Chapter 9

My stomach had fluttered nervously ever since I left the park, or more accurately, ever since Daryus left the park. It was a constant nervous sensation and I caught myself several times rubbing my belly, to try and alleviate the anxiety. It didn’t help.

“Are you ready for your second meeting with Sir Vodin?” Lady Natoi inquired when she caught me for the fifth time staring at the closed doors.

“I suppose I am,” I lied, looking over my wardrobe one more time. The dress I wore tonight was a lot more subdued in coloring than the one Lady Natoi made me wear last night. It seemed her input in my wardrobe was only warranted when Daryus invited me. A fact I didn’t bemoan in the least, but I was becoming increasingly concerned that Daryus had changed his mind and didn’t want to see me for dinner after all.

My concern included Sir Vodin as well, because he was a nice man and I didn’t like disappointing him at the last minute. Finally, there was a loud knock on the door and a repeat of the scene from last night, except this time Lady Natoi didn’t assume the invitation was for her.

“Well, I wish he would have sent his request a bit earlier,” Lady Natoi fumed at the servant.

“I beg your pardon, Lady Natoi. Do you wish me to relay your words to the emperor?” the servant asked, and I turned to hide my smirk which wasn’t very appropriate, but hard to suppress.

“Oh, for the love of Staphor, of course not, you dimwitted… koloch. Tell His Imperial Highness the merrily will be there shortly.” She dismissed the servant before turning to me. “What a mess. I suppose there isn’t any time to get you dressed more appropriately now… ” She heaved out a loud sigh. “Maybe that will teach His Imperial Highness that he is wasting his time with the likes of you. What he sees in you beyond being curious about a human I will never understand. I suppose it’s up to me to reschedule your meeting with Sir Vodin. A fine mess you got me in, Heather, a fine mess.”

Tsking and shaking her head, Lady Natoi poured herself a glass of what on Earth might have been a sherry for the highborn ladies, or at least that’s how it had always been portrayed in the movies I watched, and drank it down in one swallow.

“Go, go. What are you waiting for, you lazy piece of koloch? Move.” She waved her hands, shooing me out of her suite.

In all honesty, I was a bit irritated with Daryus for having waited until the last moment, even though it meant I got to wear something to my liking instead of what Lady Natoi deemed appropriate. I wondered if he had suspected anything like this and that was the reason why the invitation came so late, or if he enjoyed playing mind games with me or Sir Vodin. I hoped it wasn’t the latter, because I didn’t like the idea at all, but decided I would ask him nevertheless.

I was familiar with the way to his suite by now and the guards must have received their orders already, because they allowed me entrance without a word or asking me my business. I supposed Daryus didn’t see many human women, so telling the guards one would drop by would have probably been enough, and for some reason, I liked that thought.

The moment the large sliding doors opened I saw Daryus standing with his back to me, staring out the glass entrance across the room that led to the balcony. At the sound of the doors, he turned and I fell into the expected curtsy.

Three long steps brought him to stand right in front of me. With his hand out to help me up, he said, “You don’t need to do this when we’re alone.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know the first thing about proper etiquette in the presence of an emperor,” I explained. “Lady Natoi taught me a few things, but—”

He shook his head. “Nocc. I want you the way you are, without all the courtly frills.”

I swallowed and my face flushed. He wanted me? He could have said, I like you the way you are, but he didn’t. He said, I want you the way you are, making my heart flutter at the quiet distinction.

“I’m very glad you came,” he said hoarsely, keeping my hand in his.

“You did wait until the last minute to send your invitation,” I replied in the most scolding tone I dared in his presence.

He grinned. “You noticed, eh?”

I nodded, trying to look reprimanding. “Poor Sir Vodin, he must have already—”

“Tell me”—Daryus pulled me closer toward him by my hand—“are you truly disappointed to be here with me instead of him?”

He was so close that the scent of his aftershave—if Pandraxians used aftershave—hit my nose. It held a hint of pine, ocean, and musk, robbing me momentarily of the ability to speak, so I just shook my head and stared into his teal eyes that swirled most enticingly.

“Good,” he relinquished my hand, only to bring his up and cup my cheek. “I’m glad.”

