn’t like me very much.”
Shadow hissed.
“Must be time to go, huh?” He turned his attention back to Aliya and winked at her. “And you’ve got a luncheon to get ready for in a little under half an hour.”
Ugh. Aliya leaned back against the wall to catch her breath as he pulled away. The linen closet suddenly felt much colder.
But her headache was gone.
Elessan winked and, after checking the hall outside, held the door open for her.
“Come on, Your Majesty. Your subjects await.”
With a sigh, Aliya pushed herself from the wall and stepped back into the real world.
“If I never sit through another meal with a bunch of squabbling nobles, it’ll be too soon.” Aliya paced around Malkov’s study, now her private space. She brought her hand down on the writing table, making the glass paperweight in the corner jump.
Shadow startled from where she had been sleeping in the desk chair.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you there,” Aliya said.
The cat glared at her, circled once, and lay back down, curling its tail over its face.
Message received.
“She’s Shadow, Your Majesty.”
Aliya turned to her lady-in-waiting. “What?”
The young girl curtseyed, studying the floor. “The cat’s name, Your Majesty. It’s Shadow.”
Aliya nodded, studying the shapeshifting cat. Clearly, Shadow was in no mood to talk. After all the bickering she’d had to endure today, she didn’t have it in her to fight someone else, human or cat.
Aliya’s eyes drifted up to the two elven skulls hanging above the door.
“Do you know why he hung those there?” she asked.
The girl shook her head. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I don’t.”
Aliya flopped into the settee. “Will you please send someone for Princess Tsara? They’re creepy, and she’ll know how to lay them to rest appropriately.”