A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones, #1)(89)

The sound of the waves crashing in Siren’s bay followed me everywhere I went, like a welcome lullaby. I pushed open the bamboo doors to the library and passed a few shirtless Peridot soldiers clad in armored pants and helmets. Their torsos and forearms were covered in intricately patterned tattoos that matched their long spears.

The library was simple, filled with colorful books and scrolls, and had a warm hearth at the center of the room surrounded by white cushions. But the cozy fireplace and its few huddled readers wasn’t the room’s highlight—it was the sprawling balcony that looked out onto the pristine bay. Calm, crystalline waters washed over the shore. To the left were at least fifteen massive ships with the green Peridot symbol imprinted on their sails. The sun hung low in the sky, reflecting off the waves in sparkling rays.

I didn’t know how I had gone twenty years without seeing an ocean like this, or how I would ever go another day without it again. Glittering sunshine, colors and textures and waves, I could barely believe it was real. Something about being at the edge of the continent felt at once both freeing and completely frightening. Frightening, and yet my all too familiar panic was nowhere to be found.

Pulling myself away from the view was like untangling a vine from its post. I finally made my way over to the section marked ‘Lore’, and pulled three books: one on Fae mythology, one grimoire, and one about various types of hybrid creatures and their diets. I knew my girl.

Plus, after everything Kane had told me, I wanted to learn more about the Faeries as well. If he was somehow to beat his father, he needed all the information he could get. I tried not to think about the odds of him defeating the last living full-blooded Fae when he lost so terribly a mere fifty years ago.

On my way out I doubled back to the section marked ‘Horticulture’ and grabbed a book entitled Evendell Flora by Kingdom. That one was just for me.

I dropped the books outside Mari’s room, remembering that she was going to nap before dinner, and headed back to my room. A knock at my door had me back up before I had even crawled fully under the silken sheets for a nap of my own.

“Come in.”

Princess Amelia strolled inside and sat down on the bed. I scrambled to politely sit beside her, then tried to bow. It wasn’t pretty.

She gave me a pitying glance. “No need for… whatever that is. I brought you clothes for tonight’s dinner.” She handed me a similar dress to what she was wearing. Very sheer, pale blue fabric. It looked like it wouldn’t cover much of anything. “The tragically dark and heavy clothes of Onyx won’t suit you here.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” I said. “I have to ask, does the princess always hand deliver clothing to her guests?” I wasn’t sure what made me so snarky. I didn’t trust this woman. I trusted her even less when she was being kind to me.

She offered a prim smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I know you think I am your enemy, Arwen. That I am trying to bed your king, or take him from you, or whatever little problems you concern yourself with. It could not be further from the truth. In fact, I want to offer you some advice. Woman to woman.”

Like a child being scolded, I stared down at my interwoven fingers. I didn’t dare bring up that I knew she had already bedded the King many times. I wasn’t sure who that discussion would be more unpleasant for, her or me. She dipped an elongated finger adorned with jewels under my chin and tilted my face up to hers.

“Kane Ravenwood has not been wholly truthful with you.”

I blinked twice.

“I urge you not to lead with your heart,” she continued. “But rather with your mind and spirit. You seem a bright young woman. Do not be easily fooled by his allure.”

Before I could tell her I was more privy to his secrets than she thought, she got up and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

I clamped my lips together, as irritation flickered inside me.

She couldn’t have been more wrong. Up until a few days ago, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. But he had finally let me in—shared his darkest secrets with me, as I had with him. Maybe Amelia was jealous, or maybe she was genuinely trying to help. Either way, it didn’t matter. I had no idea when or if I would see him again, and as long as we were apart, I wouldn’t let my faith in him waver.

I looked at the slips of fabric the princess had referred to as clothing. I wasn’t as slender as she was and wasn’t eager to have so much of my body on display. I undressed completely and slipped the blue fabric on. The wisps of shimmering sheerness looped around my neck and waist at a low angle, leaving my back and midriff exposed, before pooling on the floor like melted cream. It was less fabric than I had ever worn outside of my own bedroom.

I looked in the mirror anticipating mortification, but felt a surge of power waft over me in its place; I actually looked quite lovely.

I tucked my hair up atop my head and secured it with a black ribbon. You could take the girl out of Onyx, but you couldn’t take Onyx out of the—

My door creaked open and I turned, expecting Mari or Amelia once more.

Instead, I came face to face with a dazed Kane.

“Fuck,” he grunted.

I was so shocked to see him, I was even less eloquent. “Huh?”

Kane cleared his throat. “Hello,” he said, flushing. “You look so—I mean, very—hello.” His brows knitted inward as if even he didn’t know what was coming out of his mouth.