His touch was gentle, his palm more calloused than I would have expected from the Pandraxian emperor, and a shiver moved through me at envisioning those hands on other parts of my body.

“You look lovely tonight,” he rasped, moving his eyes up and down my body.

“Your invitation came late enough to make it impossible for Lady Natoi to force me to wear anything else,” I admitted, finally finding my tongue again.

He grinned.

I cocked my head into his hand. “Did you wait so long sending for me because of that, or because you wanted to irritate Sir Vodin?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it irritating him,” Daryus objected, and I watched his facial expression harden. “It is more a reminder of whose claim is more powerful.”

My heart skipped a beat. Claim?

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On the one hand, it was quite a flattering notion to be claimed by a man like Daryus, on the other hand, it implied so much more. Most of all, it took my preference out of the equation. But no, that wasn’t entirely true. He had asked me if I would have preferred to dine with Sir Vodin. What would he have done had I said yes?

“Let’s just say it served two purposes to wait just a bit longer.” His expression softened again, and in his eyes I discovered a surprising vulnerability when he admitted, “Honestly, I wasn’t certain whose invitation you would take.”

Under different circumstances, I would have called him a liar—he was the emperor. But staring into his eyes now, I realized that yes, part of him had been insecure about it. The realization sent a strange sensation through my heart.

“Are you hungry?” He changed the subject and removed his palm from my cheek, leaving me feeling strangely bereft.

“Yes,” I lied, because my stomach was actually knotted in all kinds of different emotions, most of which were born from nervousness around him and not only because he was the most powerful man in the universe.

I had done my fair share of dating, but many of the men I had seen had been appropriately arranged by my father. None of them had ever made me nervous or elicited any kind of emotions from me, other than boredom or resentment. Only a few of the ones I picked—let’s call them the bad boys—had sparked that fluttery sensation in the pits of my stomach. But nothing like the ones Daryus ignited.

Strangely though, I was neither insecure nor felt intimidated by him.

He led me to a richly decorated table, filled with dishes of the most delicate-looking food I had ever seen, including the extravagant places Lady Natoi had taken me to.

Bite-sized, differently shaped foods lay artfully arranged on golden platters with intricate carvings. Most of the platters resembled alien flowers, but some were carved into just as stunning, abstract patterns.

Daryus pulled a chair out for me and I made sure to lower myself in a ladylike fashion, instead of simply plopping down. He walked around the table to sit across from me, giving me a moment to appreciate the little bites of food that had been shaped into all kinds of forms—flowers, animals, simple squares, circles, and so on. They reminded me of lovingly cut-out sandwiches, but their layers looked definitely alien. Some resembled a jelly-like substance in all colors of the rainbow, others were made from something solidly black, without losing their appetizing appearance.

I had been on Pandrax long enough to have figured out that there was rarely a food I didn’t like and that most of it looked like a piece of art. Still, as should be expected, the food on the emperor’s table was by far the most artful yet.

Daryus reached for my plate. “What can I serve you?”

This was something else I had learned from my suitors. For some reason, the Pandraxians loved to fill a lady’s plate for them. I pointed at several different bites and he arranged them on my plate, using tongs, taking his time to pick out the best-looking piece from the array I pointed at.

“Thank you,” I said when he handed me my plate.

“You’re welcome.” His long fingers brushed against mine and the fluttering in my stomach intensified, making me fear I wouldn’t be able to eat a bite.

I watched him fill his own in a nonpicky manner, just taking whatever was in reach, before waving at me. “Please, eat.”

I reached for a small flower-shaped bite with an orange jelly stuffing that I had eaten before, and was actually one of my favorites, and put it in my mouth. As expected, I didn’t taste a thing when I bit down and began to chew, even though flavors should have exploded on my tongue. My entire being was solely focused on the male across from me.

Daryus didn’t seem to have such reservations and it took him a few moments before he noticed my lack of appetite. “You are not hungry?”

“I’m nervous,” I replied, deciding to be honest.

“Because of me?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” I admitted, returning his gaze.

“Good.” He nodded with a self-satisfied, arrogant grin.

“Good?”

“I’m nervous too,” he confessed, surprising me.