Willa seemed more doubtful.
Someone called out to Ander. He put his hand at the small of my back, looking down into my face. He was so handsome, his dark hair tousled above his face, his lips quirked in amusement.
“I know you can handle yourself,” he murmured, “but I still hate to leave you alone in here. I’ll only be gone a few moments.”
“I’m fine. I’m eager to get to know more of Clan Amber,” I lied.
“Brave girl,” Ander said, his lips curling up at the edges, and then he was gone into the crowd. The warmth of his hand seemed to linger on my back.
“What line do you come from?” Willa asked.
“Line?” I had some idea what she meant, but I still stalled for time. As if my father might leap from between the crystal columns and announce his presence in the meantime.
“You have a mortal mother, I assume, or you would have grown up with us.” Ash’s gaze was sympathetic.
“You all grew up together? Training at the academy?”
“We didn’t know who our family would be growing up for sure, but we started to grow bonds. Most of us joined clans in groups. Friendswho feel like…sisters and brothers.” Ash’s pity was impossible to hide; she seemed to think I would always be an interloper.
“When did you leave your families?” I felt a flicker of pity for her, thinking of growing up in the cold, austere world they inhabited, no matter how magical.
“Around seven or eight,” Willa said impatiently, as if the subject were dull. “Why didn’t your father bring you?”
Behind me, laughter rippled through the crowd, low and magnetic, and my pulse stuttered.
Fieran.
I didn’t look back, but I couldfeelhim, like heat rolling off a fire I knew not to touch. He was talking quietly with one of his clan, but I had the feeling his attention kept slipping to me, just like mine to him.
I shrugged. “I don’t know his mind.”
One of the men in the clump of the shifters turned toward us then, sipping from his own flagon with such a casual air I knew it was an act. He’s been listening. “You don’t know his mind? Or you don’t know him at all?”
“I don’t know him,” I admitted.
Willa looked at me sharply. “Do you even know who he is?”
“No.”
“He never claimed you.” Now there was no hiding Ash’s pity.
It bothered me even more than the male’s harsh laugh as he said, “Maybe he’s waiting to see if she lives or burns.”
My stomach sank. Was my father waiting to see if he wanted to claim me or not, based on my performance?
I raised my chin.
A familiar scent touched me. Warm, hard muscle brushed my shoulder.
“Ander thought she was worth fighting for.” Fieran’s voice was low and steady at my side. “Perhaps you should raise your objections to him. I’m sure he’d find them fascinating.”
He raised his hand, beckoning Ander over. As soon as Ander saw Fieran at my side, his eyes widened; he gave his companion a distracted excuse and clapped his shoulder, but he was already heading our way like an arrow fired froma bow.
Fieran’s satisfaction was a flash in those golden eyes. He clearly enjoyed the way Ander responded to him, the bastard.
Ash, Willa, and the male made slightly frantic excuses to turn away. Ander was making his way through the crowd, but for a moment, Fieran and I were alone.
“Hello, prince.” I still found his title a betrayal.
