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I’d completely forgotten he’d even asked.
He’s going to think I haven’t got half a brain in my head.
“I am, thank you. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going and I hadn’t realized you’d stopped. I promise that I’m normally a very careful sort of person!” Panic had edged into my voice. Panic at the idea that he would change his mind and send me back so that he could get the kind of clever, composed assistant he actually needed.
He must have sensed my turmoil.
“You do not need to worry, Wynthea,” he said, his voice velvet thunder. “I’ve already decided to keep you on in this role. I’m not a man prone to changing his mind. You will stay here. You will see out the length of the contract. And you will be paid the promised salary.”
He released my arms. As his hands fell back towards his own sides, a stray fingertip caressed the back of my arm. It had certainly been an inadvertent movement on his part. Which meant my reaction was entirely inappropriate. But absurdly, I couldn’t help it. That one aching, feather-soft slide of his calloused fingertip had sent my pulse throbbing deep in my belly. The goosebumps that had subsided sprang back to life in full force, puckering my skin.
It must be the exhaustion from the journey. It’s making me loopy.
“Have we much further to go?” I asked, my throat oddly dry.
He shook his head.
“No. That’s why I stopped and we had our little collision.” The corner of his mouth quirked up in the first smile I’d seen from him. It was barely a smile, to be fair. A small tug on one side. But I would take it.
He gestured at the wall beside us, and I realized it wasn’t a wall at all, but a wide wooden door.
I chuckled.
“Everything here really is sized for a Dragon Caste lord,” I said, shaking my head at the sheer size of the door. “It makes me feel like a little doll I had as a child. My father had made me a beautiful wooden dollhouse, but he was… Ambitious.” My eyes crinkled as I smiled at the memory. “My father had been so excited about the project that he made it far too big for the little doll I’d had. The result was that it towered over her. It wasn’t even that big of a dollhouse, really. We had a little more back then, but it still hadn’t been much. She was just a really tiny doll. Made from a sapflower husk the size of my thumb.”
“What happened to it? The house he made?” Sigwulf asked quietly. The golden gleam of his eyes grew sharp and exacting as he looked at my bag and evidently saw no dollhouse pressing outward through the fabric.
I inhaled against a sudden ache in my throat. I forced my words to come out flat and emotionless.
“I burned it for kindling two weeks ago.”
Sigwulf’s jaw tightened grimly, but I waved a hand in the air between us, trying to disperse the awkwardness.
Why had I told him that? I didn’t need to appear any more pathetic to the man before me than I already did. Under his warm yet biting gaze, I became aware of every flaw, every area where I was wanting. The ugly, choppy cut of my once-beautiful hair. The appalling state of my clothes and boots. My complete lack of skills and experience for the job I was about to begin.
Sigwulf would be impressive among anyone – monster or human. He was obviously wealthy with the inheritance of this castle, but it went far beyond that. He possessed qualities no amount of gold could ever buy. He had a completely unselfconscious masculine elegance about him. A brutal yet regally restrained power in his perfect posture and a cultivated intelligence I could already sense from our brief interactions. On top of all that, he seemed to be generous and kind. He’d let me stay here, after all.
If I had been married off to a monster, if I’d been given any choice…
I would have chosen him.
“Please. Would you show me inside?” I choked out, trying to escape from the insanity of the thought I’d just had. Not long ago, this very day in fact, I’d been terrified by the prospect of marrying a monster I didn’t know! And now I was suddenly thinking it might not have been so bad?!
You are ridiculous. Truly, utterly ridiculous.
Sigwulf said nothing but honoured my request by opening the massive door.
And suddenly, I didn’t think I was so ridiculous after all.
Because the mistress of this castle would get to sleep in a bed like that.
It didn’t even look real. It looked like the kind of bed I dreamed of during shivering nights on my floor at home. First of all, it was massive, clearly big enough for a Dragon Caste couple to sleep in. A gigantic rectangular mattress raised off the stone floor of the room and perched atop a sturdy, elegantly carved wooden bed frame. And it wasn’t just large, but it looked so cosy. A plush row of scarlet pillows rested against the high dark wooden headboard. A beautiful heavy red quilt matched the pillows. Already, I dreamed of scurrying under those covers and snuggling right in.
“I hope it is to your liking,” Sigwulf said. I jumped, not realizing how close he stood behind me.
“It’s perfect. Thank you,” I said, meaning it. I tore my gaze from the bed that dominated much of the large room to see what else was around. A stunning stained crystal window, taller than I was, was straight ahead. I walked towards it, almost unintentionally, unable to take my eyes off the exquisitely wrought colours of the thick crystal. The crystal depicted a huge, magnificently blue Dragon Caste man bound by chains. A tiny figure – a human woman – knelt between his powerful legs, holding a golden key. They were reaching for each other while the world around them – the rest of the window – burned with crimson-tinged flames.
“That image tells the story of Quaarkvearn, one of the most famous ancient Dragon Caste warriors,” Sigwulf said, no doubt noticing my fascination with the artwork. Even though it wasn’t sunny outside, light penetrated the coloured crystal, making it shimmer and almost move, as if the figures were still alive in their depiction.
