I tried to hide the shiver of unease he sent through my body, but I couldn't. He felt it through the hand that held mine and I knew he felt it if the small twitch of his lip was anything to go by.
My heart pounded, drowning the sounds of servants wearing matching black uniforms rushing to complete their tasks. Some were carrying trays lined with flutes of colourful liquors while other held platters of finger foods. Those with loaded trays were headed in the same direction as us, while those with empty ones returned.
As we turned down another hallway, the number of servants visible went down to zero. The sound of their bustling activity had died and I was left alone with only Zev, the sounds of our footsteps, and the sound of my heart beating to dampen the silence.
I looked up at the back of Zev's head when he switched his grip from interlocking his finger with mine to holding me by the wrist and dragging me behind him, forcing me to jog just slightly to keep up. So much for hoping he was helpful and kind like Tinker Bell, not that he had given the impression which his glacier eyes and stoney features. He and Cassius could go head to head in the coldest expression contest and tie for first.
I ground my teeth.
Like I had thought Ezra would have.
My fist tightened at the feeling of betrayal that stabbed through my chest. I never should have expected much. Ezra wasn't in love with me. He was infatuated by the idea of a whirlwind romance in the midst of everything going on. Plus, he said it himself, most women weren't like me here. And he liked women like me. It didn't mean he liked me. It must have been why it was so easy for him to believe the words of another without even bothering to hear a single word of defence from me. If he knew me, knew the person he claimed to care for, then he wouldn't have fallen for the lie to begin with. He would have understood how absurd it sounded.
But, I should never have expected much. It's what led to disappointments.
That's why I wasn't expecting much from Zev at the moment. Cassius had already shown the disregard they had for my wishes and consent, Zev saving me a few times in the past wasn't going to do anything now against what he had planned, not with the anger that lined his frame and that burned in his eyes. The gut feeling that had once told me that he was safe was warning me against him now.
The nails of my free hand dug into the skin of my palm. I felt the pressure of tears behind my eyes and heat of frustration spread across my nose. The helplessness I felt under Zev's banded hand, served as a representation of the invisible manacles that trapped me in this home, with these men. Not that I had much of a choice even if I could leave into the unknown world.
I made a mental note to look for books that would give me the information that I needed to survive on my own.
I blinked back the burn in my eyes. There was no point shedding tears at times like these. They wouldn't help. Men who would be moved by tears wouldn't do things that would cause them.
We continued straight down the empty hall, our footsteps echoing off the high walls. At the end stood a large pair of white, double doors with intricate gold detailing. They were tall and stretching up to reach the high ceiling above. In front of them stood a tall man dressed in a black suit as dark as the locks on his head. His storming blue eyes cut straight into mine as we approached. They briefly dropped to the ruby necklace that rested at the base of my neck before focusing on my eyes again.
"You're late," he said, his arms crossed and a scowl on his lips. "The Queen made a surprise appearance. I assumed her invitation would go unanswered." His frown deepened. "I assumed wrong." I couldn't tell if he was more upset that the queens had arrived, or that he had assumed wrong.
"I know," Zev answered.
Cassius's eyes cut to him.
"I was passing by the main entry when Lester was greeting them. It would have been impolite not to engage, so I helped them to their rooms and got them settled in. It was why we were late."
Cassius continued to look at Zev unmovingly. It had started to become unsettling, but surprisingly what did end up unsettling me was when his expression did change. The slight flash of unease that flickered through his eyes had my alarm bells blaring.
Cassius hesitated a moment before nodding. "The others are already inside. Lester will announce our arrival."
Zev started forward while manipulating my hands into the position he wanted. He forced me to rest my hand on his crooked arm. When we reached Cassius, he offered me his arm and allowed me to rest my hand in the crook instead of manhandling me into place.
The churning in my gut had me almost confessing the truth I had earlier to Cassius as well, but the opening doors and wave of noise told me I had missed my opportunity. Plus, there would be no point. This was the man who held me down by the neck as he violated me in front of another. He wouldn't help me. None of them would. It was made clear when Ezra avoided my gaze when I sought him out for help. If he wouldn't help me, none of the others would.
