Even if I didn’t already have a vendetta against this man, I would develop one quickly enough.

“I’ll drop you off at our room and give you time to rest and get ready,” he continues.

I step away from him. “Don’t bother. I’ll find it myself.”

I DON’T HEAD back to our room because fuck him. Instead I spend the next several hours figuring out the basic layout of the palace. When I was with Montes I didn’t want a tour of the place, and I still don’t, but there is use in knowing how a machine like the palace works.

This one is U-shaped with east and west wings. Montes already showed me most of the central building and the west wing. Those appear largely to serve formal functions.

The east wing, on the other hand, contains the king’s official business. I pass several doors fitted with placards of the king’s highest-ranking advisors. Another conference room, and a room that bears a sickening resemblance to the map rooms of the king’s other palaces. I leave before I can look at any of the crossed out faces too closely. The last thing I want to see is my father’s face among them.

I head back outside. A maze of hedges rise up on either side of a central pathway. Beyond them are a series of structures.

I squint up at the sky. Pinks and golds have replaced the earlier blue. I won’t have time to explore all of this place, not before the king drags me off to dinner. And I’m sure he will indeed drag me to it if I resist. Montes doesn’t make idle threats. Like me, he stands by his words, no matter how perverse they are.

I take in the many buildings that sit off in the distance. Towards the far corner of the palace grounds, I notice a series of long, squat structures. The soldiers’ barracks, if I had to guess. I have enough time to visit them, I think, before the king calls on me. So I head there next, ignoring the two guards that follow several feet behind me.

When I arrive, I can tell I guessed right. Several soldiers loiter between buildings, some laughing with each other. Of course, that all ends when they see me. Quickly, they stand at attention, bowing as I make my way through the barracks. I sense a good dose of that earlier wariness here. It’s just a feeling—perhaps the soldiers’ eyes are a tad too hard, their spines a bit too straight—but I know that I’m not entirely welcome. It doesn’t stop me, however, from moving through the buildings.

Mess hall, sleeping quarters, and to my utter delight, several training rooms. This, I belatedly realize, is what drew me out here. Amongst all the soft, painted faces, I feel hopelessly different. But this place that lacks adornment and smells like sweat, this I understand.

I run my hand over a metal dumbbell stacked against the wall, the grips worn down with use. I decide then and there that I won’t become what I detest. I’ll come here to train, and I’ll earn the guards’ respect or I won’t, but I will not lose the soldier in me.

From behind me, one of the guards now approaches. “Your Majesty, the king’s called for dinner.”

CHAPTER 9

Serenity

WHEN I MEET Montes back inside the palace, he doesn’t lead me to the dining room like I thought he might. Instead we head outside once more and cross the garden. The sun’s already set and the sky is deep blue. I feel summer in the breeze, and it stirs such intense longing in me. The last time I felt like this, I still had my mother.

As we move beyond the hedges, it becomes clear the king is leading me to another one of the buildings sitting at the far end of the grounds. It’s made of copper, marble, and most of all, glass. Hundreds of panes make up the dome alone. I’ve never seen a structure like this.

Montes holds my hand against the crook of his arm. I think he knows that if he lets go, I’ll pull away immediately. But the gesture’s strangely intimate

“Are you still angry?” he asks.

“When it comes to you, I’m always angry.”

“Mmm, you must not have recalled all your memories yet. For instance, the last time I laid between those pretty thighs of yours, you were far from angry.”

A blush spreads up my neck at the memory I do, in fact, recall. “Do you always get enjoyment being lewd?”

“My queen, that is not lewd. Lewd would be telling you how your tight little pu—”

“Montes.” My cheeks are flaming now, and I can’t tell if I’m more embarrassed by his words or the fact that I still react like this. Both he and I are aware it’s a weakness of mine.

He glances down at me, his eyes luminous as they catch the light of a nearby lamp. “That’s not lewd, Serenity. That is just what it means to be your husband. And yes, I get enjoyment from making you blush. It’s so very … unlike you.”

He squeezes my hand. And as I feel his fingers envelop mine, I’m reminded again that with him, intimacy isn’t just a handful of memories. It’s something that’ll happen again, and sooner rather than later, if the intense look in his eyes is any indication.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks.

He must see all my nerves, all my anxieties, but I won’t hand them to him on a platter by voicing the words.

I don’t tear my eyes from his when I say, “I’m thinking that you’d give the devil a run for his money. In fact, he’s probably worried that you’ll set your sights on his territory next.”

The corner of Monte’s mouth lifts. “A good idea, Serenity. Perhaps I could consult you on hell’s layout? I hear you’re familiar with it.”

God, I hate this man.

I turn my attention away from him, back to the structure he’s leading me towards. We enter the building, and I realize exactly what it is.

A greenhouse.

My lingering irritation evaporates as my eyes sweep across the interior. I’ve never seen so many different plants so close together. Their leaves are waxy and their colors—I didn’t realize so many different shades of green existed. But it’s not just green. Pinks and yellows, reds and oranges, whites and purples and every color in between, each plant stranger and lovelier than the last.

Without thinking I begin moving through the clusters of them, inadvertently tugging the king along with me. I can feel his gaze on my face, drinking up my reaction. I pull away from him to pet a leaf.

It’s a captive here, living in its own gilded cage.

Just like me.

Releasing it, I lift my gaze and take in the rest of the greenhouse. The glass panes are misted over, and the humidity is curling my hair. Hundreds of plants line the building. The size and beauty of this place is staggering.