Not like R?—
A mock scoff from Frecco thankfully interrupted her train of thought, and she moved her gaze to his green eyes, the smile that had fallen returning to her lips.
“Should we continue our little show on the dance floor?” Frecco wiggled his brows as Iviry offered her a small wave and walked off to socialize with the Fae around her, although it appeared she was keeping an eye on the human crowd at the side of the ship, where Loche was speaking to Zaddock and Amalise, and a few others Frelina recognized—a woman who was part of the council and a guard who kept his birdlike mask in his hand as he drank from a cup of wine.
“We most certainly should.” Frelina dropped in a low curtsy, the way her father had taught her and Elessia growing up.
Frecco’s eyes glittered as he bowed back before grabbing her hand and, without a single moment of hesitation,took her to the dance floor, where no one had yet dared venture.
She kept her eyes on his as he spun her to the music. He wasn’t an exceptionally good dancer, not like her father had been—the only other person she’d ever danced with—but he was having fun, and she giggled every time he managed to step on one of her feet.
When Frecco dipped her, pretending to drop her but catching her at the last second, ice crept through her chest, and she couldn’t help but lose the smile that had felt so good to let free. Frecco caught her sentiment, pulling her close so that she could hide the tears springing into her eyes in his tunic-clad chest.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled against her hair. “I was just trying to be funny.”
“N-no,” she whispered. “It… it just reminded me of my father.”
Frecco didn’t say anything, but the way he tucked her against his chest told her he understood.
Despite the tears flooding her cheeks, she whispered “Thank you” when he continued to shield her from the people hesitantly making their way onto the dance floor, and steered her to a quieter corner—one that reminded her of where she’d stumbled into him the first time.
Last night, she’d been wandering on her own across ships to get some space from everything going on when she’d heard someone crying and found this massive guard with tears glistening on his face in the moonlight.
Frecco had stood with his hands on the railing, staring south, and despite his massive frame, there had been something kind, something vulnerable in his face that made Frelina approach him.
He must have heard her coming—he was full Fae,after all—but he hadn’t even tried to hide his sorrow as he turned around. Instead, he’d waved for her to join him with a low “This is the crying corner, and from what I’ve heard, you also have a lot to cry about, so you’re welcome to join me.”
Frelina hadn’t been able to quash a shocked laugh, and that had been that. They’d spent the entire night talking about their lives in a way she never really had before, but she guessed it helped that he was a complete stranger, and that he appeared to have no boundaries of his own.
He’d told her all about how Rioner had killed his parents, how he’d been thrown into Rioner’s guard at only eighteen, how he’d met a female in Vastala who he hadn’t dared be with because he didn’t want Rioner to hold anything over his head—how he had no idea where this female was now or if he’d ever see her again.
Frelina had listened and listened, and when Frecco had asked her about her own life, everything just came tumbling out: how scared she was for her sister, what had happened with Raine, how useless she felt in this war, especially after her sister had whispered how much she loved her and how she knew Frelina would be able to do good here when she traveled to Vastala—how she had no idea how to live up to what Elessia believed she could accomplish.
Frecco had been quiet for a while, until he’d asked her if she wanted to try to help in the only way he knew. Figure out a way to relieve some of the tension she felt even in this quiet corner.
She’d nodded, and they’d come up with the training plan—how they would show people that they could trust each other despite the bad bloodthat should flow between them—and when they’d shared the idea with Loche and Iviry and they liked it, they’d decided to spend every day practicing, finding the Fae and humans and shifters who were most distrustful and keeping close to them to try to make at least a few believe in the world Loche and Iviry were trying to build.
“Is she crying?”
Did he hurt you?
Raine’s raging voice invaded her mind, and she didn’t have time to react before she was ripped from Frecco’s arms, Raine pulling her face to his as he studied her.
Frelina felt several pairs of eyes snapping their way, and when Raine slammed a palm against Frecco’s chest as he tried to approach, she hissed under her breath, “Stop it right now, you idiot.”
Raine’s chest heaved as Frelina glared at him, but she refused to let his green-and-golden gaze go until the sounds picked up around them again, the warmth of the gazes fading.
“She told you to stop, mind-bender,” Frecco warned when a growl shook Raine’s chest as Frecco shoved his hand off, moving to Frelina’s side again.
Raine’s eyes left Frelina’s for a moment, and the hair on her arms rose at the look in his hazel ones when he glowered at Frecco. But the latter only grinned back, placing a hand on Frelina’s shoulder and leaning in to whisper, “What would you like to do?”
As she met his eyes briefly, there was a challenge in them—one that wasn’t directed at her but at Raine—and she realized Frecco would play along however she wanted.
She was tempted, especially as Raine’s eyes wereglued to the hand on her shoulder, but Frelina forced herself to shrug it off, nodding toward a few of the other half-Fae who had gathered at the side of the dance floor, where Fae and humans hesitantly danced, not together but at least side by side. “I need to speak to Raine, but maybe you can give one of them the pleasure of a dance in the meantime.”
Frecco waited for a beat—probably to ensure she was certain—before he nodded, and with a smile that turned frosty as his eyes brushed past Raine’s, Frecco took off.
Frelina took a steadying breath before she captured Raine’s eyes again.