The double door opened to reveal a balcony that ended in stairs that descended into the crowd below. From our location, as we walked in, I could see each corner of the large white room that had pale silks in gold decorating the walls. The white tones that covered the room with the gold only served to makes the dresses and suits that the people below wore stand out. Flashes of reds, blues, purples, and greens danced across my sight as men and women danced across the wide dance floor in the center of the room.
Arranged around the dance floor were multiple circular tables that seated anywhere from ten to twenty. The table that stood out the most though was the one that could be seen directly across the room from the staircase. On the opposite wall in the center was a table on a raised platform. Seated at it was a woman with raven black hair that was streaked with silver and grey wearing a dark, forest green dress, on her head sat a dark jewelled crown. The jewels matched those that adorned her fingers that dropped over the arms of a throne-like chair. She looked out around the room as though she was ruling over it. At her side sat a younger-looking version of herself with turquoise-coloured hair. She had a smaller crown on her head that matched the older woman's, her mother I assumed.
Both arms tensed under my hands when I flinched at the sound of a deafening horn. The ringing it left in my ear was followed by the silence of a once lively room. The pounding of a staff onto the floor made me flinch once more.
"I present, Lady Nea Riar, and her husbands, Lord Cassius Montgomery Riar, and Lord Zev Dubois Riar."
Lester ended his booming words with another two pounds of his wooden staff onto the floor and a bow. Backing away carefully, he cleared the way for us to descend.
I hoped I looked more confident than I felt as I walked with my head held high between the two men. I hadn't paid much attention to how beautiful the two were compared to me until I had the eyes of hundreds of equally more beautiful people on me.
I could feel sweat bead at my hairline and drip down my spine.
I didn't realize that it was possible to feel worse until my eyes met a golden pair across the room. They were watching me closely over the rim of a glass filled with blue liquor. What sent sweat racing down my spine was the glint in his eyes and the smirk that he tried to hide behind his drink. His eyes flickered to my left. To Zev.
I glanced over at him to find him look back at Jaxon, a ghost of a smile on his lips. When I looked back towards Jaxon with mounting panic and dread, I found his eyes lock on me. He was no longer hiding the sadistic grin he wore. With a wink, he turned and left, abandoning his half-filled cup on a passing servant's empty tray.
My stomach turned. I think I might throw up.
A hand landing over mine drew my attention with a start. Zev had rested his hand over mine where it rested on his arm. He turned towards Cassius and smiled. It was strange to see on his usually stoic face.
"I'm going to take our wife for a dance," he said. "You greet the queen."
Cassius's stance widened just slightly at the command Zev issued. It didn't seem like he liked being told what to do.
He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "I will entertain the Queen entourage," he said as he straightened the cuffs of his suit jacket. He went to leave but stopped. Turning, he focused on Zev and eyed him closely for a long moment.
"Don't do anything you'll regret," he warned.
He continued to look into his eyes for another moment, seeming to try to drill the words into his head, before turning and heading in the direction of the raised table opposites the dance floor from where we stood.
As I was still watching Cassius walk away, Zev grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the mass of moving bodies in front of us. While those around us were upbeat and energetic, we were stiff and jerky as he pulled me towards the other end of the dance floor. Along the way, he declined to have conversations with a few people who wanted to engage, saying that he wanted to enjoy a dance with his wife first.
When we rounded a few people blocking our few, my eyes caught on the raised table again. They widened slightly when they landed on Ezra and Axel who were also seated there.
I didn't have much time to process my feeling about seeing Ezra again or the ache the sight of him brought to my heart because Zev suddenly jerked my body against him. That was also the reason I didn't have to dwell long on the look in his eyes or on the way Axel was looking at me as his tongue swept over his lower lip.
With my chest pressed flush against him, I looked up into his cool lavender eyes as the music changed to one of a completely different beat. A beat that Zev knew, or that was the impression I was given from the way he led my body to move along with it.
