Change of Darkness (The Change Series Book 3) by Jacinta Jade (best new books to read txt) 📕

Trelar hurried out of Siraay’s sight, her footsteps fading away for a moment, then returning. Resuming her place at Siraay’s bedside, the servant offered the water, holding and tilting it just enough so Siraay could take a sip.

All the while, Pyron watched the guards, the promise of death on his face if they so much as twitched.

As the water trickled down Siraay’s throat, it caused her to cough, and she sat up a little, clearing her throat.

‘My lady?’ Trelar’s voice was soft and full of hope.

‘D-Don’t hover over me so—this entire room, and you crowd me.’ Although she began speaking hoarsely, by the time she’d finished the sentence, her voice had a nice snap to it. Enough that she could watch in satisfaction as Trelar shrank back, the verbal slap bruising the hope that had begun to rise in the female once more.

‘Yes, my lady,’ the servant murmured, withdrawing from the bed.

As Trelar moved away, Pyron spoke to the guards. ‘That should be enough evidence for you. Go tell Lord Chezran the news.’

The guards whirled about and almost fled for the door.

Knowing that Chezran would soon be there, Siraay tried to sit up properly, but instead she crumpled back against the bed as fire rippled through her muscles.

And that wasn’t all.

Her face and neck were agony, pain shooting all across the right cheek, and her lip was so swollen it felt like it was standing out as far as her nose.

A warm hand gripped Siraay’s wrist. ‘You’ll be fine—your muscles should recover quickly. Drink more water,’ ordered the chief archon.

‘I don’t need you hovering over me either,’ Siraay snapped at him, but she did drink more water.

Surprisingly, Pyron was right. The pain that had flared up already seemed to be fading away.

Siraay took another gulp of water, then held out the empty glass for Pyron to take from her.

After a pause, in which he snorted, the chief archon did so, releasing her wrist.

Siraay pushed herself up into a sitting position and brushed hair out of her eyes.

Then her eyes widened in horror. Oh, Mother—what she must look like! She immediately ran her hands through her mussed hair, finger combing it in an attempt to calm the frenzied mass and get it to sit flat against her back.

Pyron snorted again, but Siraay ignored him as she pushed herself off the bed and got to her feet.

Trelar gasped from where she stood near the hidden closet. ‘My lady, please …’ But she trailed off as she realised the same thing Siraay had.

She was okay. Her face hurt still, oh, by the Mother, it did, but the rest of her felt surprisingly strong, if a little in need of a bath after spending who knew how long in that bed.

At that moment, the doors to Siraay’s room burst open and the Lord of Xarcon entered.

And halted, his eyes widening as he beheld Siraay standing.

Siraay raised her chin and curled one side of her mouth into a sultry smile. ‘It seems I’ve missed a few things.’

Chezran smiled in a satisfied way and crossed the room to her, climbing the small set of steps as he extended a hand. ‘Allow me to fill you in …’

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

ALTHOUGH SIRAAY FELT mostly fine, after Chezran had caught her up on what had transpired since he’d met her in the dark on the streets outside of the palace two nights ago, the lord insisted that she return to bed to rest until the morning.

Siraay swallowed her protests and simply nodded—after all, morning was just spans away. And it gave her time to digest everything Chezran had told her, including how happy the spymaster had been to have a new Resistance member to interrogate, and how they had found the dead body of the other member of Pyron’s patrol unit—the male who had warned Siraay and Drosni about the Resistance squad had indeed bled out.

So after bathing, eating a much-needed meal, and sending Trelar away after the servant risked her wrath by fussing over her one last time, Siraay lay in bed once more, looking up into the darkness to where she knew the ceiling must be.

Yet a moment later, she was swinging her legs from the bed and striding for the doors that led to her balcony, the darkness in her room feeling too much like the place she had only just managed to escape from. She needed to see the night sky.

Pushing open one set of doors, Siraay stepped out onto the cool stone of the balcony and took in a deep breath as a slight breeze brushed over her. She let out the breath in a grateful sigh and then walked over to the stone wall that lined the edge of her balcony, her bare feet making almost no noise.

Closing her eyes, Siraay breathed in through her nose, savouring the smell of the sea that wrapped itself into the dewiness of the night. She opened her eyes again, raising her gaze to fix on the specks of light glimmering high above her in the sky.

She felt tension drain from her shoulders as she settled her arms against the balcony wall. There had been no smells, no breezes, when she had been trapped with the other two. So she stood there, enjoying the feeling of the real world interacting with her senses, even the chill air that caused goose bumps to lift on her skin, until the sun rose.

When she heard cautious boots sound on the stone floor of her room, Siraay guessed that Trelar had popped in earlier than usual to check on her. Sighing out loud at the impudence of the female servant, but still in a good mood, she called out lazily, ‘Out here.’

As the footsteps drew nearer, however, Siraay noted that the impact of each step was heavier than the ones she normally would attribute to Trelar.

She spun swiftly, her light top and pants rasping against the stone wall of the balcony.

Archon Renhed stood there, leaning against one of the