umbrella and matching gloves, as well. Her thoughtfulness made me smile as I rose from the vanity chair to face her.
“You are too kind, Zurah. Thank you.”
“Fortunately, you won’t need the hood for too long today. The sky is strange on Visio, and the sun doesn’t burn much. However, we don’t want you to risk it.”
I left her to tend to my room, putting my hood and gloves on before I walked out. I had the umbrella in one hand, my comms piece in my ear, and a handful of emergency items in a hidden skirt pocket. We might’ve been guests here, but it was still a good idea to have some magic handy, at least.
Kalon was already at my door, waiting quietly and patiently, his hands behind his back. His face lit up at the sight of me, while my heart skipped a few beats, the temperature suddenly rising between us. Oh, I was definitely attracted to him, but I was also aware of the danger looming beneath the surface.
“Good morning,” he said, while I took a moment to fully take in the sight of him.
Nothing he wore would ever look bad, given his frame and toned muscles. His three-piece suit for the day was dark gray with a white shirt, the silk vest tightly fitted around his torso.
I bowed curtly. “Good morning to you, too, Lord Visentis.”
He raised an eyebrow, his cold blue eyes scanning me curiously. “Lord Visentis?” he replied. “Did something happen at dinner to push us back to such irksome formalities?” I shook my head, aware that this was the umpteenth time that I’d blushed in his presence. I needed to find a way to resist this effect he had on me, because I did not like any kind of vulnerability in front of someone to whom I was attracted. “Then please call me Kalon. Lord Visentis is such a stiff moniker, especially at this hour.”
I smiled as he offered me his arm and hooked mine into his. We walked down the hallway, and I gazed around, wondering where the rest of my crew was.
“Tristan and the others are on their way to the Blood Arena, as well,” he said, reading more from my expression than I would’ve thought. “They’ve got about twenty minutes on us.”
“Thank you for the opportunity, by the way. The tournaments do sound interesting, despite their brutality,” I replied, trying not to stare at him. Whenever he looked at me, I froze, my mind wandering in all the wrong places.
“Like I told you yesterday, Esme. The fights serve as an outlet. They’re one of the principal reasons why we don’t have wars and skirmishes with rebels or among the principates of Visio.”
Outside, I was pleased to realize that my hood was definitely doing a good job of shielding me from the soft sunlight, but I was downright ecstatic when a Rimian stable boy came to the bottom of the palace steps, leading two gorgeous Visio horses. I stilled, staring at them. These creatures looked even more beautiful from up close.
“We call them Visions,” Kalon said, noticing my awe. His eyes were smiling. I had a feeling he was pretty happy with the reaction he’d just elicited from me.
“Visions… Kalon, they’re gorgeous beasts,” I managed.
The stallion was slightly taller than the mare, a gorgeous white with a shimmering black mane and a black leather saddle. The contrast was delightful, to say the least. The female was a midnight black, her muscles twitching beneath the shiny coat. Her mane was white and much longer, with threads of black silk woven through the many braided locks. She’d been fitted with a white leather saddle, and she seemed to peer right into my soul with her strange, deep blue eyes.
I was breathless.
“The male is Lightning,” Kalon said, as the stable boy bowed and retreated, leaving us alone with the Visions. “He’s the fastest on this continent.”
“And the mare?”
“Midnight’s Dream,” Kalon replied. “Midnight, for short. She might look fierce, but she’s one of the gentlest Visions I’ve ever come across.”
The realization quickly rammed into me. “Whoa. Wait. We’re riding to the Blood Arena?!” And that was a stupid question. Of course we were riding to the Blood Arena, since they’d brought the Visions over. My mind was not the sharpest around this guy.
“Walking takes too long, since it’s on the edge of the city. I thought you’d be pleased,” Kalon said, suddenly looking concerned, as if I’d just forced him to recalculate everything.
“No, I am. Believe