I couldn't help the flush that spread across my cheeks when I felt his hands freely roam over my torso. They travelled over my stomach, up my sides, and across my lower back, squeezing my hips. I tried to push him away, but that was counterintuitive as it only ended with him pulling me closer.
I could feel the warmth of his breath feather across the skin of my neck. It was warm and gentle, which made his next action feel worse in contrast.
One moment I gripping Zev's arms and try to push him away from me, the next I was clinging to them and pulling him towards me as I used my tight hold to keep myself standing upright. Pain shot through my foot, the most concentrated at my toes.
He had stepped on my foot.
"Oops," Zev's mocking voice said into my ear. "Sorry."
I wanted to stop and nurse the pain, but Zev didn't let me. He kept me standing upright and forced me to move along with him, sending shots of pains through my foot with each step.
I felt defeat flood my body as he reminded me once again that I didn't have any control over my own body. They had all proven that to me besides Ezra. He was the only one who had tried to teach me that it was my own to control.
I pushed him out of my mind. Thoughts of him brought back memories of the way he looked at me yesterday.
"Why are you doing this to me? Aren't I supposed to be your wife right now?"
My voice was a defeated whisper. I didn't even know why I was bothering to ask. Maybe it was because Cassius had said he was disappointed in how I had acted despite being given hardly anything to go on, yet they got away with harming me in front of others. Even if that was why, it would make no difference.
I could feel the wisps of a familiar numbness that had alluded me for the past few days in my times of need return. It was what the man in front of me had stolen with his heroics. It was funny in a dark, twisted way how he was also the last straw that gave me back my safe place.
Zev chuckled at my question. He leaned closer to my ear. "Don't worry, doll, you won't be for long."
I grit my teeth. They were acting like I had wanted to be here in the first place. They had forcibly brought me here. Everything that had gone wrong was their fault.
"That's after we're divorced," I replied. If I didn't have a say in it, I could acknowledge it if it could be used in my favour. "Tonight, I am."
My stomach twisted at the smile he gave me. It wasn't large and sinister, it wasn't creepy or maniacal.
No.
It was soft, almost gentle.
"See, I think divorce is letting someone like you off too easy." He whispered in my ear.
A slight murmur of conversation in the crowd around us began off to the side.
The fear Zev's words evoked was sudden and numbing. I could feel the numbness form in my stomach as the realization that whatever Zev had planned for me next would make grinding my hand into shatter porcelain look like child's play set in.
The sound of murmured conversation around us rose.
"Who would be so stupid?"
"I bet it was one of the peasant boys serving drinks. I caught one of them eyeing my broach earlier."
"What if she just misplaced it?"
I turned around in Zev's arms when the conversations around us grew in volume, all centred on the same topic. I was surprised when he let me.
"Attention!" A man in a green suit shouted as he stomped a staff similar to Lester's but with more embellishments, onto the floor. "Attention! The Queen's royal necklace has been stolen!"
Gasps and cries of shock sounded around the room.
"Everyone present is officially under royal custody. It is in your best interest to cooperate while we locate our Queens possessions and the perpetrator. If the thief steps forward now, the queen may decide to be merciful and show some leniency in the punishment."
The man waited a moment in the silence-filled room before asking the guests present to line up to be searched. Soldiers dressed in similar green colours suddenly appeared through doors hidden behind silk decorations. That was what set off panic in the room, causing voices to rise. As people lined up, the soldiers began to work their way through everyone, patting them down after scanning them with a wand of some sort.
I felt the arms around me tighten again. Zev leaned forward, his breath tickled my ear.
"But I can fix that."
With a shove, I found myself falling forwards. My hands windmilled slightly before I landed on my knee, bracing myself on my palms.
Gasps around me and shouts of accusations told me my suspicions were correct about what the heavy object that was launched from one of the folds of my dress was before I could look to see. Zev exploring hands now made so much more sense.
On the floor in front of me, near the feet of the man in green who had made the announcement, lay a heavily jewelled, diamond necklace.
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