I believe I will.
I finished the glass and took another from the shaking tray.
A guard attired in red dipped low before me, in a deep bow. I wanted to reach out and slice his pointed ears off…but I behaved. From his lowered position, he requested, “If you will follow me, Your Royal Highness? I have been instructed to show you to the ballroom.”
I took a smaller sip from my new wine flute, staring down at the back of his head where he stared at the spotless floor, steady and calm. This elf held no fear of me—stupid. “The other rulers are already meeting?” They were nowhere in sight.
“They are, Your Royal Highness. My king and his soul mate will be making their appearance shortly.”
The entrance was getting too full for my liking anyway. I tapped the top of his head with the bottom of my flute. “You may rise.”
The elf straightened. A small spark of terror flittered in his eyes before he could hide it. Perhaps he wasn’t utterly foolish. His voice was unruffled, though, as he stated easily, “Follow me, Your Royal Highness.”
Bishop and I trailed behind him, weaving between elves who sputtered and jumped out of our way when they detected us.
With my wine flute dangling down by my side, I chuckled maliciously, lifting one eyebrow at a woman who appeared close to fainting. “So fucking easy.”
“They may look like prey right now, but don’t kill any of them tonight,” Bishop warned gently.
The guard’s shoulders tensed in front of us, but he didn’t comment as he led us down a maze of hallways.
I rolled my eyes at his antics, taking small tastes of my wine occasionally. I swallowed down the succulent alcohol sip by sip, and, finally, when enough was enough with this unneeded frolic—and my drink was running low—I mumbled dryly, “You do realize I’ve been here many times? If you wanted to confuse me about where we’re going, you have failed. You’re only trying my patience. Take a left here and head straight. Donotdeviate from that path, or we will leave you behind.”
His shoulders straightened at my threat.
But, thank fuck, he did as ordered.
I replaced my glass with another when we passed under the rounded entrance to King Traevon’s majestic ballroom. I stopped just inside the large space and scanned the unfriendly environment. We had taken so long to arrive that the room was already teeming with elves in their finery. I peered over their heads easily, taking note of King Elon on the far right side of the room, near a large back entrance door—where King Traevon and his soul mate were sure to enter. He was the only royal here so far. The rest, apparently, still being led on a merry jaunt through hallways.
I snorted and walked straight through the elves who stood in my way. My path quickly cleared when they noticed who was near them, although there were a few elves already in attendance who didn’t move as quickly as I liked. Those elves took their time to study my physique, hard intelligence lining their eyes, the elves who weren’t afraid to brawl. There would be more of them as the night wore on; the elf king surrounded himself with the strongest men and women of his kingdom, not just prominent merchants and his family’s friends.
I stepped beside King Elon while Bishop took up a position behind me, next to the gorgon king’s personal guard, their backs to the wall. I leaned in the King of Gorgons’ direction, keeping my eyes on the elven mass. I growled softly, “You do know what ‘unity’ means, don’t you? I thought King Traevon was pretty clear on that.”
King Elon rolled the stem of his wine flute between his fingers, studying the dark liquid within. “I have no idea what you are referring to.”
“What did you try to smuggle in?” I asked bluntly.
The King of Gorgons sighed heavily and swallowed down a strong gulp of his wine. “The guards took issue with my present.”
I turned my head to stare at his profile. I waited.
“Apparently, the rare and expensive perfume I purchased for King Traevon’s soul mateoccasionallyhas adverse effects on an elf.” His lips curved up at the edges, watching the elves titter and blush while they dallied with one another. “Imagine my surprise when they informed me of that. I hadn’t the foggiest that could occur.”
I slowly returned my attention to the crowd, finishing off my glass of wine and tossing the empty flute casually to a server—he caught it with one hand and went on his way.
I stated evenly, “That wasn’t wise of you.”
“He would still be alive.” King Elon twirled his glass again between his fingers. “That is all we need.”
“We need him coherent.” I stretched my neck back and forth, the three drinks finally loosening up my muscles. “Don’t be a Fae damned idiot. Not right now.”
“Fuck off,” he hissed, his voice slithering fiercely. “It wasn’t your brother he killed.”
“No, it was my father.”
“Good riddance there.”
I grunted in agreement. “The same could be said for your appalling brother.”
