Page 23 of Chasing the Night
“What’s the matter with you! Sneaking up on a…” she scolded, wide eyed.
“Your door was open.” I jerked my thumb behind me but couldn’t bring myself to look in that direction. I was too busy studying the fullness of her lower lip and the most perfect button nose. Indeed, she and Lisette could have been twins in another life.
I was about to tell her that Isabella was coming.
Fair warning was the least I could do, but alas, the click of regal heels was already announcing her approach. Chalice leaned around me and peered toward the door.
“Isabella.” she exclaimed. It was an honest smile, one that met her eyes and betrayed her innocence to the world.
Yeah. I would be protecting that one for some time to come.
Chalice
A sigh escaped me before Messiah startled me so badly that had I choked on air. When Isabella followed in behind him, I was lost to the rush of having visitors. I was so happy, I snatched her into an honest embrace before bothering to question why two members of the Krypt were standing in my bedchamber at an hour most Rochambeau nobles didn’t even know existed. Her air kisses hailed either side of my cheek, reminding me at once exactly who it was that I stood before. In Rochambeau, the only persons who exchanged such gestures were dignitaries. Without the means to fresh water and medicine, the peasants feared disease and loss of work too much to even consider such familiar behavior.
The smile froze on my face, and I slung a sideways glance at Messiah. A distant, vacant expression lingered over his features. The strong jaw was slack, and his hazel eyes were heavily lidded and practically looking through me.
“Is he having a tremor spell? Sometimes they take hold like that and a person just…”
Messiah blinked and tilted his head as if it were I who was afflicted. “Don’t worry over me, love. I’ve survived more than the Ball of Winter’s First Kiss.” He winked and stepped toward the table in the center of my room, depositing a heap of clothing and shoes atop it.
The shoes weren’t actually shoes at all. They were slippers, with pointed toes and a spike under the heel. I backed away from them on instinct alone. My feet had liked to never stop burning after the dinner. I still had red tender spots on the side.
“What? What were you saying about Winter’s balls?” I squinted, trying to figure out the man’s meaning. He always sounded superior but in a way that made one want to be near and soaking up his knowledge and reserved insight.
His laughter was low and throaty. He contained it on an amused sigh and caste a glance and nod toward the table.
“The Ball of Winter’s First Kiss,” Isabella corrected. She reached for my waist as if we might embrace again, but instead, she grabbed the string that fashioned the length of it and gave a tug. My nightgown was gone before I could even properly gasp, and she tossed it toward a corner. My hands scissored and danced before I managed to clutch my breast and shoot a hand south. No way could I chase after it, I would bare my ass to them both. Heat, indignation and more than a little anger boiled inside me when she turned to face me. It was her turn to gasp.
“Oh!” came the sharp response. “I uh. I am…I thought you were used to being attended.” Isabella’s hand worked over the base of her throat, and she averted her eyes like she was as uncomfortable as I was. The cold air rippled across me leaving goosebumps across my flesh.
“Great.” I managed. “Just give me the…”
The fact that I couldn’t recall the name of the corset left me gritting my teeth. Messiah was no doubt enjoying the show. I closed my eyes, desperately trying to reason and wrangle the volcano-like pressure that was building within me. A boiling pressure that simply would not give. It demanded escape and warred all the louder when it was denied. I curled my toes against the stone floor, desperate for anything to keep me from throttling her.
I admired her. She has been kind to me, I told myself against the quickening of my breath. The urge to react became so fierce the tension leaked down my arms until it found a form of escape in my trembling hands.
Messiah shifted and drew closer. With lightning speed, he snatched the corset from Isabella and closed the distance between us. I took a slow deep breath that drew my shaky fingers into a solid fist.
What was I doing? Why had I stayed here? In that moment, I became increasingly aware of just how vulnerable I was. Not physically—I was younger than her and could have taken her in a confrontation. My vulnerability came in not knowing who to trust. I was alone. Whether I was in the tent or here in Rochambeau… I could only trust myself.
He took a wide arc and came up behind me. When I tried to cover myself, he tipped his head to Isabella and softly called, “Slip. Let’s go, ladies, before she catches her death.”
Aella marched across the room leaving me to clutch myself all the tighter and crane my neck to see who the fuck else was lingering out there. Without warning, she picked up the cotton under garment and flung it toward me. I caught it without hesitation and wiggled into it.
Once I resigned myself to scrubbing my arms with my hands, Messiah reached around my arm and passed the corset.
“I hear they’re a bit tricky to put on,” he explained. “If you allow…”
I begrudgingly ripped it from his hands, only to require his help moments later. My shoulders caved beneath the weight of my indignation. Isabella remained where she was, rubbing her throat and cautiously observing us.
Messiah and Aella worked methodically, tying laces and tugging hems until I was once again a Krypt masterpiece.
“Ah…” Isabella sighed clasping her palms together before herself. “You are a rare flower, Chalice… a rare flower indeed.” She smiled, gave a nod, and started for the door. “See that her hair, make-up, and jewels are in order,” she called over her shoulder on the way out.
“Which vase do you think she will put me in tonight?” I hissed over my shoulder.
In the mirror, Messiah’s eyes met mine and the corner of his mouth tipped up. He took his time lifting sections of my hair and testing the weight and natural lay of it.