Chapter 3

　　Lilia's POV

　　Firelight from the hearth washed the guest room in a dim, wavering gold. Along both sides of the long table sat Jace and Kael, flanked by the guards and attendants who had traveled with them. On any ordinary night it would have been the most unremarkable scene in the world, but tonight the tension inside me was wound tighter and tighter.

　　The servants had been ordered to line up with heads bowed, wine cups held in both hands, and shuffle forward step by step toward the long table to serve. When my turn came, I stared dead at the floor in front of me, my heart slamming against my ribs. Those golden eyes sat just off to the side, not far away. One careless glance up, and he would recognize me,the witness from the woods that night.

　　I could feel Kael's presence pressing in around me. I held my breath and offered the cup up steadily, though my fingertips trembled beyond my control. Only when that long-fingered hand took it from me did I dare quietly exhale. I didn't linger a single second.

　　"You may all withdraw."

　　At those words, the whole room exhaled at once. The attendants bowed and hurried out, their footsteps quicker than usual,no one wanted to spend one more second in this man's presence.

　　I followed the crowd out to the corridor and let out a long breath. Cold sweat had soaked through the back of my dress, and my knees were still faintly shaking.

　　The night was survivable after all. I rolled my stiff shoulders and started after Cora toward the kitchen,she was already signaling me from a little way off, hurrying me along. But I had barely taken two steps when a careless, unhurried voice sounded behind me.

　　"You. Wait."

　　It was Jace. He had drifted back out of the room at some point and stood leaning against the doorframe, a half-finished drink still in his hand. His gaze ran over me with a half-smile, as if he'd just discovered some amusing new trinket. Several of the guards who had come with him stopped as well, gathering around with open interest.

　　"Alpha Jace,are you calling me?" I kept my eyes lowered, forcing calm into my voice.

　　"That's right. You." He looked me over without any hurry, his gaze sweeping from head to toe, mockery curling up at the corner of his mouth. "You really are... distinctive."

　　Open laughter broke out among his men, unhidden.

　　"Nathan Holt certainly has nerve." Jace lifted his glass and turned lazily toward the attendants beside him. "He invites all these honored guests to his door, then hides himself away at the border, sends a handful of servants to host us,and picks the ugliest Omega in the Pack to do it."

　　"Lift your head. Let me have a proper look." Jace reached out and tipped my chin up with two fingers. "What are you hiding for?"

　　A film of cold sweat broke over my back in an instant. Humiliating as it was to be put on display like this, what I feared more was Kael.

　　From this angle, all he had to do was raise his eyes casually, and he would see my face, clear as day. I clenched my back teeth and did what years of practice had drilled into me,let my eyes go blank and timid, my lids weighted low, my gaze never drifting even a hair toward that corner of the room. I let Jace look his fill, until he released me with something like distaste.

　　Being humiliated was still better than being killed.

　　Cora watched from a little way off, not daring to step in and shield me. Everyone knew that one extra word at a moment like this could bring trouble down on her own head.

　　"What are you standing there for?" Jace raised an eyebrow and shoved his glass into the hands of the man beside him. "Bring me a plate of berries. Fresh ones. Don't dawdle."

　　"Yes." I answered quietly and turned away, very nearly fleeing.

　　In the kitchen, I quickly picked out a plate of the freshest berries. I stared at my own trembling hands and drew several deep breaths before I could push that door open again.

　　The atmosphere inside had completely changed.

　　The easy murmur of conversation from moments ago was gone. In its place hung a dead, stagnant silence. I had barely stepped through the door with the plate in my hands, heading toward Jace, when I walked straight into that suffocating hush.

　　Kael's face was utterly calm. At some point, a short blade with cold light running along its edge had appeared in his hand. Kneeling in front of him was a servant shaking from head to toe, his hands pinned flat to the table, his face already drained white.

　　I stepped forward and held out the berries, but before I could even see what was happening, that cold flash came down.

　　A scream tore open without warning. Blood sprayed out, scalding hot, across my whole face. The plate crashed from my hands onto the floor, berries rolling everywhere, mixed in with the ear that had just been sliced off.

　　"Alpha Kael! I know I was wrong! I won't eavesdrop again! I'll never dare again, please, let me go,"

　　The man convulsed with pain, tears cutting through the blood smeared down his face. The other servants and guards in the room had long since gone ash-gray, and not one of them dared step forward to help,all terrified of being the next one called out.

　　The blood in my whole body seemed to stop moving.

　　"He's got nerve, I'll give him that." Kael's voice stayed as level and terrifying as ever.

　　"Kael." Jace drawled, his tone carrying a scolding that was clearly for show, without the slightest intention of rising to stop any of it. "You're frightening Nathan's people here." He tilted his head and glanced at me, the smile at the corner of his mouth full of a spectator's relish. "Look at her. She can barely stand."

　　The reek of blood filled my nose and mouth. My stomach heaved, my legs shook so badly I could hardly hold myself up, and that patch of blood was still warm on my face, clinging sticky to my skin.

　　A horrifying realization surfaced in my head,and I finally understood, down to the bone, that the rumors about the Cursed King had never once been exaggeration.

　　I forgot all about manners. I spun around to run from that place.

　　"Did I say you could leave? Stop."