Unlike most other guests at the ball, this demoness is actually dressed for the frigid weather outside. There’s no flimsy layers or delicate silk here, but a thick wool overdress made of such a high quality there’s no doubting it belongs at this gathering as much as any lace.
“Never woulda expected to see you here of all places—not without cuffs at least!” the demoness guffaws, clapping Valenar on the shoulder so hard his spine bows forward. His smile is tighter than hers, but doesn’t seem as forced as with the duchess.
“Countess—” Valenar starts, gesturing toward me.
“Oh, don’t start with that. Where’s your partner in crime?” the countess asks, perching up on her toes to look around Valenar, her dark brows slowly furrowing as her search comes up empty.
“Theking—” Valenar is careful to emphasize the word, “—is tending to important matters of state and has asked that I introduce his bride. Countess Fenrelle—”
“For Lorith’s sake,” Countess Fenrelle laughs, clapping him on the back again. “Is that how it’s gonna be? Too big for your armor now? All titles and pomp?” She scoffs, shaking her headwith mock disappointment while still smiling a pointed grin as she turns to me, lowering her voice like we’re co-conspirators.
“That’s mypropertitle, but no one who knows me would call me anything other than Maive.Especiallynot someone who’s asked me to pull ticks off of his—”
Valenar’s tail flicks, smacking the back of Maive’s calf while she laughs again and reaches for my hand.
“It’s easy to get under his skin,” she says, hooking a thumb over her shoulder toward Valenar. “Xan, though? Nerves of granite. Those two used to run bounties while on patrol. Don’t think I ever saw him fazed.”
“And that is why he will make such a wonderful king for Emerald,” Valenar says, doing his best to steer the conversation while this charging bull of a woman barrels past each attempt.
“You must be something special to have caught his attention,” she says, squeezing my hand in hers. Something shifts in her eyes, mirth turning to curiosity, questions I don’t think I should answer floating just beneath the surface.
Her grip on my hand tightens as I look down from her gaze. “The herdmasters welcome the king’s bloodsworn bride, and I think I speak for us all when I say it’s been a long winter.”
My heart stops for just a moment, mind immediately going to my contract with the Dealmaker and my brother suspended in time in that horrible prison cell. I force back the taste of acid at the back of my throat, instead clasping Maive’s hand with both of mine.
“Winter cannot last forever,” I reassure her with a gentle smile. “Spring will return before you know it.”
Something in the countess’s posture shifts, like a weight has lifted. “I do hope you’re right. It’s been too long since I got elbow-deep in dirt.”
I’m not sure how long we stay talking there, long enough for Valenar to grow impatient, trying to urge me along to meet more people, each time earning more teasing from Maive. I like her; she’s loud and has soil permanently under her claws. She understands the social cues, but doesn’t care to abide by them, and talking to her about the different qualities of wool her herds produce is the first time since leaving my world that I’ve felt like I might not be drowning the whole time I’m here. Maybe I’ll be able to carve out a place for myself where I can be useful until it’s time to return home.
I’m doing my best to absorb every detail about the felting process Maive is explaining—it’s new to me and is responsible for her exquisite dress—so I don’t notice how the ballroom has gone eerily quiet until I laugh a little too loud at one of Maive’s jokes.
She notices it, too, looking back to see the commotion. “Lorith save me,” she mutters under her breath. “It’s been great getting to talk to you. Don’t let this one make you think he’s scary,” she says with a gesture toward Val, her energy more harried, glancing back again before giving us both an apologetic look. “I’ll get myself in trouble if I—”
“Go on,” Valenar says, shooing her with a wave of his hand, a smirk quirking the corner of his mouth.
“What did she mean by…” Whatever the rest of that thought was, it’s gone now. The crowd parts…I think. Maybe the crowd disappears. Who knows. There’s only one person—onedemon—I can see, and I can’t look away. I can’t reallyseehim, either. It’s like looking into the sun, too present to ignore, but too powerfulto behold. He moves closer, and the air grows warmer, my gown feels stifling, and I have the sudden urge to rip it off. To bare myself in front of this god and rub myself against him like a cat in heat. To—
“Enough,” Valenar says, snapping me out of it.
All at once, it feels like a veil is lifted, the chill of the ballroom returns, and I wrap my arms around myself, desperately seeking more cover. I don’t know what just happened to me, but I don’t like it. And I don’t like the demon who approaches now; he’stoohandsome. Too perfect, and the way his crimson eyes travel up and down my body makes my skin prickle the same way it did when I was before the Judge bargaining for my brother’s freedom.
I have no doubt that this demon is dangerous, the hard part is keeping my feet rooted in place while every instinct tells me to run from this predator.
“Always ruining my fun,” the newcomer says, voice smooth as silk and sweet as honeyed wine.
“Get yourfunfrom the Shadow King, Castorian. You won’t find what you’re after in Emerald,” Valenar says, one hand resting by his hip, his entire body poised like he’s ready to strike.
“What makes you so sure I haven’t already found it?” Castorian says, circling us with a smile that feels like a warning. “You of all people should know how irresistible the scent of fresh prey is.”
My heart beats faster, cold sweat prickling at my hairline.
I’m safe. Nothing’s going to happen here in front of everyone.
…Right?
How many would-be royals met their end at functions just like this one? I know nothing of the politics of this place, nothing of the customs or conflicts. I have only the word of a Dealmaker who’s shown himself to leave out important details.
