Secrets in the Dark

Seraphine did not sleep.

She lay motionless beneath the silk sheets, her breathing even, her body still. But her mind raced.

Across the chamber, Kaelith Veynor sat in the shadows, his broad frame draped over a high-backed chair. He had not spoken since turning away from their marriage bed, but she could feel his gaze on her—watching, assessing.

He did not trust her. Good.

She had not expected him to.

The alliance between their kingdoms was nothing more than a calculated move, a political necessity. But Seraphine's loyalty was not to Veynor, nor to the husband fate had forced upon her.

She closed her eyes and let herself remember: a whispered oath in a candlelit hall, a promise made in blood, the weight of duty pressing like a noose around her throat.

She could not fail.

The soft rustle of fabric broke the silence. Seraphine's eyes snapped open. Kaelith had risen from his chair, the flickering light of the hearth casting shadows over the sharp angles of his face.

"You're pretending to sleep," he said.

Seraphine let out a quiet breath and sat up, the sheet pooling around her waist. "And you're pretending to be at ease."

A slow smirk curved at his lips. "Clever."

She studied him in the dim light—his broad shoulders, the rough lines of his jaw, the scars half-hidden beneath the open collar of his tunic. He was dangerous, but not reckless. Cold, but not unfeeling.

A man like that could be broken in two ways: through desire or through trust.

And she had been trained in both.

Seraphine swung her legs over the side of the bed, the silk of her nightdress whispering against her skin as she stood. She crossed the chamber slowly, deliberately, until she stood before him.

"I wonder, husband," she murmured, tilting her chin up just enough to meet his gaze, "how long you plan to keep me at a distance."

Kaelith's eyes darkened, but he did not move.

"You think I don't see what you're doing?" His voice was like a blade pressed to her throat. "This game you play—I've played it before. You're testing me. Pushing to see how far you can go before I break."

Seraphine let a small, knowing smile touch her lips.

"And will you?" she whispered.

Kaelith exhaled sharply, his hand coming up to grip her chin, tilting her face toward his. The heat of his touch sent a shiver through her, though she did not pull away.

"Not yet," he murmured. "But soon, Seraphine. Very soon."

A thrill ran through her at the warning in his voice.

She had expected coldness, distance. Instead, she had found something far more dangerous.

A man who would hunt for her secrets.

A man who might just catch them.