Adrienne (13 page)

She’d started having every meal in the dining hall. That made Malik happy, but she didn’t do it for him. It was the only way to learn. The more she interacted with her soon-to-be subjects, the less daunting they all seemed.

Her fear of screwing up because of lack of knowledge went away as well. The information download from Malik had an auto-update feature. Every time anyone mentioned something unfamiliar, she “remembered” the explanation. Malik had explained this was normal. If she had access to the information all at once, the overload might put her in a coma. Given the circumstances, she welcomed the drip feed approach.

While the spell was active from the first moment she awoke on Bron, she hadn’t absorbed enough magicks to utilize it properly. Even now, her fount of knowledge stopped producing if she overexerted herself with too much magicks practice.

She moved away from the mirror and sat in the window seat. Khursid moved to stand behind her, but she ignored him. Outside, the garden lacked any gardener-plant battles to amuse her, since it had been tamed the day before. During one of her visits to the garden, she had coaxed a few of the plants into giving up their blossoms so she could decorate her room. The magicks that animated the plants wore off once the blooms were severed from the body. While the plants probably meant her no harm, they were still dangerous.

The same sentiment could be applied to her husband-to-be. She pushed away from the window seat and went to her bed.

Every thought led back to Malik and the wedding ceremony scheduled in less than an hour. The closer it got to sunset, the more agitated she became.

Anxiety had attacked her when she started dressing. Tremors had coursed through her body and made the preparations harder. After Mushira declared Adrienne ready, the shaking stopped, only to be replaced by an overwhelming urge to jump out the window. A joke to that effect had Khursid standing in front of the windows and moving to her side whenever she got too close. Adrienne didn’t scold him about it since she wasn’t sure she might not try.

“Truly, Princess Adrienne, there is nothing to be so agitated over. You should eat so you are not lightheaded,” Mushira urged. “You will not get another chance before the celebration feast later tonight.”

Hani, who was polishing Adrienne’s tiara, added, “That is three hours from now, Highness.”

“Not hungry, and please stop mentioning food. My stomach is already trying to crawl out of my throat,” Adrienne pleaded.

The sound of footsteps on the carpeted floor outside the bedroom made Adrienne jump from her perch and face the door. She wrung her hands until the footsteps passed, then slumped into her previous position with relief.

Adrienne put her head in her hands. A tiny stabbing pain started at the base of her neck. From experience, she knew it wouldn’t take long for it to spread, and she would have a full-blown, take-no-prisoners adrenaline headache.

She wanted her mother. She wanted her father. Hell, she even wanted her bratty twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. A wave of homesickness hit her. Her family wouldn’t see her get married.

They would never see her again, for that matter.

They were probably worried out of their minds about her and she had no way of letting them know she was okay—for now. Who knew what would happen to her after the wedding. Malik might turn into a real monster after she was legally bound to him.

Adrienne’s headache doubled when Malik entered the room. She hadn’t heard his footsteps—not that she’d ever heard him before, since the man moved as silently as his cat. She backed away from him and ran into the bathroom.

Malik looked after his retreating bride with concern. He’d felt her agitation all the way in his throne room where the ceremony would take place. He had rushed to her side in hopes that he could somehow help remedy her anxieties.

Mushira forced a smile. “Please, forgive her, Majesty. The princess finds herself—”

“I know, Mushira,” Malik said in a reassuring tone. He shared Adrienne’s case of nerves, if not their intensity; therefore, he wasn’t angry.

He went to the door of the bathroom and tapped lightly.

“Go away.”

Malik smiled sadly. “You know I cannot, my lady. The ceremony is but moments away.” He placed his palm flat on the door. “I have come to escort you.”

“It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding ceremony.”

“That is a superstition of your world, my lady, not mine. I assure you, my escort is perfectly normal.”

No reply, only tiny electric shocks running up and down his arms—Adrienne’s panic.

