Iris blanched at that, and Ember was sure he saw her swallow past a lump in her throat. The urge to take back what he had just said was almost impossible to ignore, but he continued, “Those are your choices. Me or your father.”
A fresh wave of shock washed over her face, and realization hit Ember like a lightning bolt.
“Yes,” he nodded, “I know that it was your father who traded you to Lord Perivale when his business wasn’t doing well.”
Iris seemed to curl in on herself slightly then, and the pain that flashed in her eyes was enough to make Ember regret what he had said yet again. Why do I keep doing this? Why do I keep playing with her emotions? Never before had he felt the need to do so. Women usually threw themselves at him for the chance of a single night in his bed. He had no idea how to treat Iris, how to make her more pliable. Other women were simple: pay a few compliments and flirt a little. Iris was much more complex and mysterious. It was both infuriating and intoxicating, leaving his mind reeling and his body sizzling with desire.
In the moment that Iris opened her mouth, Ember suddenly realized that he couldn’t bring himself to hear her answer. What if she chooses to return to her father? He thought grimly. The idea of rejection was enough to make him put up his mental walls again.
Standing straight, he squared his shoulders and glared at her, “Stay or go. The choice is yours.”
He growled the words before turning and storming back to the door. He didn’t pause until he reached it, his hand on the door handle. Then, he turned back and added, “Go wherever you like. I won’t stop you.”
He was confused by the twisting pain in his chest. A sudden, painful sensation, as though he had been stabbed through the heart, made him breathless, and he couldn’t stand to be in her presence for a moment longer.
“Your Grace,” Iris began, her voice filled with emotion. Ember glanced at her just long enough to see the tears that glittered in her eyes. Then he shoved open the door and strode out before she had the chance to tell him her choice.
The guards outside stood at attention once more and bowed their heads respectfully to their king.
“Lady Iris is free to go wherever she wishes,” he called over his shoulder even as he stormed off down the hallway, “Just be sure she gets wherever she wants to go safely, or I shall have your wings!”
Chapter 7 - Iris
Frozen to the spot, Iris stared after the king long after he had left the room. It wasn’t until she heard someone awkwardly clearing their throat that she realized that Pria was poking her head around the curtain that cut off the bedchamber from the adjoining sitting room with its shelves filled with books.
“Forgive me, my lady, but are you alright?” the maid asked. She did not step into the room until Iris shook her head and dropped down onto the nearest seat, which just so happened to be the end of the bed.
“You heard all of that, didn’t you?” she sighed, wiping tears from her eyes. Now that he was gone, she found that she could barely breathe, and her legs were trembling so violently that even when she sat down, she felt as though she might fall off the bed.
“How could I not?” Pria admitted with a shrug. Iris was surprised when the maid approached and offered her a small square of white fabric. Iris looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “It’s clean,” The maid said.
Iris took the handkerchief from her and used it to wipe her eyes and cheeks, even her nose.
“I can’t believe the king,” Pria shook her head and sighed deeply as though she were ashamed of her ruler.
“Why? Men are all the same,” Iris insisted with a shrug of her own shoulders. “They all throw their toys out of the crib when they can’t have what they want.”
“That’s just it,” Pria said, her face twisting with some unreadable expression. “King Ember is usually level-headed no matter what. He never shows his emotions, and he never stops until he gets what he wants.”
Iris couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from twitching upwards in a smile. “Then perhaps the king has finally met his match.”
Iris’s stomach instantly clenched at the comment. Her heart hammered even as a small voice in the back of her mind suggested, perhaps I have met mine.
She quickly forced the thought away, handing the handkerchief back to Pria now that she no longer felt she needed it. Pria took it from her and shoved it into the pocket of her apron before she asked, “Will you take his offer?”
Iris stared at her for a moment, totally unprepared for the question.
As if she thought that Iris hadn’t understood the question, Pria added, “Will you leave?”
With a deep sigh, Iris averted her gaze from the maid’s and shook her head. “What do you believe I should do?”
“Me?” Pria gaped at her, looking shocked that Iris would even bother to ask the opinion of a servant. “Well, I don’t know.”
The maid’s cheeks began to blush but after a moment she seemed to grow braver and finally admitted, “I think you would be a fool to leave.”
Curious, Iris turned her gaze back to the maid and asked, “Why?”
“How many reasons do you need?” Pria looked as though she were trying her hardest not to roll her eyes. “There are a hundred, no, a thousand women who would kill to be in your position.”