Either way, I knew we’d be safe with three dragons among us, but I hoped it wouldn’t come to a point where I would need to expose what I was in order to ensure the prince’s safety. I didn’t plan on returning to the First Kingdom for a good long while, perhaps ever if I could help it, and I wouldn’t want to face the King if we cocked this all up.
I was on high alert when we arrived at the Light Palace, and it seemed like it was not just our group that was in full readiness. The palace guard was out in full regalia, and what I had to assume was the entire staff were present. I watched Nyx go from reasonably tense to full-on enraged as we were welcomed. But it was not the kind of ambush I’d been enlisted to guard against that we were dealing with. It was an official state greeting. And surely that was just as dangerous?
Hadn’t Nyx said this was supposed to be a secret mission? There were bloody welcome banners out for our arrival. The whole damned kingdom would know this was happening if all the ceremony was anything to go by. No wonder Nyx looked fit to explode.
I watched Zaria try to calm him with a tiny hand on his arm, and probably an entire conversation mind to mind to reel him in. I’d never experienced that bond, but I’d bet it was handy when you had a hulking dragon to talk down from raging…and I’d bet it had other advantages too. I pulled my mind out of such thoughts. It had been too long since I’d had someone under me, and my thoughts were too easily drawn into the gutter.
I turned my attention to the prince. His tension was also clear, though it was not nearly as volcanic as Nyx’s. I imagined how this must feel for him, being told,this is your bride, be a good princeling and make it work. I was far too driven by desire to ever be told who I must tie myself to under the Goddess’ eye for life. Though I’d heard that royals and such who arranged these unions for political reasons simply continued to bed whoever took their fancy, and rumors of the heir suggested he would not be slowed down by something as insignificant as a bride.
This particular prince, however, didn’t seem that way to me. Maybe I was wrong, but I was usually a good judge of such matters, and the prince had struck me as a decent male for aslittle of his character as I’d witnessed in the early hours of this morning. I’d seen enough, though, to suspect he was loyal to his duties as prince over his own happiness, and that was a shame. I could never understand why we all seemed to be prisoners of something, and why we couldn’t all just make choices for our own happiness. What was the sense? And if one more fae said it was the Goddess’ plan, I would have to begin to question Her, and that was a slippery slope into blasphemy even I was reluctant to go down publicly. I kept those thoughts on the inside where they were safe-ish.
Just then, movement at the top of the grand staircase caught the prince’s attention, and he turned to see his bride at the top of the stairs. Well, both the royal brides. Though I could tell they were beautiful from a distance, I was more interested in watching the prince’s reaction.
Prince Alaric tracked their progress as they descended. He seemed unable to look away, though whether it was that he was drawn to their beauty or through a visceral reaction to the trap they were all being snared in, I couldn’t tell. There was a part of me that wished I could rescue him from this fate, though I barely knew him. And the princesses, too—they were all victims of this pointless political maneuver. One of them was to marry this prince and perhaps live in a loveless, sexless existence. The other was set to be Queen to the future King, and maybe the same loveless, sexless fate awaited her. Or worse, maybe things would be expected of her that she was in no way prepared for. I didn’t know whose fate was worse—I just knew it was sure to be awful either way.
Both females were stiff in posture as they clung to one another and curtseyed deeply to the prince. Greetings were exchanged, and a somewhat heated conversation was had between Nyx and the duke, surely a reprimand for publicizing the visit and endangering the whole endeavor.
But I wasn’t listening.
Because I had stopped watching the prince reacting to meeting his betrothed for the first time and really looked at the two females up close.
I was at the back of the group, my presence not meant to be acknowledged. I was a guard, nothing more. So my view of the princesses-to-be was obscured by the official party in front of me. But then I caught sight of one of them when the prince stepped to the side, and I drank her in.
I didn’t manage to avert my eyes before her gaze met mine.
It was a matter of a moment, but it was all it took. Even if I looked away then, it was already too late. A deep-seated pull formed in my chest. It drew me towards something unknown. I was uncomfortable, and a sweat prickled on my brow. My gut fought against it, and my entire body screamed to get myself out of there. That feeling I always listened to was telling me it was time to go, and in that moment, there was nothing I could do that would not cause a scene.
Attention was the last thing I needed, so I forced it down. I couldn’t give in to any of these feelings, not during this important moment. I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes away from her. I looked everywhere else in the room except in her direction. I was here to protect, so I would be vigilant and survey my surroundings in order to be ready for any threat.
Not that I believed there was any threat in this kingdom greater than her.
EIGHT
CALYTRIX
Itried to swallow, but my throat was too tight, and a buzzing cut off my hearing. Immediately, I was drawn to him. More so than when he watched before. Like I’d be pulled into my nothingness if I stayed away too long.
I had to root my feet into the ground to keep from going to him, and I had no idea why. What spell was he weaving? I didn’t like it. My skin crawled, and all my hackles rose, feeling something was happening beyond my control.
Yet, at the same time, my body seemed to call to be near his. He was?—
I couldn’t put my thoughts together to form an opinion, but now that I studied him, he was quite striking. Roguish, and more like a mercenary than the type of male I’d expect to be traveling with the King's envoy. Another dragon, I’d wager. He was built like the general, tall and strong and his leathers displayed it well. His hair was dark, except where the sun had kissed the ends, and longer than those in the Night Kingdom typically wore. Curly too. He had it tied up, but a few curls had worked their way loose, giving him an almost innocent appearance which didn’t match either his demeanor or the rest of his face. It made me want to know more.
I had never seen a fae like him. There was a wildness to him—he seemed untamed. I recognized the quality in another since it was how I felt about myself. As if this life and its constraints were not for me, and I was meant for something wilder, more savage, than all this frivolity.
It was why I only truly felt at home in the saddle of my horse. He gave me the freedom I craved, if only for a few hours each day. It was like I imagined flying could be, and it filled some kind of need to be unchained, set free to be me. Whatever that need was in me, I saw it mirrored in his eyes the moment they met mine.
He looked away first. Studying the rich surroundings, as he was probably meant to in his role as protector of the prince. He was meant to be invisible, a silent force, if he was anything like the force of guards my father kept around us.
But I had seen him, and there was something about him that called to me.
I’d never had a male make me feel such.I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him in the face or kiss him, and that was not okay. I had enough to worry about with a betrothal to a future King I was certain I would hate, who hadn’t even deemed me important enough to meet me in person at our supposed official meeting.
My father said something, but I couldn’t make it out.
I blinked, forcing myself to look away, and took a brief second to compose myself. “I’m sorry, Father, what did you say?”
“I said you are excited to finally meet your prince, isn’t that right?” There was an edge to father’s voice.
