Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,19

staring at sterilized walls.

Fiora stood and moved slowly toward the door, ready to push out any images that tried to reveal themselves to her. A feeling of calm came through the wood as she touched the handle.

Jaxx.

Fiora pulled open the door. Jaxx’s back was to her, and he was walking away. He wore a tunic shirt, tight pants, and boots. Her mind automatically offered to compare the image of him in clothing to the one of him naked.

“Yes?” she asked, her voice not as strong as she would have liked. “Jaxx?”

He turned, and the depth of his green eyes struck a chord in her.

“Did you need me for something?” she asked.

He hesitated before coming closer to her. “I thought maybe you were resting. I hope I’m not disturbing you. I can come back later.”

Fiora shook her head. Again, she didn’t pick up much from his future. She saw him walking through a door, but the impression was light. “Not really. I was sitting and enjoying the silence.”

“I understand.” He nodded once and started to back away. “I will leave you to your contemplation. I have no wish to interrupt.”

“You’re not interrupting. Your timeline is quiet. It doesn’t add to my headache.” Fiora saw the slight flinch when she implied his death mark. There was nothing she could do about it, or her compulsion to speak the truth at all times. “Did you come to ask me about your future?”

To her surprise, he said, “No. I came to tell you about yours.”

“Oh?” Fiora wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Can you…? Are you like…me?”

At that, he gave a small smile. It was a subtle shift of his mouth, but there was a playfulness to it she didn’t expect. “I have a feeling there has never been a woman like you, Lady Fiora.”

“Just Fiora. I’m not a lady,” she corrected.

“All women are ladies here,” he countered. “Especially the sister of our future queen. If anyone dares to imply otherwise, they will have to answer to a kingdom of dragons.”

She waited to see if he would laugh, but he didn’t. She felt the truth in his words. There was honor in this place. She saw it in Grier and his love for her sister. She felt it in the guards who had walked past hours before. She detected it in the queen when she’d met Salena for the first time.

“May I visit with you a moment?” he asked.

“Of course.” Fiora gestured that he should come inside. “You have more right to be here than I do. I’m only a refugee living on the good graces of my sister and her husband.”

“I don’t believe that’s true. You’re part of the Draig royal family now,” Jaxx answered.

The certainty of his words struck her. It had been a long time since she had been part of a family of any kind. Until Salena appeared in the stronghold, she’d convinced herself that her sisters were both dead, and she was the only one left.

“This palace is your home, more so than mine. I choose to live in the forest,” he continued.

“The forest sounds nicer than a palace,” she answered, jealous of the idea. “Fewer people. I miss living in the forest with my family on Noire.”

He gestured toward her face. “The visions take much out of you. I can’t imagine what that must be like. Do you need a personal medic?”

She touched her nose. It no longer bled, but a smear of evidence might have remained.

As if deciding his own answer, he said, “I will have a device sent to you. It will be yours to keep.”

“This nosebleed is not new,” she assured him. “There is little a medic device can do. At best it can force me to sleep until the headache goes away.”

They stood facing each other. Without the onslaught of his future, it became both comforting and strange to have a conversation. Her own thoughts were not crowded out of her mind. She could appreciate the depth in his gaze, the shape of his mouth, the width of his shoulders. A tremor of awareness wiggled through her. There was plenty to be attracted to.

She’d seen him walking naked through the halls. The image came back in vivid colors. It seemed strange that a giant beast could fit inside such a perfect body. Time seemed to slow down when she looked at him. The future stopped as if its transmission was paused.

“Is there anything that can relieve the discomfort of your visions?” He looked