11: SHALL WE?
781 Words
PHEEONA.
I hadn't moved from this spot on the chaise in about three hours.
Anyssa kept pacing in slow loops around the room, occasionally stopping to look at me like I was about to combust, then continuing on like the movement itself was doing something productive.
"You're being weirdly calm about this," she said.
"I'm not calm."
"You're sitting very still for someone who's not calm."
"I'm processing."
"Processing." She dropped onto the chaise beside me. "Phee. Last night was insane. Like, genuinely, certifiably insane. I need you to use actual words right now and not just sit there staring at the wall like a Victorian ghost."
I looked at her.
"He called me a hole, Nys."
"I know."
"A hole and a title."
"I know, Phee, I was there for the after-party debrief, remember?" She grabbed my hand. "I just need to know you're not, like, internally combusting."
"I'm externally combusting too. It's a whole situation."
She huffed out something that was almost a laugh, and for a second the weight in my chest eased up. Just a little.
It had been hours. Hours since they'd walked out of that room and left me lying there feeling like the floor had been pulled out from under an entire fortress I didn't know I'd built. I hadn't left my quarters since. Hadn't wanted to. Every time I thought about stepping outside that door, my body did this weird thing where it remembered exactly what their hands had felt like and exactly what Crowen's voice had sounded like in the same five seconds, and honestly, my nervous system did not appreciate the mixed signals.
A knock at the door made both of us jump.
Anyssa and I exchanged a look. The kind of look that said neither of us was emotionally equipped for whoever was on the other side of that door.
"Come in," I called, because hiding from a knock was somehow worse than whatever was waiting.
A maid stepped through, young, composed, hands folded in front of her like she'd rehearsed this walk three times before actually doing it.
"My lady." She bowed her head. "The kings have requested your presence at the brunch table."
I just stared at her.
She kept going, clearly understanding that the silence wasn't an invitation to stop. "They've asked that you shower and dress in one of your new gowns before joining them."
Heat crawled straight up my neck.
They asked that I shower and dress.
Like I was a errand they were waiting on. Like the audacity of last night hadn't been enough and now they needed a follow-up course of telling me what to do with my own body before I was even allowed at their table.
I lifted my chin.
"Where are they," I said.
The maid blinked. "The dining table, my lady. First floor."
I was already walking.
"Pheeona—" Anyssa started.
I didn't stop. I was already past the maid, who let out a small, startled noise and scrambled to follow, her little shoes clicking frantically against the floor as she tried to keep pace.
I was in nothing but my camisole nightgown. Thin straps, hem barely brushing my thighs, hair definitely not doing what hair was supposed to do after a night like that.
I didn't care.
If they wanted me showered and dressed before I graced their table, they were about to get the exact opposite of that request, and honestly? Good.
The guard outside the throne room nearly choked when he saw me coming. His face went a shade of red I didn't know was medically possible, and he fumbled with the door handle for a solid two seconds before he managed to push it open and step aside.
I walked through.
The dining room opened up in front of me, long table, morning light pouring through floor-to-ceiling windows, and there they were. Crowen. Vizellan. Nashyn. Mid-conversation, heads bent toward each other as they discussed seating arrangements.
They all looked up at the same time.
Conversation just... stopped.
The guards flanking the room straightened immediately, tension rolling visibly through their shoulders, eyes darting between me and the three kings like they were watching the opening scene of something they didn't want to be present for.
I kept walking.
"I see you're already discussing our wedding arrangements without me," I said, voice carrying clean across the room. "But I'm here now."
I dropped into the empty seat at the head of the table.
Stared at all three of them, one by one, daring any of them to say a single word about my outfit.
"So," I said, shrugging one shoulder, completely unbothered. "Let's continue, shall we?"
- Writer
