Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102: Performing Serenity

The bedroom was dim and quiet, the way Ruby preferred it in the evenings. She had drawn the curtains back from the tall window herself, dismissing the maid who had tried to do it for her, because she wanted to stand here alone and look out at the estate that had been her world for years.

The grounds of Dravengard stretched below her, lit by the glow of the lamplights, familiar and beautiful and entirely hers in every way that mattered.

She lifted her glass of wine and took a slow sip.

Tomorrow, the guards at her door would step aside. Tomorrow, her house arrest would officially be over.

She had counted every single one of those fourteen days the way a prisoner counts walls. She had smiled through them, maintained her composure in front of the staff, taken her meals quietly, and given nobody any reason to report anything back to Derek beyond the image of a woman accepting her punishment with grace.

Inside, it had been an entirely different matter. Inside, she had been coiled so tightly she was surprised she hadn’t snapped. But tomorrow, all of that ended.

"I can almost smell the fresh air already," Ruby murmured.

She didn’t turn around to look at her friend, Sasha, who was busy rifling through a rolling rack of designer clothes that had arrived that afternoon from the boutique. Three dozen pieces, all carefully selected, because Ruby was not walking back into full court society in anything less than perfect.

"The blue one," she said, throwing a glance over her shoulder.

"The cobalt blue with the draped neckline?" Sasha asked.

"No. The midnight one. The structured shoulders."

"Ah." A pause. "Yes. That one is serious. It says business."

"That is exactly what it says." Ruby swirled the wine in her glass. "The palace should be ready for me. Two weeks is long enough for things to get comfortable without me."

Sasha made a sound of agreement.

"How are the ladies?" Ruby asked.

Sasha snorted. "They have been buzzing, Ruby. You know how they are. Two weeks of silence from the King’s favourite ’person’ is like a year in the gossip world." She dropped her voice. "The ladies are dying to know if you fell out of favour or if you were simply... indisposed."

Ruby’s grip on the wine glass tightened slightly. "Let them wonder. Speculation keeps them interested. I’ll give them the tea myself soon enough."

She turned slightly. "Send formal invitations to the ladies of the court," she said. "Mated and unmated both. I want to host a luncheon. Something elegant. Flowers, proper place settings, good food. None of that buffet nonsense."

"Of course." Sasha was already typing a note into her phone. "Should I include the Queen?"

Ruby let the question sit for a moment. She turned the glass slowly between her fingers, watching the deep red wine inside.

"Of course," she said, and smiled. "We need the Queen of Dravengard present in our midst, don’t we?"

Sasha looked up. "And the men?"

"Ladies only." Ruby said firmly. "This is a luncheon, not a court assembly."

She had thought about this carefully during the long, tedious days of her confinement, in the hours between performing serenity for the staff.

Walking back into Dravengard’s full social circle with men present meant walking directly back into Derek’s line of sight before she had rebuilt her footing.

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