7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“ I just show up, and the food is already prepared?” Iris asked dubiously after Tallulah finished telling her about the dining hall and explaining the meal schedule. “What do I need to help with?”

“Nothing,” Tallulah assured her. “It’s all part of how the palace runs.”

“Oh, how lovely ,” Iris murmured, amazed. “Though, I really would like to help with something. Somewhere. Whatever I can do.”

“Just find your feet first,” Tallulah recommended. “Get used to the shadow realm, to the palace, meet everyone. There’s no rush.”

“I’m so grateful I came here,” Iris said wistfully, a soft smile on her face.

Fuck Ruvyn, I definitely wasn’t going to be introducing Iris to him.

Not that I’d had much of a chance to speak to her or anything, but something about her had me feeling… out of sorts.

I always knew what to say. Perhaps not what to do , but at least how to charm anyone enough that it didn’t really matter if I didn’t have the answers they were looking for. But Iris was waiting so expectantly, so trustingly , for us to come up with a solution—and Tallulah was basically demanding that I step up and find one—and now I was too stressed to make anyone smile.

Worse still, Iris seemed like she’d be content with whatever half-cooked idea I came up with, and that didn’t sit well with me. She had a soft optimism to her that should be preserved at all costs. Like she’d come to the shadow realm with an entirely pure and unshakeable belief that life here was going to be better for her.

I was going to make sure that was the case.

“The room is ready. If you’ll follow me,” I said, having gotten the go-ahead from the staff that they’d finished preparing it.

It was as close as Iris could be to the dining hall whilst also having a private courtyard for her delightful little beast companion. Unfortunately, all of the ground-floor rooms were small because most of the communal spaces were down here.

What if Iris didn’t like it? I got the distinct impression that she wouldn’t tell anyone, and I was oddly displeased by it. Usually, I liked easy-going personalities.

“I think this room will work best for you,” I told her, pushing open the door. “It has a small courtyard directly outside and its own washroom.”

“That sounds perfect, thank you,” Iris said with a smile that could have melted the coldest of hearts.

“That’s… okay.”

Huh. It was strange to be thanked for something. I supposed I didn’t usually do things that required gratitude.

I liked the way that Iris spoke to me the same way she spoke to Tallulah and Meera, even though she knew I was a prince. And she was very lovely, I had to admit. Her hair was an odd color compared to what I’d seen of the other ex-Hunters—a dismal sort of pale brown with odd patches of a lighter color—but it didn’t detract from the elegance of her face. Interestingly, she had the kind of beauty that was particularly prized in Shades. Sharp, angular features, high cheekbones, a pointed jaw, and a long, graceful neck.

But there was nothing Shade about that soft, welcoming smile and those blunt, harmless teeth.

Or her complex, interesting scent. Iris seemed to be processing a range of emotions, though seemingly none of them were negative. She must have a very joyful disposition to walk into this situation alone— blind— and feel anything close to contentment.

It made me want to stay close to her. To absorb some of that brightness for myself, as well as shelter her, so nothing could dim her light. It wasn’t a sensation I’d ever experienced before, so I surmised that I must be in love with her. What else could it possibly be?

Based on scent, she didn’t appear to love me back yet, but we hadn’t spent much time together. I’m sure we’d get there eventually.

“Weren’t you going to arrange food?” Tallulah reminded me. She was always confident, but she seemed more assertive than usual today. Or annoyed. I wasn’t entirely confident which.

I lingered in the doorway, but even the usually mild Meera turned to give me a get out look. Perhaps they wanted time alone for “girl talk,” as Ophelia always referred to it? I supposed I could come back later and get a feel for whether Iris was in love with me or not yet.

Leaving them to it, I headed down the corridor, sending an instruction down to the kitchen with a staff member to have a tray brought up.

Would it be possible to keep every other Shade away from Iris until she’d chosen me for her mate? That didn’t seem like too much to ask.

Conveniently, Soren was pacing in the corridor as I emerged like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself.

“Is Iris okay?” he asked.

“Yes. She’s magnificent actually, she’s adapting very well. Soren, the doors in the palace only lock via shadows. I didn’t bring it up with Iris yet as I didn’t have a solution, but we can’t expect her to stay in an unlocked room.”

Elverston House could be secured with a drawbar from the inside, but there was no such thing on the individual rooms within the palace.

“I hadn’t thought of that.” Soren briefly glanced at me in surprise, like he was shocked that I had. “She’s in the end room. I’ll see to it that the others are left unoccupied—they’re for temporary visitors anyway—then station a guard rotation for the entire corridor. It’s not ideal, I admit. Iris is new here and she has no reason to entrust her safety to Shades in general, let alone the Guard.”

“I don’t think that will bother her,” I admitted. “She seems to have a very trusting disposition. Only put your very best on duty here,” I added in a warning voice. I didn’t like to think that any member of the Guard was dishonorable, but I didn’t want Soren taking any chances.

“Of course,” he agreed, narrowing his eyes slightly. “I’m glad to see you’re taking more of an interest in goings-on around the palace, Damen.”

“I always take an interest in things,” I replied, waving him off. “Shall I go update my brother on this new development while you arrange a guard rotation for this corridor? Did he know she was coming?”

Somehow, that seemed to make him more suspicious, though I had no idea why.

“That would be unusually helpful of you, thanks. He knew Astrid and I were collecting someone, but the details of the note were vague.”

