A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #2)(48)

“I need to visit the salon, I think,” I whispered to Leala. “But, like…not for the demons. Just to…landscape things a bit.”

She winked at me as Cecil moved on to penises.

“Men have no shame when they come in here. They do not even wash the peen half the time. They swing it around, they play, they laugh when they get hard while I try to measure—it is annoying, dealing with the peen. And the big peens?” He made an exasperated sound. “One of the dragons had a peen so big, I had to make extra room in the clothes. I had to make them extra durable. And he got hard all the time. It nearly poked me in the eye when I measured his legs.”

“Are you talking about Nyfain?” I asked.

“The master— Can I turn around now? How long does it take to put on a teddy? This is a problem. Any person will lose interest if it takes you this long to undress.”

“Yes, you can turn around,” Hadriel said. “We would’ve told you sooner, but you were having such a wonderful time commenting on all the body parts you’ve seen.”

“Not the master, no. He needs a bit more room, yes. He’s bigger than the average dragon.”

“And the average dragon is a lot bigger than the average anyone else,” Hadriel said. “It’s an eye-widener.”

Leala nodded with a small smile.

“Yes, but the master is not terrible,” Cecil said. “He has a good ass, too. Good, strong bubble. Easy to design for him. No, this was another dragon—he’s dead—with a huge peen. It was a job hazard. My eyes!”

His dead-serious tone made me giggle helplessly. The guy was a trip.

“Now. Here. You try this.” He held up a slip of material that didn’t look like anything special. The second I put it on, though, I knew I was working with a genius.





Eleven





Hadriel led me down the quiet hallway on the second floor. Everyone had wandered off, having finished their hobbies for the day. Most doors stood open, the rooms dark. At the end of the hallway, the wide double door stood mostly closed, only showing a slice of what lay beyond.

“I’m surprised it took you so long to get down here,” Hadriel said. Leala had stayed behind in the tower to put everything away and order up a tray of bread and cheese for whenever I wandered back up. I hadn’t wanted to be rushed. I’d brave the demons in the hallways to spend more time perusing. “I’d thought it was the one thing you wanted above all else in the castle.”

“In the castle, yes.” I felt the nervous excitement coiling in my belly. “In the world, no. Making the nulling elixir was more important.”

“You’re a good human, Finley.” His tone was uncharacteristically serious. “You’re a good reminder of what life outside of this accursed castle could be.”

“We’ll get back to that someday.”

“We can’t return to something we never had. The nobles were pompous assholes, and the king was a tight-fisted ass. They worried about themselves and their kind and looked down on the common man. We would’ve been taxed for a cure.”

I remembered Nyfain’s comments about my generosity. I shrugged. “Desperate times, as they say.”

“Indeed.”

Hadriel put out his hand to stop me and then walked into the library and turned around, pushing the door mostly closed. I heard something click, and then he pulled both doors open at the same time, a grand gesture. He stepped to the side and swung out his hand.

“Milady. Welcome to the library of your dreams.”

I beamed, crossing the threshold.

My stomach dropped out of my body. My smile slid off my face. I had to squeeze my legs together so that I didn’t pee myself.

“Oh…” That was all I could get out.

He led me forward on my suddenly wooden legs. My face had lost feeling. I simply could not believe what I was seeing.

First, the sheer size of the space was incredible. It was bigger than two of my house, one stacked on top of the other. Much bigger. The ceiling arched over the enormous room, and there were little pockets within the beams covered in hand-painted murals. Shelves lined the walls, decorated with wood columns between each of the stacks. A ladder attached to a metal rod at the top could be slid along to access the top shelves. Above that, a balcony constructed of the same polished wood ran around the room, the walls lined with more books.

The wood floor was covered in plush rugs, and comfortable seating options abounded, from recliners to piles of large pillows that lay everywhere—on the furniture, in piles on the ground, and in little cushioned corner nooks, or cleverly positioned between the stacks. It wasn’t just a place for browsers—it was a place for readers. It was a place to settle in and stay for a while.

The deliciously sweet, musty smell of old books wafted toward my nose. It was a smell of comfort, of knowledge, of fantastic adventures and faraway places. It worked into my mind and relaxed my body.

“Where would I even start?” I breathed, trailing my fingertips down my mostly bare chest.

I’d decided to wear one of Cecil’s dresses. The neckline plunged to my sternum, collected under my freely hanging breasts, and from there the material skimmed down my stomach. Five straps fit over my shoulders, two on one side and three on the other, each of them holding the dress a little differently. A slit ran up my right side and the bottom dragged against the floor in the back. It was elegant and plain and comfortable, and I felt slinky and sexy when I wore it. Underneath I wore no underwear, mostly because I was still embarrassed about the wild lady beard that definitely needed to be tamed. I hadn’t dusted my face with makeup or bothered to change my hair from the messy bun. I’d just wanted the feel of the soft, flowing material against my skin.