This was a waste of time. She wouldn’t see reason. Unfortunately, her time was up, as was Malik’s. He’d allowed her to avoid him the past three days because that ensured he wouldn’t rip the clothes from her body and find out what her passion felt like. Even the presence of her entourage wouldn’t have deterred him.

He only had to be patient a little while longer. That was the mantra he repeated over and over to keep himself in control so he could deal with the situation at hand in a calm manner.

With a small push of power, Malik’s hand passed through the door to grab Adrienne’s arm. He pulled her through and made sure no part of Adrienne or her clothing remained in the door before he let her go. Releasing her too soon would have melded the two. He could separate them easily but the process was painful to a living creature and would only add to Adrienne’s panic.

Adrienne stared at Malik in surprise. She hadn’t imagined it. He had pulled her from the bathroom to the main room
through
her bathroom door. Through it! It hadn’t hurt, but it was disconcerting.

She swatted Malik’s hands away then stepped back. “You pulled me through the door.”

“Would you have come out, my lady?”

“Hell no!” The look she gave him showed the stupidity of his question.

“Then it was necessary.” He placed his hands on either side of her head at her temples.

She tried to pull away but found she couldn’t move. “What are you doing?”

“Relieving your headache.”

Of course
, thought Adrienne. She had forgotten about her magicks, or else she would have stopped the headache herself.

Malik released Adrienne when her headache alleviated, and stepped back to give her room. Her panic remained but the pain was gone.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Nimat move in front of the bathroom door, barring Adrienne from fleeing back inside.

He looked over everyone in the room. Khursid and Qamar stood in front of the windows, Hani had moved to block the closet in case Adrienne thought to hide there, and Mushira hovered behind him.

Though they could not feel Adrienne’s agitation as Malik could, they responded to it by treating her like a caged animal ready to bolt at the first sign of weakness. This probably didn’t help Adrienne’s current state of mind.

He made a snap decision. “Out! All of you.” His tone left no room for argument, though Mushira and Khursid both seemed as though they would. A single look made them keep their silence and follow the others out of the room.

After the door firmly shut behind the last retreating back, Malik spoke softly to his bride. “Adrienne, I know I have not given you much time to adjust, and an unfortunate happening marred your arrival here. I cannot change those things. However, I can make the rest of your time here happy, if you allow me.”

He put his hands on her shoulders. It was all he could safely do, except he shouldn’t even do that much. Touching her was dangerous without the others around to bring him back to his senses. He focused on Adrienne’s agitation and tried to make it his own as a way to combat his lust. Only a few more hours and all his patience would be rewarded.

Adrienne looked up at Malik and knew he meant it. She could read the sincerity in his words, and in his eyes, and feel it of him. He was concerned for her.

“You really want to make me happy?”

“Yes.” He breathed the word on a sigh.

“I want to see my parents,” she demanded.

Malik’s relieved look vanished.

Good
, she thought. What did he have to be so happy about when she was miserable?

“I want my favorite stuffed animal from my bed. I want to yell at my bratty brothers for coming into my room without asking. I want to walk across the stage at my college graduation. I want to get my master’s degree. I want—”

“Stop,” Malik yelled over her tirade. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and stepped away.

“Why? That’s what would make me happy. Some spell says I’m your queen and you just snatch me away from my life and throw me into yours. You didn’t ask me! You still haven’t!”

Adrienne didn’t want to yell. The others were right outside the door and they might hear her. She couldn’t help it. She’d held back her frustration and anger all this time, venting in her head but never aloud. With people always around, there was no privacy for her to tear into Malik like she wanted.

Except now.

The wedding day had arrived. This was her last-ditch effort. Even if it didn’t work, she would have the satisfaction of telling Malik just what she thought about all of this, and of him.

“You wish for me to ask for your hand?”

“No! I
wish
to go home.”

Silence.

Adrienne whirled away and went to the windows. She stared at her reflection. This was not the wedding dress she wanted for herself. It was nice but it lacked any fringe and flounce. She hadn’t wanted the Cinderella deal but thought her dress would at least be made out of silk or satin, or a reasonable facsimile—not something that felt like cotton and looked like linen.

