“Reduce her beauty and make her power level appear Fae.”
“Beauty?” Lex said.
“Indeed,” Percilla replied. “Most beautiful. And if you wish to hide, your unusual power level must also blend in.” She smiled reassuringly. “I will make it look normal. Right now, you are too bright. You shine like a star.”
She turned to Garrin. “Are you certain you do not wish for the king to see the gift you have brought us before I hide her?”
“Lex is a gift some would use against us,” he said. “The king and others will be informed as soon as it is safe. To share knowledge of Lex overly soon would lead to punishment,” he added, and Percilla flinched.
His courtier made one final sweep of her hand across Lex’s body and stepped back. “It is done.”
Garrin narrowed his eyes then grunted. “She is still beautiful.”
“But her power level is normal,” Percilla replied. She cocked her head. “I reduced her beauty, as you requested. What you see shines from within and is harder to mask.”
Lex’s brow pinched. “This is the weirdest conversation ever. And that’s saying something after what I’ve been through these last months.”
Garrin suspected Lex had been undervalued in the Earth realm, which solidified his belief that humans lacked intelligence. Lex had always been striking, and now she was more so.
Perhaps her beauty wouldn’t be such an issue. After all, she’d need to be attractive if his father was to believe Garrin had chosen her for his court. Beauty and power were the only qualities his father prized in women.
Garrin strongly disagreed. After meeting Lex, Garrin had decided that a woman with a strong will and kind heart was more to his liking.
Percilla bowed and quickly made her exit.
Lex watched her leave, then turned to Garrin. “Are all Fae women as gorgeous as her? You were kind of an ass, by the way. She was doing us a favor.”
“It is her job to support her prince.”
“Does everyone support you? Are they your slaves?”
Garrin shot her a look. “Of course they are not slaves. My work protects the realm. The attendants know this, and they do not ask questions. It is in everyone’s interest to protect you from danger if I say it is.”
Zirel entered the room, saw Lex, and stopped abruptly in his tracks, his jaw unhinged.
Garrin glared. “That was fast, even for Amund. Particularly given my express instructions for him to eat before he returned for you.”
“He ate before he came for me, and I healed him once he arrived.”
“And Isle?”
Zirel glanced at Lex and back to Garrin. He shook his head lightly as though to clear it. “Isle is with my mother.”
Zirel’s family weren’t noble, and they did not reside within the castle walls. They were also annoyed with Garrin’s father for some grievance or another. Hiding Isle among Zirel’s family was as good a choice as any.
Zirel continued to stare at Lex. “What, ah, what has happened?”
The woman Garrin believed to be a stubborn Halven was no Halven at all, nor was she Fae—that was what had happened. She was more than Fae. And powerful, if her new appearance was any proof.
“Magic hid Lex’s true nature,” Garrin said. “Likely a spell. The full extent of the spell broke once we entered the kingdom. One of my attendants has placed a glamour over her power level and dimmed her beauty.”
Zirel’s head swiveled to Garrin. “This is the diminished version?”
* * *
Lex crossed her arms.Zirel, Garrin, and Amund had been acting weird ever since the closet. “Someone, get me a mirror so I can see what I look like.”
“Lex,” Garrin said. “It isn’t only your face. You cannot see, but it is all of you. You radiate strength and beauty.”
