"Dear Safiya, there are no guards in this part of the castle," Argana's sultry voice drifted toward Derya, stopping her in her tracks as her inner wolf cocked its head at the steely undertones of those words.
"He tried to dishonor me!" Safiya accused, cornered.
"You tried to dishonor him, my dear. I was here the entire time and heard everything. Quietly return to your room without any baseless accusations against my kin, and there will be no repercussions."
"Do not threaten me, old woman. Who would take your word over mine? You are a mere lady, and I am a princess!" Safiya hissed.
"Yet I am the ruler of this princedom, and not only do you threaten me, but you also insult my kin."
Andor's anger needed no translation.
Derya drifted closer, her wolf still close to the surface but contained.
Not a hint of fear registered in Safiya's scent; she was that sure of herself.
"Yet it is still my word against yours," she stated coldly.
Derya dropped her cloak, reached down, and undid the black laces holding together the front of that dress that plunged past her navel, pulling the chemise down as far as it would go and displaying so much skin, and stepped into the moonlight, barely holding the two front parts together.
"Andor?" she called. "Tell that slut to leave, please? I cannot do the laces up by myself, and the air grows chilly."
Safiya's shocked gaze landed on the milky white of her bare shoulders and the barely hidden mounds of her breasts with all that exposed skin down the front.
"I'll tell the whole world about this!" Safiya hissed.
"That you tried to seduce my fiancé while I was right here in the garden with our chaperone waiting for us?" Derya asked.
"No, that you allowed him liberties while you are unwed!"
"Please, don't make me laugh, Safiya. All week I've acted civilly toward you despite your possessiveness over my future husband. You trying to convince him to sleep with you, threatening him, and then trying to sully his name are not the actions of a virgin bride but those of a woman who knows how to manipulate and connive to get her way."
The wolf strained to slap that arrogant woman right off her feet.
"What brought you back so early?" Derya asked Argana.
"I saw this one making her way to the garden and hoped to intercept her before she interrupted you, but Andor seemed to be alone."
"We heard a noise and thought it prudent not to be caught in a compromising position," Derya lied without flinching.
"Take her away, please, lady Argana," she requested with all the haughty arrogance of a princess.
"This is not over," Safiya said.
"I'll return to help you with your clothes, Princess," Argana said to Derya.
"If you speak even one word of this, Princess," Derya said, barely containing her wolf and praying it didn't show in her eyes or the lengthening of her fangs. "I'll easily say you seduced me and then screamed bloody murder when Andor caught us."
Safiya wasn't the only one shocked by her words. Andor and Argana would know werewolves were not often attracted to members of the same sex, in fact almost never, but the princess didn't know she was one.
Nor were they shy about their bodies, and looking Safiya right in the eyes, she let go of her bodice, and her bosom did the rest.
Safiya's eyes nearly popped from her sockets. The princess might be beautiful, but she didn't have much in the way of curves or a bosom. And although Derya's were just the right size, the other woman looked flat-chested in comparison.
Had Argana snorted with laughter?
"You animal!" Safiya hissed and turned away, hurrying from the garden.
"That was not as much of an insult as she thought," Derya said, calmly folding her arms across her chest before glancing at Andor, suddenly shy that he had seen what he did.
How odd.
"Being married to you won't be boring, will it?" he asked, trying to drag his eyes away from exposed flesh.
"Don't worry, I shall refrain from flashing annoying guests," she said, trying not to laugh and wishing she had not left her cloak among the shrubs.
A chill breeze stirred the air.
"Where's your cloak?" he asked, and she motioned with her head.
He returned within seconds and swung the dark burgundy cloth around her shoulders, setting it in place and covering her.
"Your body is beautiful," he told her, and again her face heated.
Why did she react so differently to him?
"I am not as pretty as she is," Derya said.
"Ah, but you are wrong there, little wolf. Your beauty has a warmth and earthiness that draws me like a magnet," he admitted. "Thank you for saving me from her. This family again owes you a debt. If not for you, this could have been ugly."
That endearment melted her heart.
"How I will be able to sleep now I've seen that, I know not. The days until our wedding will be sweet torture," he admitted, his voice low and husky.
"Then I am just in time before any other shenanigans happen. Sorry, I was detained, but Safiya acted suspiciously, and I knew I could trust the two of you to behave."
"But we did behave," Derya said.
"I know, pet; I saw you standing at the door. The lady didn't say another word until we reached her room, but she did slam the door in my face."
"This may not be over. Safiya is a wily one."
"Then, I suggest we leave the garden through my secret entrance before she returns with witnesses to 'prove your fall from grace.' Come with me."
They followed her to a fountain mounted against a wall that no longer worked and watched as she pushed a slightly raised tile. The fountain moved, and behind it lay a hollow space.
"I hear boots," Derya said, and the darkness had barely closed around them when they heard men call out for Andor.
"Let's get Andor to his room first; they will go straight to Derya's."
Rock struck rock, and a lamp lit, disrupting Derya's night vision.
The stone walls were ancient, and the floor was solid rock.
The scent of damp earth and age surrounded them, and whatever this was, it was much older than the castle itself.
"We must hurry."
Argana led the way through a maze of interconnected tunnels until they reached a wall. She glanced through a grit built into the wall and pulled a lever.
"Go inside, take off your clothes, and lie on the bed," she instructed, pushing another panel that opened into the sizeable built-in closet in Andor's room.
She didn't even give him a chance to say goodbye before closing the gap, grabbing Derya's hand, and running. When they popped through another wall, they were not in Derya's room but in a suite.
"This will be your room once you are married to Andor. We intended to move you here after the wedding, but we will have to do that tonight."
She barely gave Derya time to come to a standstill before removing the cape and taking her clothes off. She rummaged through a chest at the foot of the bed and handed her a very demure white cotton dress that covered everything before pulling the sheets aside and motioning for her to get in.
"This is your room," Derya said.
"Yes, it was, but I will now take the smaller suite across the hall."
Someone hammered against the door.
The thick walls in this part of the castle made it soundproof, and she couldn't tell how many people were outside.
"Pretend to be unwell," Argana hissed, pulling the stoppers from a couple of vials of foul-smelling liquid, dipping a towel in water, and handing it to her as a compress before hurrying over to the fireplace and dousing the tidy stack of logs inside with the contents of another bottle that ignited into devouring flame.
She took off her cape, undid a few buttons of her dress as if she were overheated, and rolled up her sleeves while the hammering continued.
Taking a deep breath to get control of her uneven breathing from running, Argana unlocked the door and nearly got knocked off her feet by the three men who barged inside without her invitation.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded as Safiya strode into the room as if she owned it.
https://www.webnovel.com/book/arendon-the-hidden_25484063806301905. This is the new link.