Ever Fire by Alexia Purdy Read Free Book Online

Five
     
    THE PRINCE’S CHAMBERS were just as elaborate as the sitting room. Here there were threads of deep purple and blue in the rugs that ran along the stone floors as well as the length of the curtains that ran the expanse of the windows. The prince probably liked to block out the bright daylight that constantly poured into the room in waking hours. Shade was escorted into the room and directed to sit on one of the lush settee chairs. She watched the twin guards and Camulus bow to her and the Prince as they turned and shut the heavy wooden doors behind them. She wrung her fingers together while glancing up at Prince Lotinar, whose back now faced her, as he again was lost in a stare out the windows.
    Suddenly, he reached up and loosened one of the knots that held the massive material of curtains. The mass swayed with a whoosh across half the windows, swinging gently into position. He followed the curtains as they came to a halt, and then he turned toward her. He watched her for a moment, causing Shade to squirm in her chair quietly. She mentally forced herself to stop it and straightened, feeling the weight of his stare.
    “Do you know that Queen Aveta has her Lonares spies crawling all over Faerie, watching us with their insolent eyes, taking back any little bit of information, useless or not back to her? I found that I had to fit all the windows to my castle with lengths of curtain; that took half a year to make, to keep her spies at bay.” He glided over to the second set of tied curtains and loosened them too, throwing the room into the soft dark light of the chandelier.
    Shade watched intently. Without his stare bogging her down, he was easy on the eyes. He wore a long silver-white coat that fastened up to his neck, it was tailored to hug his thin waist and accent his broad shoulders. Swirls glinted down the sides of it like glimmering snakes. Glittering diamonds fastened the long sleeves around his wrists, while his pants of the same color were adorned down the sides in a similar swirled fashion. His silver-grey hair draped down over the white-silver of his garments much like a spill of mercury. His shoes were custom made to match the outfit perfectly, but appeared to be made of something soft and pliable, like some sort of dyed leather.
    Shade found herself caught off guard as the Prince stopped moving and turned towards her, finding her gawking at his outfit. She averted her eyes down to the deep purple rugs, feeling her face flushing scarlet. The last thing she had wanted was to be caught staring at a Prince.
    “Do you like what you see?” Prince Lotinar watched for her reaction. She looked back up at him and studied his gleaming emerald eyes.
    “Do I know you?” Shade asked. She felt hauntingly lost for a moment and would bet her life on having met him somewhere before that day. Yet he was as alien to her as most everyone in Faerie was.
    He waited to answer as he let her apprehension build. A smile played on his lips as he sized her up and down. Shade felt naked under his intensive exam and could hardly stand it much longer. She stood up, feeling anxious and wanting to run out of his chambers, out of the Glass Castle, and deep into the more familiar woods. She didn’t though; she glued herself to the floor as her heart raced in her chest and her breathing quickened.
    Get a grip already! There is no way you know this person. No way in hell! Shade thought. She slowed her breathing while closing her eyes to block his face. As the panic receded, she was able to open them again and look upon him.
    “Am I that repulsive?” A twinge of hurt filled his icy voice. “I thought by returning to my former appearance, I would be much more pleasurable to look at for you.” Prince Lotinar paused and watched her as realization flashed across his face. “I was hoping you would remember me. I see that you don’t, not in the least.” His lips pressed into a thin line as sadness swept across his jeweled eyes. He looked