“Answer me something, Malik,” Adrienne said in a soft, subdued voice. She was too tired to yell anymore. She had gotten no sleep the night before, anxiety had claimed her morning, and it all caught up to her.

“Yes?” Malik answered, his voice equally quiet.

She looked at his reflection, which stood next to hers even though the man stood several steps away. He wore clothing as plain as hers. His loose-fitting pants and shirt seemed to be made of the same white material, and the knee-length vest he wore over his shirt was pale beige.

“Would you have handled our introduction differently if those men hadn’t been attacking me?”

His gaze met hers in the reflection. “Possibly not. I knew you to be mine, and I took you. I have ruled in a like manner since I was ten years of age.”

Adrienne shrugged. “At least you’re honest.”

She looked past her reflection to the grounds below. She didn’t see a garden, but her future. A spell and a spoiled king had decided her life, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take advantage of the situation. She could be happy, barring the threat of imminent assassination.

She would be equal to Malik in rule and power—once she got control of her powers—and she could incite change. Her thoughts would be heard and heeded. In the end, wasn’t that what everyone wanted? A chance to be heard?

Adrienne figured she had lost her mind. She was starting to entertain the thought of going through with this wedding and marriage willingly.

Her proof of insanity came when her reflection winked at her. She jumped back from the windows with a scared yelp.

Malik was there instantly. “What is it?”

She pointed at the window, but her reflection didn’t mimic her. It smiled at them. “What in the…”

Malik touched the glass. The reflection of Adrienne smiled wider. He wrapped his power around the image but couldn’t discern how it came to be there or how to get rid of it. Power from the image pushed him away. and he stumbled back in surprise. His power knew no rivals, which included the heads of the Mage Guild. This couldn’t be Adrienne’s doing, as she hadn’t learned to control her powers to such an extent.

The reflection pressed her palm flat against the glass of the window. She smiled invitingly and, with a crooked finger, beckoned Adrienne forward. She pantomimed with her free hand that Adrienne should place her palm against the glass. Adrienne raised her hand but Malik pulled her back.

“No. The magicks of this realm take on many guises. Most of them have malevolent intentions.” He left out the reflection’s ability to manifest more power than him. That worried him. Had Hollace found out about Adrienne and decided to interfere and stop the wedding? But no, that made no sense, because Hollace abhorred magicks. Then who conjured this reflection, and what purpose did it have?

The reflection shook her head and rolled her eyes. She beckoned with her full hand. There was urgency in the motion, like the reflection had someplace to be.

No warning bells went off for Adrienne. She decided to trust herself, as it were. She pressed her hand against the reflection’s.

Malik didn’t try to stop her.

Adrienne leaned in close when the reflection did. She felt soothing warmth spread over her body. It was somehow familiar, so she opened herself to it.

The reflection spoke, and though there was no sound, Adrienne heard it. She quizzed the reflection and it answered her. She didn’t like what it told her but decided to trust it. The reflection smiled once more, then disappeared, and Adrienne’s true reflection returned. The warm power from the reflection ebbed away and then vanished, leaving goose bumps in its wake.

Behind Adrienne, Malik lurched forward. Something had bound him to the floor and kept him from speaking. He rushed to the window and touched it. His powers picked up nothing. The magicks had come and gone without a trace. That was dangerous. Who had controlled the reflection?

Malik rescinded his power. “What did it say to you?”

“It…
She
said I’d be happy,” Adrienne answered softly.

“It said more than that,” he prompted. He grasped the hand she used to touch the window. The reflection had done something magically to Adrienne, but he couldn’t discern what from his contact with her now. She felt the same. No, she didn’t feel the same. Her agitation and upset were less.

“You’re right,” she agreed. “She did say more. The only part that concerns you is the first part.”

“I do not trust—”

Adrienne put a finger to his lips.