The moment the doors opened, I agreed with Catrin’s choice of the word “serious.” There were twice as many servants as during the dinner with Owain, all in the red and gold livery of Darreth. The long table was weighed down with covered dishes and elaborate place settings. Each gleamed under the candlelight cast by the freshly polished chandeliers overhead. No corners had been cut for this production.
My heart thudded beneath emerald fabric. I forced myself forward.
Pre-dinner socializing was on the agenda. Nisien stood near the hearth, brilliant in black and gold, laughing with two couples. Nearby, Emrys leaned against a stone pillar like it was the only thing keeping him in place.
He was staring at me, ignoring the couple in front of him as they talked on. His jaw was tight, his eyes too sharp, like I’d just done something unspeakably bold merely by walking into the room. Heat climbed my neck at the way his gaze dragged over me, slow and assessing, before he jerked his attention away so fast I wondered if I’d imagined it.
But he was the only stone pillar in a sea of emotions. The room held a mix of tension, excitement, and a carefully constructed facade of anxiety disguised as charm. I’d have to square my shoulders and bear it. It wasn’t like I hadn’t existed under a heavy cloud of foreign emotions every day of my adult life. Except here, every person in the room could’ve crushed me under their shoe and faced no consequences for it.
And I could feel that all of them but Lord Gordot and one of the women were mages.Dangerous.
Nisien turned the moment I was fully in the room, his smile brighter than the flames crackling in the hearth.
“Lady Isca!” His voice carried easily across the chamber. There was the slightest pause as he stared at me like he couldn’t believe what he wasseeing—and not in the best sort of way. “Everyone, allow me to present our esteemed envoy from Caervorn. She came highly recommended by the Chancellor of the Mage Assembly. So far, our experience with her talents has been quite illuminating.”
All eyes shifted to me.
I curtseyed as gracefully as I could, the weight of judgment pressing against my skin from five new pairs of eyes. “Pleased to be here in such distinguished company.”
Emrys’s eyes narrowed. He focused his attention completely on me, as though snakes might be hiding in the waves cascading over my collarbone. That focus swiftly vanished behind a mask of cold disapproval.
Panic twisted through me, but I tamped it down, smoothing my features. I couldn’t very well run back to my chambers now. Whatever mistake I’d made by leaving my hair down, I’d committed it publicly.
I turned my attention to the couples.
Lord Gordot was the first to step forward and introduce his wife, Lady Mona. She matched him perfectly in softness and smiles. The second couple, Lord Rydic and Lady Gwenna, were more imposing. He had the build of a bear gone silver, while she was tall and striking, her black hair woven into an intricate coronet. The final pair were clearly from merchant stock, though dressed to match nobility. Lord Elid wore sharp sleeves and had shrewd eyes. His wife, Lady Briallen, was rail-thin with an assessing look that never wavered from me for more than a second.
From them, I felt curious calculation, a bit of cautious approval, and, most notably, a significant amount of that expected judgment.
We exchanged pleasantries to start. I asked after their travels, their children, the roads from their holdings. In turn, they offered guarded complaints, like nobles the world over.
Lord Rydic snorted over a cup of wine. “The northern lords barely answer summons anymore. I hear mutterings of secession every time I travel through the pass.”
Lady Briallen added, “The court bets more on which prince will rise than whether peace will hold. There’s gold behind that gossip, Lady Isca.”
Lord Gordot’s voice was more hesitant. “Even in these halls, the soldiers whisper. Some say the kingdom is already split and only pretending otherwise.”
I nodded to each of their statements, saying little so I could take it all in. Then it was my opportunity to play my hand. “In my time here, I’ve only seen two brothers united by their care for the people of Darreth. Despite their differences, they are of a mind in wanting to strengthen the kingdom.”
The dinner call from a liveried servant saved me from having to elaborate on that statement.
Nisien took one seat at the head, Emrys beside him. Their chairs mirrored each other—equal height, equal place. A kingdom undecided.
With all the talk tonight, I was starting to worry that the Assembly was right, that Darreth needed only one ruler.
To my surprise, I was seated beside Emrys. Far too close beside him.
“Careful, Lady Isca,” he said, leaning in close enough that his breath ghosted my cheek, entirely inappropriate for the table—and entirely intentional, probably to unsettle me. “This might not be safe for either of us,exquisite, but… You’ll start rumors with that low-cut dress and…”
“And what?” I whispered, heart pounding far too quickly for a threat.
He didn’t answer right away, only leaned back—then let his gaze trail down the length of my hair, over the neckline of my dress, back to my mouth. The silence stretched, charged and unbearable, until the corner of his lips twitched upward. “That’s exactly the problem.”
I fought against a rising blush at the way his jaw flexed when he forced his gaze away, like the effort physically pained him. I didn’t like the note of mirth in his voice one bit. Frustratingly, he failed to clarify exactly what he meant about rumors.
Stubborn, bull-headed prince.
Across from me, Lord Rydic settled heavily beside Nisien, already reaching for a goblet. He was clearly the most important of the gathered lords, and, from what I’d gathered during conversation earlier, the one with the largest army.
