Chapter 24 Outrank
I stood alone in the shadows, just beyond the reach of the golden light spilling from the cracks in the massive double doors. My heart wasn't beating; it was vibrating, a frantic, hummingbird rhythm that hammered against the pearls stitched to my bodice.
Klaus had left me here five minutes ago.
"I must enter first," he had said, his face grim as he adjusted his high collar. "Protocol demands the High Lords are present when the Emperor takes the throne. Wait for the Herald. When he calls your name... descend."
He had squeezed my hand once and then disappeared inside, leaving me with nothing but my nerves and a goblin who looked like he was about to faint.
"You look... you look like the end of the world, mistress," Rook whispered, wringing his hands. He was hiding behind a decorative pillar, terrified of being seen by the court.
"Is that a compliment, Rook?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.
"For them?" Rook pointed a shaking finger at the doors. "Yes. They like the end of the world. It’s their favorite story."
I smoothed the skirts of the abyss-silk dress. The fabric felt strange against my palms. It didn't rustle like normal silk. It moved silently, absorbing sound, absorbing light. It felt less like clothing and more like I was wearing a piece of the night sky that had fallen into the ocean.
Inside, the music swelled. It was a dark, heavy waltz, the bass notes vibrating through the floorboards and up through the soles of my shoes. I could smell them from here—the collective scent of hundreds of predators.
"Princess Nerissa Thalassyne!"
The voice of the Herald boomed from inside, amplified by magic. It cut through the music.
"Guest of the State! Voice of the Empire!"
There was a pause. A hesitation. I knew what it meant. Vespera had told the Herald to expect a beggar. She had told the court to prepare for a joke.
I took a deep breath.
I nodded to the two guards standing at the doors. They were massive, armored in black steel, their faces hidden behind visors. They gripped the iron handles.
"Open it," I commanded.
The doors groaned.
They swung outward, slow and heavy, revealing the cavernous throat of the ballroom.
The light hit me first.
It was blinding. thousands of candles floated in the air, suspended by unseen strings of magic. Crystal chandeliers the size of ships hung from the vaulted ceiling. The walls were lined with gold mirrors that multiplied the crowd into infinity.
Then, the smell. It rolled over me in a wave. The scent of a slaughterhouse disguised as a flower garden.
I stepped onto the threshold.
The music didn't taper off. It died.
The conductor dropped his baton. The cellist froze, his bow hovering over the strings. The dancers stopped mid-spin, their silks swirling around their ankles as they turned to look at the intrusion.
Silence crashed into the room.
I stood at the top of the grand marble staircase, looking down into the pit of vipers.
They were staring. Hundreds of pairs of red eyes, glowing in the candlelight, fixed on me.
They were looking for the burlap. They were looking for the fishing nets. They were looking for the broken, weeping girl Vespera had promised them.
Instead, they found a Queen of the Deep.
I didn't smile. I didn't cower. I let the abyss-silk do the work. The dress shimmered, shifting from black to a deep, bruising violet as I moved. The pearls on my bodice caught the candlelight and threw it back as cold, white stars.
I saw the confusion ripple through the crowd. I saw jaws drop. I saw glasses of thick, red wine paused halfway to lips.
I took the first step down.
My heel struck the marble. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the quiet room.
I descended slowly. I kept my chin high, my back rigid. I felt the sharp edges of the Midnight Conch earrings grazing my neck, a grounding pain that reminded me of the ocean.
I scanned the faces below.
I saw envy. I saw lust. I saw fear.
And then, I saw him.
Klaus was standing at the bottom of the stairs, slightly to the right, separated from the crowd by an invisible circle of deference. No one stood too close to the Grand Admiral.
He was facing me.
He had known what I looked like. He had watched Leona sew the pearls onto my chest. But seeing me here, under the lights, framed by the opulence of the court he despised... it hit him.
I saw his breath hitch.
His face was a mask of aristocratic boredom, but his eyes betrayed him. The sapphire irises flared, glowing with a sudden, intense light that cut through the gloom. His pupils blew wide, swallowing the blue until his eyes were almost entirely black.
He didn't look at me like a guardian. He looked at me like a man who had been starving for three hundred years and had just found a feast.
The bond between us hummed. I felt a spike of possessiveness slam into my chest, hot and heavy. It wasn't my emotion. It was his.
Mine.
The word echoed in my head, carried by the magic.
He stepped forward.
The movement broke the spell of the room. A murmur started to rise from the crowd, a buzzing hive of whispers.
Klaus ignored them. He walked to the center of the landing, right at the base of the stairs. He stopped and waited for me.
I took the final few steps. My legs were shaking, but the heavy skirt hid my weakness.
I reached the bottom. I stopped in front of him.
He towered over me, dark and imposing in his military blacks. The silver embroidery on his coat looked like frost. Up close, I could see the tension in his jaw, the way a muscle feathering under his eye twitched.
He didn't bow. He didn't smile.
He reached out and snatched my hand.
It wasn't a polite gesture. It was a claim. His fingers, cold and hard, wrapped around my gloved hand with a grip that bordered on painful. He pulled me a step closer, invading my personal space, forcing me to look up at him.
"You are late," he said. His voice was low, a rough rumble that only I could hear.
"I had to wait for my entrance," I whispered back, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"You stopped the music," he noted. His eyes swept over my face, lingering on the earrings, then dropping to the pearl-encrusted bodice. "You stopped their hearts."
"Good," I said. "I hope they choke."
A flash of dark amusement sparked in his eyes.
"They might," he murmured. "Look at Vespera."
I followed his gaze.