Back in her chambers, Aera immediately called for a bath, wanting to cleanse herself. Paytin brought her hot water and poured perfumed oil in, and Aera soaked in watery fields of lavender. She ducked underwater and held her breath, drowning out the world for a few minutes. When she surfaced, she opened her eyes to find Kentaro watching her and she jumped.
“Kentaro, what are you doing?” She asked, reaching for her robe.
“Hello to you, too.” He said simply. 
Aera stood and covered herself, dripping on the floor. The silver haired man stepped forward and kissed her hard, his fingers gripping painfully on the back of her neck. She winced tried to pull away, but he gripped her hair. “You left.” Her stomach twisted and she kept quiet and still, her eyes on his. “I had your door watched. So it was either magic, or you have some other way of escaping.” He shoved her toward her main room. “Dress. We're moving.”
“Where's my maid?” Aera asked, noting Paytin's absence.
His lip twitched. “I got rid of her. You don't need her.”

Silently, Aera moved to gather a dress, aware of Kentaro's stare. “Stop.” She froze. He walked over to her wardrobe and pulled a long pair of black gloves. “You forgot these.” He pulled them up her arms and then motioned for her to pull on her dress. When she had, he laced the ties of the gloves with the lace in the back for the dress, so she wouldn't be able to remove them without help. “Much better.” He grinned. “Now out.”
He gripped her hand and led her up to his own room. It was well lit, extra candles had been brought in and were burning everywhere. It seemed Taris' trick with the shadows had left a scar on Kentaro, and he didn't want to be reminded of it. At the door were two guards, two more on the other end near the window, and the court wizard sat with rigid posture on the sofa in the corner. Kentaro pointed to a small chair at the opposite end of the room from the wizard. “Sit.” He ordered, and she moved to obey. “I have business to attend to.”
Aera sat, straight as an arrow, with her hands on her knees, her wet hair dripping down her back, ignoring the uncomfortable stare of the wizard from across the room. They spoke in hushed tones, but her sensitive ears could pick up their words. Kentaro didn't know much about Taris, but he knew he could manipulate shadows, at the very least, and he was asking the wizard what he could do. He'd raised the number of guards around the palace and gave them all directions to forbid the elf from entering the grounds.

Aera kept quiet, listening now and again, her own thoughts capturing her attention. 
What had her angry? Envy had asked that, and the first thing to come to mind had been the fact that she didn't mind the idea that her husband would be murdered. That the fact made her a horrible person. But there was more to it. 
She could be happy with Taris. Would be happy. 
But did Kentaro really have to die? Somewhere, he was still the happy young man she'd fallen for, the boy with the warm smile who made her laugh. He'd only changed recently, when his mother had moved in on them. And after her stunt with the physician, he'd sent her away again. There was a chance he'd come back. Not entirely, but perhaps just enough to realize that they weren't happy, and let her go.
Taris had told Kentaro seven weeks. With the queen out of the way, could she find a way to avoid his death?
Without warning, the scar across her back ached and twinged and Aera fidgeted. She froze when her hands started to tingle. [i]Again[/i]? She turned her palms up and stared at her gloved hands. This had happened last night, when she was with Taris. What was it? 

The guard nearest her cleared his throat loudly and she glanced up, suddenly aware that Kentaro was leering at her from across the room, his eyes dark.