Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Tem jumped. It was Caspen’s voice. He’d been absent all day, and he chose now to show up? Tem tried to send him a thought back but found that she couldn’t. Her words pressed up against the same wall that had always stood between them. Instead she spoke them out loud.
“Says who?”
His reply came with humorless rigidity: Says the prince.
“And you? Do you want me to wear it?”
But he was gone.
Tem stared at the package. With a sigh, she ripped the paper perhaps more aggressively than necessary, and a dress tumbled into her hands. It was beautiful. There was no doubt about it. Tight and velvet and dangerously low-cut. But Tem hated it. It was sexy and revealing and clearly meant for Leo’s pleasure alone. Caspen’s dresses had complemented her, accentuating her beauty. Leo’s dress had a decidedly different purpose: to reveal as much of her body as possible. Tem’s ingrained stubbornness balked at the idea of wearing such a dress. All she could think about was how different it was from what Caspen would have chosen.
But it didn’t matter what Caspen would have chosen. He didn’t care about her. He refused to have sex with her. And he certainly wasn’t going on a date with her tonight.
There was nothing for it.
By the time she’d pulled the dress on, it was time to go. Tem kissed her mother goodbye and bundled into the carriage, her stomach already twisting itself into a knot. She had no idea what to expect, and the long ride to the castle didn’t help. All she could think about was Caspen. Why was there a one-way barrier between them? Why wouldn’t he let her speak to him? Why did he insist on keeping his distance when all she wanted was to pull him closer? His apathy was infuriating, and she was almost thankful that the night’s events would provide a welcome distraction from the anxieties eating away at her mind.
When the footman dropped her off at the castle entrance, Tem took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
To her surprise, Leo opened it.
The prince leaned casually against the doorframe, his head cocked to the side as his eyes raked over her body, taking in every detail of her dress.
“Stunning,” he said. “As always.”
Tem crossed her arms. “You picked it out.”
He cocked his head in the opposite direction. “I thought it would suit you. Don’t you like it?”
“I like making my own choices.”
“Ah.” His mouth quirked into a smile. “So I’ve offended you already.”
“I’m not offended. Just annoyed.”
Leo extended his hand. “Then allow me to make it up to you.”
Tem glared at his hand. Then, after a very long moment, she took it. The prince intertwined his fingers with hers, pulling her inside the castle and into a room just off the foyer. It was large and warm, with a crackling fireplace on the far end. Oil paintings lined the walls, and the smell of pipe smoke clung to Tem’s nostrils.
“What is this?” Tem whispered.
Leo dipped his mouth to her ear. “What do you mean?” he whispered back.
“I mean, I thought we were…going on a date.”
“Is meeting my family in the parlor not sufficiently romantic for you?”
Tem took a moment to remember the royal family tree. There was Leo, of course, the only son of Maximus, the king. His mother had died giving birth to him. He had one sibling: his older sister, Lilibet, who was married to Edward Fitzwilliam, a duke of somewhere or another. They had two children, Aurora and Desmond. The king’s brother, which made him Leo’s uncle, was Lord Chamberlain, but Tem couldn’t remember his name. He had no wife, which meant no children.
“Um,” Tem said. She had no idea how to respond.
Leo chuckled at the look on her face. “Dating me isn’t like dating some village boy, Tem. You’re the future queen. That comes with formalities.”
Before Tem could process his use of the present tense, the door opened.
“So it begins,” Leo muttered.
“Tem!”
It was Lilly. She was wearing a yellow dress, and she looked beautiful as she bounded right up to them and pulled Tem into a tight hug. Then she smacked Leo on the shoulder.
“I was right, wasn’t I? You like her.”
He swatted her hand away. “That doesn’t make you right about everything,” he hissed.
“Just the important things.”
Leo rolled his eyes. Then his expression sobered, and his voice dropped. “Is he in a good mood today?”
Lilly pursed her lips before dropping her voice too. “No.”
Tem looked between the two of them. “Who are you talking about?”
“My father,” they said at the same time.
As if they had spoken him into existence, a man appeared suddenly at Lilly’s side. His cold eyes latched immediately on to Tem’s before slipping briefly down her body. Not for the first time, she wished Leo had chosen a less-revealing dress. It hardly seemed appropriate to meet the king with this much cleavage.
Leo spoke before Tem could. “Father, this is Temperance.”
The king’s large hand engulfed hers, the golden bracelet on his wrist a twin to the one on Leo’s.
“Temperance,” he said slowly, and she had the distinct feeling he was looking straight into her soul. “The chicken farmer’s daughter.”
Chicken shit girl.
Maximus’s eyes slid to Leo’s. “You said she was beautiful.”
His words hung in the air. They sounded like an accusation.
“She is,” Leo said, his voice hard.
“If you insist.”
Tem could feel tears rising and fought to suppress them. Beside her, Leo’s entire body was tense. The silence grew slowly contentious as father and son stared at each other, neither of them willing to break it. Tem glanced between them, completely bewildered by the stalemate. There was clearly a deep history here, but Tem had no idea where it originated. Even Lilly was uncharacteristically silent, hovering nervously next to Tem and biting her lip.
Just when the moment became precarious, Maximus dropped Tem’s hand.
Before she had a chance to process the interaction, someone else grabbed her. The next few minutes passed in a whirlwind as Tem met person after person, shaking hand after hand. She tried to memorize their names and ranks while keeping everyone’s lineage straight, but eventually they blended together. It was like meeting an assortment of sunflowers-all equally beautiful, all with nothing of substance to offer. At some point, Leo was pulled away by Lord Chamberlain, and Tem found herself in a corner alone. She took the opportunity to survey the crowd.
Leo’s family was extensive and tall and…royal. They carried themselves with unmistakable grace, so unlike the hunched weariness of the people in the village. Everyone in this room was a stranger to manual labor-their palms were smooth; their fingers dripped with gold. Tem touched the tiny golden claw around her neck. She still wasn’t used to wearing something so valuable. She wondered what it had cost Caspen to acquire it. A voice suddenly shattered her thoughts.
“Temperance.”
It was the king.
Tem shifted uncomfortably, distinctly aware of his disparaging gaze. “Your Majesty.” She gave an awkward curtsy. It was difficult to move in the dress without exposing an unceremonious amount of thigh.
“Thelonius has taken a liking to you.”
I wish he hadn’t, Tem thought violently. Out loud, she said, “It appears that way.”