Gemma

Two days later, Azur appeared in my rooms as Ludayn was fussing over wrinkles in my dress.

“Kyzaire,” she gasped softly, wide eyed with surprise before stepping away from me, dropping back from view to allow my husband to stride forward.

“Good morning,” I murmured, meeting his eyes, feeling my belly flutter with anticipation.

“We’re going down to the village today,” he told me. His red eyes swept my body, nostrils flaring when he saw the slit that ran up the length of the sky-blue dress Ludayn had insisted I wear today. I’d given up trying to fight her on my outfits about a week ago. She was incredibly strong willed, I’d come to find.

“Oh,” I said, a wiggle of excitement making my fingers twitch. “Really?”

“The marriage was announced to the Kaalium yesterday evening. It’s expected we make an appearance in the village.”

That deflated my excitement a little bit. This was a duty for him. Not because he wanted to take me down to the village, even though I’d been hinting the last couple days at breakfast.

“Just yesterday evening?” I asked, tilting my head. “But we’ve been married for close to a month.”

Azur didn’t say anything. He stretched his neck, and I heard a small pop.

“All right,” I murmured, shrugging it off. “Will this dress be suitable?”

He’d called my others hideous, after all. I knew perfectly well that this dress was more than suitable for a visit to the village, but I wanted to hear him say it. It was made of a light, buttery-soft material that hugged my breasts and hips. The neckline was open, and Ludayn had left my hair up at my request, though she’d tucked the strands into a soft bun, decorated with a glimmering silver pin, instead of the severe bun I usually raked it back in. My neck was on display, and I knew that Azur could just make out the bite he’d left on me last night, the one on the top of my right breast.

“Yes,” he grunted, those red eyes sweeping me again, and my toes curled in my slippers, trying to ignore the little bloom of desire between my thighs. In a dark, husky tone, he said, “Perfectly suitable.”

A thrill went through me.

I might not have been a great beauty, not like my sisters, but Azur could hardly take his eyes off me. It was a heady sensation. Addicting like the pleasure that coursed through me as he fed.

With Ludayn trailing us, though at a great distance, we left my rooms and the northeast wing entirely. Keepers bowed as we passed, and when he reached the landing that opened up to the bottom floor, Azur stepped up to it. His arms came around my waist. Over his shoulder, to Ludayn, he said, “Meet us at the village.”

All I heard was, “Yes, Kyzaire,” and then Azur was stepping us off the edge.

I clung to his shoulders and gave a little shriek when the skirts of my dress billowed open. Azur actually laughed, a brief, huffing sound, as he watched me scramble to cover my exposed sex, flaring his wings wide about halfway down the core of the keep to stop our quick descent. My skirts settled, though his warm hand slid up my thigh, getting dangerously close to where he’d find me wet and slick for him.

“Now I know why Kylorr females don’t wear dresses,” I grumbled, my cheeks hot, hoping that no keepers had seen. Or worse, Zaale. I shuddered to think about that.

I slapped at Azur’s hand when it strayed too close, and his lips twitched. “I’ve never noticed how enticing dresses are until just recently.”

My cheeks burned hotter. Was he…was he flirting with me?

We landed gently on the bottom floor. The stretch of the grand staircase was to our left. Poor Ludayn, she’d probably just made it to the second floor. I’d seen keepers use the landings and watched them fly up to the different levels, but I’d never experienced them myself.

Instead of taking the back entrance, however, Azur led me down another wide, bright hallway just to the right of the staircase. I’d never liked traveling down this particular one, though I’d discovered it a couple days into living here and it was the easiest path to the front of the keep. The carvings on the walls depicted Kylorr in various stages of battle. Panels in the stone that had been smoothed with time—but time that had done little to soften the gruesome scenes and the expressions of blood-splattered victory.

I kept my eyes away from them until the hallway funneled us to the front of the keep, to the grand and awe-inspiring foyer. The main entrance of the house. The neck-craning, tall double doors—inlaid with silver leaves and polished regularly—would be open wide for the harvest ball, as Kalia had informed me.

Azur opened them for me now.

Outside, the morning sun was warm and inviting. I smiled, breathing in the crisp air, the scent of the sea drifting over my tongue.

“Kyzaire,” came Zaale’s voice behind us.

Azur’s hand was on the small of my back, leading me down the flared stone steps. Beyond the keep, I had a breathtaking view of Laras. The villages were spread out on a wide, sweeping stretch of land before the keep. Even still, some of the buildings were tall, spectacular in their architecture, and I saw defined, well-used roads, a haphazard pattern that wound around Laras, connecting it like the pathway of veins in a body.

Zaale stopped at the door, and Azur climbed the steps he’d just descended to meet him. The keeper spoke close to Azur’s ear, and I watched my husband’s face tighten, a brief downturn of his lips, before he nodded at Zaale.

“Inform Rivin,” he said. “I’ll be back within the hour.”

Zaale inclined his head, disappearing back into the keep and sealing the doors behind us.

Worrying my lip, I watched as Azur returned to me, guiding me down the last of the steps. Small white stones crunched underneath my slippers. There was a tree-lined path a short distance from the stairs, shaded and cool as we walked beneath the canopies.

“Is something wrong?” I finally asked. Azur’s hand was on my back again. The heat of his palm felt like a brand, and I couldn’t help but press into him.

Azur didn’t say anything at first. The gravel disappeared beneath my feet the farther we walked. On the tree-lined path, the cobbled road was worn with time and use. On either side of the aged stones, between each of the trees, I saw flowering bushes, thriving in its shaded condition. Bright red blooms, unfurling into thick, plush petals. And at the very center, the stamens glowed yellow. Like a Halo orb’s light. They lit up the path like little beacons.

Beautiful, I thought, having never seen anything like it.

“Maazin has disappeared,” Azur finally said, his voice cutting through the silence.

I stilled, coming to a stop beside him. “What do you mean?”

“He likely came to the keep yesterday, saw that the records were missing, and slipped out,” Azur said. “I had all the doors watched, but there’s been no sign of him. Zaale just informed me that his room in the village has been cleared out. His neighbor said he left in a hurry yesterday afternoon.”

My hand came to my throat and I felt my hard swallow. “So…so you think he was stealing from you?”

“I checked the transactions from the accounts he managed the morning after you found the records. The payments were just as they were written. Hundreds of thousands of credits that should have been there. My only guess is that he has connections to Kaazor. Connections that didn’t show up when Zaale vetted him for the position at the keep. He’s been funneling cheap lore to them for years. Crates of it that they might have been selling themselves to interested buyers.”

I breathed out an incredulous breath.

“We only sell lore to reputable and trusted buyers throughout the Quadrants,” Azur informed me next. “Those that cannot get it directly from us…they would likely pay exorbitant fees for genuine lore from the Kaalium. Perhaps that’s what the Kaazor are doing.”