Page 32 of A Kingdom of Magic and Rain

“Well, he should be. And so should you. Now that you know the truth, how do you not lose sleep every night being so close to the border?”

“Because I have faith in my king, and in the wards.”

“The wards that are failing,” I whispered.

“They haven’t failed yet.” He paused. “And I have faith in you.”

“You do?”

Gray nodded and ran his thumbs over my knuckles. The touch made me realize that we were still holding hands.

“Thank you.” I hoped that my eyes and my voice conveyed the gratitude I felt in my heart. He believed in me, even if I didn’t believe in myself, and that gave me strength.

He nodded again, pressing my hands lightly before letting go. I curled them in my lap, instantly missing the contact. He settled more comfortably into the sofa and began reading his book. I returned to my book as well but found it hard to concentrate. I kept stealing glances at him, my gaze drawn to his flawless profile. I was still curious about how his lips would feel on mine, but I didn’t dare to find out. Not only was I unsure if I was ready for anything new, I also didn’t know if the lord had a similar curiosity about me. He had let it slip that he was interested in me that day in his study two weeks ago, but he hadn’t acted on it since. I wished he would act on it now.

“What are you reading?” I asked to get his attention.

Lately, I loved being the center of it. Every time Gray’s sole focus was on me, a warmth invaded my chest before spreading to my entire body. Now was no exception when his long, dark lashes lifted, and he met my gaze. He held it for a moment, drawing me in, before he looked back down at his book. He began reading aloud, and I quickly lost myself in the story and in him. Soon, the timbre of his deep voice was lulling me to sleep as my eyelids grew heavy.

“You should try to get some sleep,” Gray said gently, closing the book with a soft thud.

I blinked several times to wake myself up. “I’m not tired.”

He chuckled. “One might think you’re staying up to spend more time with me.” Even though he was teasing, I caught a few hopeful notes in his voice.

“One would not be wrong in that assumption,” I played along, hoping that I wasn’t misreading the situation.

Gray’s eyes widened slightly as his cheeks pinkened. It was adorable that I was making this ever composed man blush. A faint smile graced his lips as he rose to his feet and extended his hand. “Come. You’re going to bed.”

Gazing up at him from beneath my lashes, I placed my hand in his and rose from the sofa. We walked upstairs in silence, stopping in front of my bedroom door. As we faced each other, my heart started beating faster. Our gazes locked, and Gray didn’t break eye contact as he lifted my hand to his mouth and brushed his lips over my knuckles.

“I enjoy spending time with you, too,” he said quietly. “Good night, Emelin.”

I released a shuddering exhale. “Good night, Adrian.”

Calling him by his first name was a bold move since he had corrected me before, but I hoped that my taking the risk would pay off. Even though I hadn’t been able to unlock my magic, maybe I had been able to unlock his heart. As silence stretched between us, my hope dwindled. Any second now, he would correct me again and ask me to still call him Gray. He didn’t. Instead, he released my hand and smiled before he turned away and strolled to his room.

I lingered in the hallway for a moment; my gaze fixed on his closed door before I shook my head to clear my thoughts and retreated to my bedroom. Once there, I quickly showered, wrote in my diary, and settled into bed to try and get some sleep. As I lay there, staring up at the ceiling, a big smile spread on my face.

“Don’t be silly,” I whispered to myself, forcing the muscles of my face to relax.

I rolled to the side and closed my eyes, but before I drifted off to sleep, the smile was back.

Adrian’s gaze was locked on me, his silver eyes glowing like bottled lightning. He lifted his hand and cupped my cheek, and my lips parted as I gasped, feeling his magic flowing into me. My eyes watered as I marveled at the ancient and beautiful power saturating my every pore; my entire being.

The following day was full of excitement as the ball that Thea had been preparing for had arrived. Even though I didn’t thrive on social events, I had been looking forward to it, if only to take my mind off my failed attempts at harnessing my magic.

When an unusually warm evening descended, it quickly became clear that Thea had disregarded Adrian’s request to keep the list of invitees small. Flocks of people continued to arrive at the manor well past the eight o’clock time indicated on the invitations.

Standing in the brightly lit foyer, I stifled a laugh as Adrian welcomed yet another guest to the ball. When the lord gave Thea a pointed look, she flashed an innocent smile and grabbed two champagne flutes from a passing server. She turned and handed one of them to me, a look of mischief twinkling in her eyes. With her cherry-red hair twisted in an elaborate updo, she looked absolutely stunning in a daring crimson gown. The neckline scooped low, and the shimmering fabric clung to her body, leaving little to the imagination. While it was not to my taste, Thea was clearly comfortable in the revealing dress as she stood with confidence, flaunting her curves.

My dress was far more modest. The light-teal off-shoulder gown was cinched at the waist and flared at the hips, moving and flowing around me like water when I walked. A string of medium-sized diamonds encircled my neck, gleaming in the bright glow of the chandelier. I had left my hair down, letting Thea curl it before I had perched my gold tiara on top of my head.

“Let’s move to the ballroom,” Thea suggested, gesturing for me to lead the way. “There are some people I want you to meet.”

“Will your family and friends be in attendance? Or Gray’s or Tom’s?”

“Oh, no. We were born and raised here, but our families have since moved to different regions. They are scattered throughout the kingdom. And friends…we kind of lost them along the way. We still have each other, though.”