a reason?” Ashleigh asked, drawing me from my thoughts.
My cheeks burned as I switched our angle, descending. When we landed, the guards around my tent grinned and bowed to me.
My participation in the tournament was working as I’d hoped, teaching my army to trust me. And yet...
Still no satisfaction. Like Craven, I remained unfulfilled.
I didn’t release my bundle until I’d entered the tent, the flap swooshing closed behind us. Though I longed to keep Ashleigh’s softness pressed against me, I forced myself to set her down. Pried my arms from her. We would consider this a test of sorts. Would she go on the defensive and attack?
As I’d requested after the battle, Eve—the illusion form of Everly—had ensured that my soldiers procured two carafes of water and filled the tub with steaming water. A loaf of bread with—I frowned. Was that toothpaste smeared on top? Surely not. The mystery bread sat atop the trunk, between two tasteless patties Everly had made me before. Abominations she referred to as “vegecakes.”
I’d ordered my people not to aid Ashleigh a second time. Then I’d asked Everly to stay with Adriel and report his interactions with Ashleigh to me. Which she’d done. But Everly wasn’t a true avian and she’d also helped the girl despite my wishes.
I should have expected it and prepared accordingly—I shouldn’t be reluctantly impressed with the pair.
“This doesn’t look like a three-course meal,” I remarked.
“Then your eyes are being truthful with you. This is something even better. A three-ingredient meal. It’s much rarer. A delicacy some would say, probably.”
“Tell me who would say this.”
“I’ve saved you from overeating, okay? Gluttony, and all that. Oh, the vegecakes,” Ashleigh cried, jumping up and down.
The excitement in her voice drew my gaze to her. How she glowed. By the holy stars, she made me crave things I couldn’t have and shouldn’t want. But I’d left smears of blood and viscera all over her gown, and the sight struck me as obscene.
“Cheese loaves and vegecakes,” she said with a nod. “Now we’ve got ourselves a two-course meal. Let’s consider this a beautiful compromise between us.”
She had an answer for everything. But so did I. “I do not compromise.” I stomped to the entrance and opened the flap, shouting, “Eve? Where are you?” My men expected such a demanding tone from their leader. A testament of my strength, I supposed. But the Evil Queen would rage if I wasn’t careful. “Ashleigh requires a new gown. And someone bring me food that I can actually eat.” I let the flap close again.
Ashleigh was crouched before the inedible food in question, poking a vegecake with a fork. “You know, if you only take three bites, you’ll have a full three courses.”
“A bite is not a course.”
“It has been for me,” she muttered.
I stilled, not wanting to believe her but feeling myself soften, anyway.
I stalked behind the privacy screen to whisper to a potted plant. “Did you hear me? Clothes for Ashleigh as soon as possible. Meaning now. Please?”
If Everly hadn’t heard my bellows, she would hear my whispers. Listening to plants was an ability that had been granted to her when she’d taken over as Empress of the Forest.
“I’m going to bathe,” I told Ashleigh. “I won’t remain dressed to preserve modesty I don’t have. Cross the screen at your own pleasure.” The words echoed in my head, and I pursed my lips. First, I’d called her “Asha,” the shortened version of her name, which was a special form of endearment for avian. Now I was teasing her, just as I’d once teased Leonora. “You may feel free to—” I heard the fork scrape across a plate “—eat,” I finished, my tone flat. Better flat than laughing.
“One step ahead of you,” she called, and I would swear she had a mouthful of food.
Why, why, why did I want to tease her again?
In all my lives, I’d never teased an enemy. The fact that I continued to do so with Ashleigh...a foolish, imbecilic part of me had called a truce with this part of her personality.
Soften a little, and she would take a lot.
I couldn’t let this life become a repeat of the past.
Our fates must play out differently this time.
Temper rising, I stripped out of my soiled battle gear. Weapons clinked as they hit the floor. Naked, I stepped into the warm water. Tucking my wings into my sides, I eased down. Overworked muscles protested. Gashes stung and cuts throbbed. As tension leached from me, I couldn’t