Destroy Him

Chapter Six

among the former monarchs.

She wondered whether the omission had been deliberate.

Giselle looked around, still taking in the splendour of their surroundings.

“What do you think of the palace, Jasvella?”

Jasvella let out a small laugh.

“

Jasvella stood before the mirror, examining one of the dresses Rue had laid across the bed.

"I cannot decide whether I ought to wear the blue or the wine-coloured gown,"

Giselle remarked, glancing between the two dresses. "What do you think?"

"The wine-coloured one,"

Jasvella answered without hesitation.

"It brings out your complexion rather beautifully."

Giselle smiled. "Then I suppose that settles it. And what have you chosen for yourself?"

"I haven't the faintest idea. I am beginning to think that attending balls requires far more preparation than the actual enjoyment of them."

Giselle laughed softly. "You say that as though you have never enjoyed a ball."

"I enjoy the dancing, the music and the refreshments. It is the endless fuss over gowns, jewellery and appearances that I find tiresome."

She returned the dress to the bed before settling into a nearby chair.

"Speaking of appearances, I encountered the most insufferable gentleman earlier today."

Giselle turned towards her with interest.

"Oh? And what happened?"

"I collided with him in the corridor. And rather than offer the slightest courtesy, he immediately demanded to know whether I knew how to watch where I was going."

"Perhaps you were both looking in the wrong direction," Giselle suggested with a faint smile.

reached absentmindedly for the ring on her finger, turning it gently around her finger.

"Men are remarkably troublesome creatures," she continued.

"They make a woman believe that there is something extraordinary about being loved, only to discover that affection is often nothing more than a means of gaining her trust. I would rather keep my heart to myself than hand it over to someone who might one day decide it is no longer worth keeping."

Giselle's expression softened. She had noticed that Jasvella often spoke of love with such certainty, yet there was something contradictory about the way she treated the ring she wore.

"What about the gentleman who gave you that ring?" she asked quietly.

Jasvella's fingers stilled.

Giselle glanced at the ring before looking back at her sister.

"I have often noticed you touching it whenever you become lost in thought. You seem to forget everything around you when you do.

Does that mean you still love him, despite everything you say about love? Or have you come to regard him with the same bitterness you reserve for every other man?"

Jasvella lowered her gaze to the ring, her thumb moving absently over its surface. For a brief moment, she seemed lost in thought.

Then, as though suddenly remembering their earlier conversation, she lifted her head.

"