Queen Of Glass

Chapter 19

"I've already told you—I don't feel well!" "You look absolutely fine to me."
"Go rule your country or something." "Just a few games of billiards."
"No."
"I command you to play at least three games of billiards."
"I refuse."
"You will play with me or I shall be forced to take extreme measures." "Bite me."
"Fine, just a game then."
"Sorry, I have prior engagements."
"Like what?"
Celaena sipped her third cup of ginger tea and smiled wickedly at the Crown Prince. "Are you that desperate? That's pathetic," she sneered at him, and drained the cup. They often spent their time together, sometimes playing billiards or cards, sometimes just sitting side by side, reading. He had decided to ignore his father's warning—assassin or no, he was not about to turn aside such a woman for lesser company! Even Chaol could not resist her charms.
Dorian glowered at the woman. He had come to her rooms expecting to spend the evening making a raucous over her lack of billiard skills (which had failed to improve even a bit over the few months that they had known each other). But she had refused, insisting that she was indisposed and could not be budged from her chair.
I take time out of my night to come visit her and she won't even raise herself for ten minutes to humor me! "Selfish wench," he snarled.
"Bratty whore."
"For someone who relies upon my good graces, you're awfully bold."

"Hardly. I've barely even warmed up."
Normally their spats were in jest, but this time, there seemed to be real edge to her retorts. "Do you have a headache?" he asked.
"No."
"Stomach ache?"
"If you'd like to call it that, then sure."
Oh. Oh... "Oh, shit."
"What?"
Dorian, catching the double meaning of his curse, laughed. "I didn't mean it in that sense. I meant it as a--" "I know what you meant," she barked.
"You are really pushing my limits, aren't you?" Dorian took a seat across from her and crossed his legs. "But I guess that you can be excused for your bad behavior. I mean, it's normal for a woman to turn into a raging bitch when she's bleeding."
Profanities burst from her mouth like a volcanic eruption.
"Calm yourself, woman! Your maids will hear you and die of shock and horror." Dorian clicked his tongue in mock disapproval.
"They can burn in hell for all I care," Celaena snapped.
He looked at her, his face a blend of amusement and boredom. "How long do you plan on keeping up this bout of unattractive wickedness?"
"Until I stop aching and start feeling less...fat." "Fat?" Dorian raised an eyebrow.
Celaena pointed to where her belly would have been if the thick, brown blanket hadn't been wrapped around her like a cocoon. "I'm as bloated as a drowned cow."
He laughed. "I'm sure you are."
She merely growled and called for another cup of tea to be brought.
They were silent until the tea arrived. Dorian watched the assassin squirm in her chair, and was thankful that he was not a woman. From what he'd heard, a woman's moontime was not a pleasant affair. They'd be 'indisposed' for several days and suffered such severe mood swings that husbands were known to go into hiding until the bleeding stopped.
He personally didn't have a problem with knowing that a woman was menstruating; it was a perfectly natural thing—it just meant that sex was off-limits for a while. But since he and Celaena weren't lovers, it didn't mean a thing to Dorian DeHavilliard...except that he should watch his back around her for the next few days.
"I'm surprised that you've stayed this long, your holiness," she said with false sweetness. "Chaol nearly ran out of the door when he found out that it was my moontime."
Dorian covered his smile with the hand that he was resting his chin upon. Of course Chaol would have left—he didn't know anything about women. "Well, at least that gives us some time to be alone together," he said with a seductive smile.

Her nose wrinkled up in a snarl. "Go womanize someone else."
The Crown Prince chuckled and wiped the smirk off of his face. A month and a half ago, he had been determined to keep his distance from her, to keep their relationship to barely more than a formal one...
But it didn't work, did it? You're a fool, Dorian DeHavilliard. I should be spending my time with other women...women who are suitable brides. But I tried that, didn't I? I tried to sit through a night of their company two weeks ago and I couldn't. I had to leave, gods above. I never realized how uneducated and shallow the women that I live with are. I'm a fool.
She stood up suddenly and shuffled, bent over like a hunchback, over to her bedside table, teacup still in hand. With her spare hand, Celaena tossed a book at him—which he thankfully caught before it would have smashed his nose in. "I read that today," she said and sat back down, encasing herself with her blanket once more. The nightgown that she was wearing was as large as a circus tent. The Crown Prince suppressed another smile.
Dorian's amusement faded when he looked at the cover of the book. He turned a shade of red. "This isn't one of the books I sent you!" he exclaimed quickly in his defense. "I don't even own books like these!"
Celaena laughed and drank more of her tea. "Of course you don't, your highness. I had one of the maids send for a copy."
Trying to turn his face back to its normal color, Dorian opened the book to a random page and began to read aloud. "'...his hands gently caressed her milky-white br-'" he stopped reading as his eyes fell upon the following words and slammed the book shut. "Gods above, Celaena! You actually read this rubbish?"
She stretched out her legs and placed her feet on the footstool. "I thought you'd get a kick out of that," she said with a grin. "You should borrow it—it's a nice break after delving into such a serious literary world."
Dorian opened up the book to another page and shut it once again, after his eyes had quickly taken in the subject of the text. "Dear gods, how many times do they make love? Once per chapter?"
"At least once every five pages. And they cheat on each other with about six or seven different partners--it's sinful." Dorian paled. "I believe that I've lost all respect for you."
She cackled and finished her drink. "Just try reading it. Then your literary experience will be complete. And," the assassin said with a nasty grin, "it'll give you some creative ideas of things to do with your...ladies."
The prince hissed through his teeth and looked down at the book, making a sick face. "I will not read this," he said firmly.
Shrugging, she took the book from his hands, her face casual. "Fine. Then I'll just have Chaol read it."
Dorian grabbed it back from her. "Give me that, you swine."
Celaena laughed again. "Men...you're all the same."
He glanced at the novel once more and then turned it over, unable to look at the title without blushing. They weren't lovers, but she insisted that he read this? Is she hinting at something?
"Have you eaten?" she asked, the subject of the controversial book over. "Yes," he replied. "Can't you just play one game of billiards?"
"Your highness, I can't even stand up straight."
He yawned and stretched his arms up above his head. "Don't you find it funny that you will call me such things as 'bratty whore' and yet you still use my formal title?"