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

Her, and the dress hugging her body.

Those dark eyes made a quick sweep of her length, and his mouth worked for a moment before any sound actually came out. ‘My lady,’ he managed to stutter as she moved past him.

She bobbed her head once in acknowledgment, noting the small scars that peeked out from Loce’s hair at his temples, and left, her dress swishing around her legs and rasping over the marble in the otherwise silent room, the feeling of eyes on her back and lower body making the edges of her mouth curl in pleasure.

***

As soon as Siraay left the dining hall, two female guards fell into place behind her.

Apart from noting that these two were different to the pair who had escorted her down earlier in the evening, Siraay paid them no other attention as she navigated her way back down the cool, dark stone hallways and up the grand staircase. Upon reaching the top, she automatically turned down the hallway that would lead to her room, her thoughts preoccupied.

Unless she was very much mistaken, she thought she might have detected a brief flare of desire in Loce’s eyes as she had walked past. Not that she was in the least bit interested in him—who would be, when Chezran was on offer?

But it was a weakness. And weaknesses should always be exploited.

Upon reaching her room, Siraay was surprised to have the door swing open before her and Trelar’s voice greet her.

‘Evening, lady,’ the female said cautiously. ‘I trust dinner was to your liking?’

‘It was,’ Siraay replied, breezing into the room past the servant, immediately appreciating the fire Trelar had set burning in the fireplace to warm the room. She swished her way to the centre of the space, then proceeded to reach around to her back to begin undoing the gown.

‘Please—let me, lady.’

Although she felt herself bristling slightly at the assumption that she needed help to undress herself, Siraay relented and decided to let the servant assist. Besides, she needed to keep Trelar on side to be sure she had another pair of eyes and ears here. She wasn’t ignorant enough to think her rise to Chezran’s side would be easily accepted by all.

‘Thank you,’ Siraay said purposefully, allowing Trelar to push her hair gently to the side and begin undoing the almost invisible clasps that joined the neckpiece of the dress together, followed by the line of clasps down the side of her dress to her hip.

In moments, Siraay had slipped out of the dress and was walking up the steps towards her bath, then passing beyond it to access her own private washroom area, completely naked bar for the pendant that still hung about her neck. She was beginning to feel a creeping exhaustion that was building with each breath, and now all she wanted was to clean her face and climb into the big bed on the opposite side of her room.

By the time she was in her washroom and had seen to her own needs, she felt like it was only sheer will that was keeping her going. But as she left the washroom, her face free of all makeup, her hair down and brushed, she kept her chin up, her shoulders straight, and her steps even, not a hint of her weariness evident.

Trelar had already pulled back the blankets on the bed and was standing ready for any further orders.

As she made her way across the room, Siraay wondered if the servant was made uncomfortable by her nakedness, but if so, the female gave no sign of it. Not that it mattered—revealing her body was simply another tool to use if it gave her an advantage over people around her. And speaking of advantages, she could not allow herself to perform poorly tomorrow from fighting off exhaustion.

She didn’t even bother turning towards the female servant as she addressed her. ‘That will be all.’ Her dismissal was perfunctory—she wanted to lay her head down on the pillows that looked so very soft.

A slight hesitation from behind her, then, ‘Yes, my lady.’

Siraay listened as Trelar wheeled and left the room speedily and quietly. After the door had closed, she waited a count of five breaths to be sure the female wasn’t about to return for any reason.

Only then did she allow herself to let out a heavy sigh of relief. It had been a long day.

The exhaustion was reaching a peak that she didn’t think she would be able to fight off much longer, so, still naked, she moved up to one of the activation panels on the wall, and a simple flick of her fingers at the pad extinguished the light from the candelabras hanging from the ceiling, plunging the room into darkness.

She loved the use of technology here.

Unable to miss the bed, given its nearness, Siraay moved back to it, and once she could feel the blankets underneath her fingers, she climbed into the bed, her bare skin sliding pleasantly over the smoothness of the sheets. Making herself comfortable, she closed her eyes and let out another sigh, this one quieter and full of satisfaction.

A lot had happened in such a very short time, not the least of which was her own awakening that morning.

Tomorrow would be very interesting indeed.

***

Strange dreams. She knew they were strange because, although Siraay was the central person in them, she had no control over anything.

And the dreams themselves were odd. Many times, she recognised people who had been part of her former self’s life. At first, it was just a jumble of faces, then everything seemed to slow down as one face returned.

Baindan’s.

Then, as if his face were the anchor for everything else, a world that seemed a bit too bright around the edges began to form, spinning out from around the body that had joined Baindan’s face.

And it wasn’t a bad face. Or body, for that matter, the Siraay in the dream thought. But the idealism she