“I’m always helpful,” I assured him, clapping him on the shoulder before making for the throne room where Allerick would probably be meeting with… I don’t know. Subjects, I supposed. He never used to use that room, but since he and Ophelia had thoroughly desecrated it, he was rather fond of the place.

It must be nice to have someone to desecrate important state rooms with.

Perhaps that would be me someday soon.

“Damen,” Allerick said in surprise as I walked in, finding him speaking to a couple of the most boring elders on the Council of Shades. I was doing him a favor by rescuing him from this conversation.

“May I have a word?”

“Of course.”

The two elders inclined their heads deeply to Allerick, then with less enthusiasm at me before excusing themselves.

“Where’s my favorite sister?” I asked, climbing the stairs up the dais and sitting on the top one. I leaned back on my forearms so I could peer up at Allerick while he spoke from his ugly throne. If I were king, I’d have redecorated.

“Napping,” he replied, almost bashfully for my cocky brother.

“Are you running your poor wife ragged again?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Watch it, Damen.”

Right, right. I felt a twinge of guilt at my thoughtless joke after what he’d confided in me the other night.

“You will be able to retaliate in kind shortly,” I assured him. “I’ve met my wife.”

“You’ve… what? Who?”

“The new ex-Hunter who just moved to the realm. The one Soren and Astrid collected. Her name is Iris. I think I’ll marry her someday. Ideally sooner rather than later.”

“You’re going to… Are you feeling okay?”

“Of course, I am.” I sighed, exasperated with Allerick’s limited emotional range. “What part of ‘I met her today and I’m going to marry her’ are you finding difficult to comprehend?”

“All of it. You’ve never expressed that kind of interest in anyone before. It’s unusual for you.”

“I was just waiting for the right one, clearly.”

“Yes,” he agreed slowly. “Clearly. Why don’t you tell me about her?”

“Well, she’s very kind. The kindest of all the ex-Hunters who have moved here, I’m sure of it—though I don’t mean that as a slight against your wife.” Allerick made a grumbling sound but didn’t say anything. “She is pleased by the simple things and talks to me like I’m the same as anyone else. Iris is also beautiful, which is a pleasant bonus. She’s sweet and curious. She has a very agreeable nature which is something that I would like in a wife as I don’t have much desire to be challenged on anything—”

“Words that every wife desires to hear from her spouse.”

“—and I believe that we could live a very content life together. She inspires a feeling of protectiveness in me. What else is there?”

He looked at me for a long moment. “Have you asked Iris what she wants?”

“That seems a little forward, Allerick. I just met her.”

He groaned, slumping down in his throne and resting his forehead on his palm. “And yet you are content to project whatever ideas you wish about her onto a future marriage you’ve made up in your mind?”

“It’s very romantic of me,” I agreed. “Planning out our future this way. Someday—once we’re engaged, ideally with my mating mark on her neck—I’ll tell her that I knew from the very moment I saw her that she was the one and I even informed my brother as such immediately after the fact. I assume you’ll be supportive and reaffirm how smitten I was when she asks.”

“Everything you’re saying is I, I, I. What will Iris say about the moment she first saw you?”

“She didn’t see me, I suppose,” I mused. “Perhaps she’ll reflect back on the first moment that she heard me? I should have touched her—just on the arm or something, relax—something to make the moment magical so it would exist as clearly in her mind as it does in mine.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, right. Iris can’t see. Her eyes don’t… function. I don’t know how it works,” I admitted. Shades didn’t get injured like that—our power healed us. Though Evrin, a member of the Guard, had been born without horns entirely. Maybe it worked the same way? Perhaps Iris didn’t have eyeballs?

It didn’t make her any less desirable to me. Should I tell Allerick I was in love with her? He’d probably be as negative about that as he was being about everything else I was saying.

Allerick straightened, looking worried. “You didn’t think that was pertinent information to lead with? Damen, that makes her very vulnerable. She’s in a brand-new world, and she can’t see her surroundings.”

“We put her in a room here in the palace rather than Elverston House for her comfort. And she has a pet beast who helps her navigate things. And I’ll take care of her.”

“You’re not to propose to her.”

“What?! Why not?” I narrowed my eyes, contemplating challenging Allerick for his throne. Once upon a time we’d have been equals, but now that he was feeding from Ophelia, I suspected I wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Stop looking at me like that—you don’t want my job. You can’t propose to her right away, at least. Give Iris time to settle in and get familiar with the place. She might not even like it here. She might not even like you .”

“Everyone likes me.” Granted, I hadn’t had any luck romantically with any of the other ex-Hunters, but that had been entirely mutual—I hadn’t felt anything for them, and they hadn’t felt anything for me.

“A month,” Allerick stated firmly. “Wait a month. Give her time to settle in. Get to know her—make sure that the connection you think is there is real—”

“It is real. And a month is barbaric.”

“—and in the meantime, I’m going to wake up Ophelia. I think she’d like to be involved in this to make sure the right arrangements are in place to accommodate Iris. I’ll see you at dinner—don’t do anything ridiculous before then.”

“Apparently, I have to wait a month first,” I snarked, annoyed at Allerick’s high-handedness, but he was already gone.

Fine. I could wait a month. Iris needed time to get to know me anyway, so her scent would sweeten into that delightful lovey-dovey smell that ex-Hunters got when they were smitten. There was a faint niggle of doubt in the back of my mind that she might not reciprocate the immediate love I’d developed for her, but I squashed it instantly.

I would woo her and charm her. Gently suggest that it would be fun to be a princess. Iris would be my wife in no time.