“Not like that,” I snapped back, tasting the partial lie like ash on my tongue, “She could be a spy, for Veritx’s sake. We need to know if Lord Carnelian is up to something. Ruri can’t investigate her in the same way I can. I’ll leave him to handle the lords, and I’ll handle her.”
“Mhm.” Arianell hummed, looking entirely unconvinced. “Well, for now, you need toinvestigateelsewhere, Lady Safira in particular. You canhandleLady Jacinth again later.”
I just barely managed to prevent myself from letting my eyes roll, both at Arianell and her suggestion. Safira was just as bad as Zumra, only without the same level of overconfidence. But I dutifully made my way over to her, asking her to dance. Sweeping onto the floor, she smiled brightly at me.
“This must all be quite tiring for you, Your Majesty. Especially with all that’s gone on.” She looked sympathetic, her brows creasing and lips turning down, but her words came out unnaturally, making me think they hadn’t been hers at all.
“Dancing with eight beautiful ladies of the realm?” I raised my brows, and her mouth opened and closed for a moment before she finally settled on an answer.
“Dancing with us all while grieving,” she replied softly, looking down at her feet as she followed the steps of the dance to avoid my gaze.
I knew she’d lost her mother five years ago, and her father had been wrecked ever since. I felt for her, truly. Despite many of the ladies' actions at court, no doubt spurred on by their father’s, they were Elves with hearts that bled just the same.
“I thank you for the concern, Lady Safira,” I told her earnestly. “Grief has a way of dulling the edges of everything in your life.”
“Yes, it does,” she agreed softly, her hand beginning to play with the diamonds hanging from my shoulder. “I think we could truly comfort one another in our grief, Your Majesty. As your wife, I would always be there to support you.”
An uncomfortable feeling crawled along my skin. It always came back to this. Even a genuine moment of warmth was stolen away by the games of court.
“I suppose we will see how the challenges go, my Lady,” I told her, since it seemed to be the only response I could muster with any sincerity.
After several more dances with the ladies competing for my hand—who was I kidding, competing for the crown—I finally managed to steal away for a break. I grabbed a glass of champagne and drank it all down in one go before grabbing another and escaping into one of the alcoves.
“Your Majesty.” A musical voice greeted me, and I nearly swore,so much for escaping.Looking up, I found Lady Sania sitting on an emerald-green sofa, her orange hair done in long curls that framed a delicate face with wide eyes, watching me with an amused smile quirking her pouty lips.
Taking her in, her hair and eye color slowly shifted in my mind’s eye to candy pink, the color of the court her father ruled over. I shook myself quickly out of it, but the way everything pearl-related reminded me of Jacinth couldn’t continue.
Dammit, I shouldn’t even be calling her that.LadyJacinth was the proper address. Flirting with her to find out her secrets was fine, but the genuine amusement and delight she stirred was a problem I needed to get a hold of quickly. Especially when I knew her coloring would give me nightmares, bringing back memories of a time in my life I wanted to forget. What I’d done might have been able to be hushed up among the other courts, but it never left my mind.
Besides, she was here for her lord, who wouldn’t hesitate to stab me in the back if I turned for a moment. She was likely the same. Every single person at court was only working for their own advancement.
“Lady Sania, forgive me, I thought I was alone.” I gave her a tight smile, which made her own broaden.
“Clearly.” She patted the sofa cushion beside her, and I slowly moved to sit beside her, leaving enough room for propriety’s sake.
“I promise I won’t bite, Your Majesty.” She giggled, and the sound warmed something within me. I had always been a sucker for a pretty face, I couldreadily admit. My attention on them may not last long, but the women never complained when they got it.
“What a shame.” I teased her as I sank back into the sofa, my arm resting along the back of it as I tilted my body toward her.
She blushed prettily, the red on her cheeks making me smirk, and I lowered my eyes to survey her. She was wearing a pale pink ball gown with lines of actual pearls running down the skirt and a velvet bodice that hugged her breasts and lifted them.
“You looked as if you needed to hide,” she said once she gathered herself, shifting in her seat. She alternated between looking down at her hands in her lap and up at me. The shift in conversation left me curious.
“Are you hiding here, my Lady?” I asked, raising a brow at her.
She bit her lip for a moment, and my eyes were drawn to the movement. “Perhaps. Or maybe I was just waiting for the right moment.”
I chuckled, cocking my head to the side, “And is this the right moment?”
“It certainly seems to be, Your Majesty,” she countered, an impish little smile on her face. Unlike Lady Zumra or Lady Safira, her flirting was more subtle. More like Jac’s—Jacinth’s—than the others. Though I had yet to dance with them all. Perhaps there were more ladies who knew how to properly flirt rather than shove their expectations in my face.
“And what does the right moment mean to you?” I asked her, leaning a bit closer, just to watch her blush again. This was a candidate I could flirt with without any of the complexities Ruby Court brought with it.
She cocked her head to the side, making the orange hair piled on top of her head shift slightly, while the curls hanging below it fell to the side, exposing her lily-white neck.
“I suppose it means having a chance to be alone with you. When there are so many of us all competing for your attention, it’s quite a challenge,” she explained, keeping her eyes lowered coquettishly.
“Well, you have me alone.” I waved my arm, indicating the space around us was empty. “What now?”
