Sweat rose on his lower back as he scanned the room again.
Several priestesses had positioned themselves around the room, their pink robes making them easy to identify, but they seemed calm and unconcerned by the commotion. Perhaps this was just how the goddess made an entrance.
The whispers swelled in the hallway. Teddy tucked Grace behind him.
But it wasn’t attackers who stumbled into the room.
It was Stella McKay and Prince Arden Teripin.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Teddy grumbled.
The priestesses fawned over Stella, rushing to greet her. At least she had the sense to look mortified by the attention.
“I don’t need any special accommodations, but if Aunt Desiree is here—I mean, if the goddess is in, I would love to speak with her,” Stella said.
Arden brought a hand to the small of her back and gave her an indulgent smile that faded the moment his gaze snagged Teddy’s.
Teddy was shocked to see Arden there. They’d grown up together, and while Arden was kind and intelligent, he wasn’t terribly serious about relationships—or much else, as far as Teddy had seen. He certainly didn’t seem the type to be courting the daughter of the famed fairy-tale couple of Rainer McKay and Cecilia Reznik. That kind of example had clearly set Stella up for some huge expectations in relationships, and Teddy was shocked that she thought Arden was the one to fulfill them.
Arden arched a brow and smirked as he crossed the temple.
“And here I thought your betrothal to someone else was announced just last night,” Teddy said.
Arden shrugged sheepishly. “I see I’m not the only prince unwilling to leave his spousal decision-making up to his parents.”
Stella stepped up beside him, rolling her eyes as she noticed Teddy. “Oh, thank goodness. I thought I sensed a dark, brooding energy in the temple. I was worried there was a haunting, but your presence explains everything.”
Her contempt was confounding. As if she wasn’t as much a thorn in his side. She seemed to be under the impression that his life was so easy.Clueless, impossible woman.
Teddy gritted his teeth. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Stella cocked her head to the side. “Oh, excuse me, Your Highness, I didn’t realize you had singular claim on love.” She grabbed Arden’s hand and tugged him back to their place at the end of the line, glaring daggers at Teddy as ifhewere an interloper.
Grace squeezed Teddy’s hand again, offering a conspiratorial smile. “I don’t know why you let her bother you. We’re friends. She’s always going to be a part of our lives. I’ve watched you get along with truly detestable nobles at court. Why does Stella get under your skin so easily?”
Teddy crossed his arms. There had been a time when they were children that they’d been friendly. But somewhere in their teen years Stella had turned into a boisterous, wild thing of a woman, and he’d turned into the heir to the Argarian throne. It seemed she always had as much freedom as Teddy had structure, and even though that was the way he preferred it, her sheer exhaustive whimsy irritated him.
Stella had never been crushed under a kingdom’s worth of expectations. She had never been humbled by impossible shoes to fill. She should have felt the heat the way he did, having inherited such a similar history, but it all seemed to slide right off of her. She was so unaffected, when he was so shackled by it.
A hush went over the room as a priestess in a deep scarlet robe appeared from the doorway that led to the waterfall outside the temple. Immediately, all of the other priestesses fell to their knees. In a wave of movement, they touched their fingers to their foreheads, lips, and then hearts before opening their palms before the woman in scarlet.
Several of the couples in line fell to their knees as well, heads bowed in reverence.
“What’s happening—” Teddy started, but then the woman in the scarlet robe stepped into the moonlight and the air rushed from his lungs as prickling magic hit him.
Grace went rigid beside him and lowered to her knees just as he shook himself from his stupor and knelt beside her.
Teddy kept his eyes down. The scent of roses filled the air, magic pressing in on him from all sides, but he held perfectly still like prey caught in the sights of a predator. All witches could sense magic, and he’d never felt something so strong all at once like this goddess fully in her element.
A soft hand came to his chin. “Rise, Your Highness. I can’t imagine you’re a man often on your knees.”
Teddy met the bright blue eyes of the strikingly lovely goddess. Her dark, curly hair was wild around her shoulders and her brown skin glowed as if reflecting the moonlight.
Teddy rose to his feet. “Goddess.”
Her red lips tugged into a grin. “You look like your father.”
Teddy fought not to frown. He knew it was a good thing. Ladies of the kingdom still fawned over his father, but Xander had never mentioned meeting the goddess of love and beauty. It was just like the king to skip over something that important.
