There were audible gasps and murmurs broke out as a guard rushed to him with a cloth. Kailia tsked under her breath. It would heal fine, and it wouldn’t even take long. Fae healed fairly quickly, and Avonleyans were even faster. A big deal was being made out of nothing.
But the fuss over a little blood had pulled the king’s attention from her, and she used the distraction to slip farther back away from the crowd until she was near one of the lampposts dimly illuminating the space. With a sigh of relief, she slipped into the faintly wafting smoke, relishing the feeling of being weightless.
Of not having to worry about anyone touching her.
She couldn’t stay hidden here for long. It drained her power reserves, and she wasn’t entirely sure where the night would lead. She just needed to escape the king’s notice for a little bit. Maybe he’d forget about the random female who’d stabbed him…
Silver eyes flicked back up, going right back to where she’d been standing. She saw the slight crease on his brow as he scanned the crowd, and then the way he pressed his lips into a thin line.
Okay, so he probably wasn’t going to forget about the stabbing.
The king cleared his throat, the crowd going silent at the sound.
“Let’s address the obvious, shall we?” he started with a smile as he raised his wounded arm. “This is nothing but a scratch. My own fault really. There was an area of particularly densesmokethat made it hard to see much of anything else.” He paused, and Kailia could swear he looked directly where she was hidden in her power. But then his gaze skipped over the crowd again as he added with a wink, “Or maybe it was Harrison Reyes’s excellent mead.”
The crowd chortled, some raising tankards and cheering.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” the king continued, the Fae once again falling quiet as they clung to his every word. “I know there are concerns, especially among the Fae in our kingdom.”
Kailia listened as he offered placating words to try to soothe the anxious crowd. Everyone was well aware of the increasing attacks on the Fae, and the king assured them he was doing everything in his power to figure out who and why. She watched him as he casually moved back and forth across the platform while he spoke, his grace and poise as effortless as the words falling from his lips.
Growing restless, she flitted to another post, drawing closer to the platform as he moved on to offering lodgings for the Fae who wished to remain closer to Aimonway for their safety. As if staying on this side of the Nightmist Mountains would be any more secure. That was ridiculous. There had been nearly as many casualties found on this side as the west of the black mountain range.
She’d stopped listening at some point, only becoming aware the king had finished his speech when the crowd began clapping and cheering.
Daring to move closer still, now hovering in the smoke of one of the stage torches, she watched the king leave the platform. The way he moved was more like a prowl, a predator who’d honed in on prey.
“Rumor is the king is seeking a partner.”
Her attention slid to a small group of females nearby. They’d all pushed their hoods back, running fingers through their hair. The one who’d spoken was bouncing on her toes, face flush with excitement.
“It’s part of the reason all the Fae were summoned,” she went on. “He wants to return to tradition by taking a Fae to his side.”
“Do you think it’s true?” another asked, biting her lip as she pushed onto her tiptoes, trying to see over the crowd.
A third female shrugged, smoothing her hands down her cloak. “Gathering all the Fae together certainly makes it seem true. What better way to survey the options?”
They all giggled as if something they’d said was funny.
But over the next few hours, those rumors appeared to gain more and more traction. The king didn’t leave the city center, making his way through the crowd. He visited with everyone, and as others seemed to realize this as well, more Fae seemed to appear and clamor for his attention.
Kailia had to leave her sanctuary after the second hour, feeling her reserves draining too quickly. It’d become harder to blend in now. Males and females alike had pulled their hoods back, trying to ensnare the king’s notice. Keeping her hood in place would draw attention to her, so she begrudgingly pulled it back and stayed on the fringes yet again. She kept to the darkened corners and shadowed doorways, biding her time.
When it was closer to dawn than dusk and people had more mead than food in their bellies, the king finally took a seat. Not on a throne atop the platform, but on a common wood chair off to the side. The crowd was thinning, people stumbling as they began to make their ways home, and it was then that Kailia slipped from the darkness.
There were guards nearby, of course, but they were keeping their distance, clearly trying to create the illusion of a casual air around the king. The king himself was waving off an offering of food and drink as he smiled at two females he was speaking with, one of them blushing at whatever he’d said.
She waited even longer, until there were a handful of people left milling about, clearly hoping for some more…intimate time with the king. But it wasn’t until those silver irises landed on her again that she finally approached. She didn’t really have much of a choice. He’d seen her, clearly still recognized her, and his stare didn’t leave her this time.
Lifting her chin, she skirted around a male who’d fallen asleep on the ground and closed the distance between them. The king said something, and the nearby guards left. Well, they didn’tleave, but they moved far enough away to give some privacy. She couldn’t decide if that made the king stupid or his supposed guards who would now be too far away to actually protect him from anything.
As she came to a stop in front of him, she planted her feet, and her fingers curled into her palms. He sat casually in his seat, elbow planted on the armrest and a finger steepled along his temple. Neither of them spoke, and when the silence stretched on, the king simply arched a brow. Clearly he was not bothered by the quiet.
That was disappointing.
It was the easiest way to extract information. People revealed much when trying to fill awkward silences.
Her eyes narrowed. “You have my arrow.”
