My eyes flick between the two fae females. Rose has yet to notice me, her face turned toward Dominik in a strained smile. I lean over Kassandra to service her. With the distance between us closed, Kassandra hisses, low and cutting, “When Briar gives you an order, youlisten.”
I tilt my head, taking in her kohl-lined eyes and berry lips. “Yes, my lady.”
“After you pour the wine, you’ll be dismissed for the night. Foolish creature.”
“Yes, my lady.”
She narrows her eyes. “I mean it, Avery. This is not one of those times where I want you to…” Her eyes drop to my mouth, and she glances away, drawing the glass to her lips and swallowing.
To what? To disobey?
“I’m parched,” Rose whines.
Kassandra nods in dismissal, and I circle down the table to Rose. Dominik’s inky eyes trail across my neck, to where my scar is hidden beneath my clothes. Rose’s attention returns to her food, which Briar plates and presents. While she’s distracted, I pour wine into her cup.
“I believe you two know each other,” the lord announces. “Intimately.”
I stiffen, the wine sloshing over the rim.
“Ugh, clumsy faerie!” Rose snaps, glaring up at me. Her face falls, deepening to a maroon shade. “Oh! Oh, it’s…you.”
“How did you two meet, again?” Dominik asks.
“The House of Reign, my lord,” I say, drawing back. I need to leave.
“What are—” Rose clears her throat, voice dropping. “What are you doing here?”
“She’s my Crest attendant,” Kassandra answers flatly.
“Yes, Avery—why are you no longer in House Reign?” the Illusion heir drawls.
“I, well—”
“Rose, how does Maxian fare in his week of grieving?” my mistress asks. “Is it not the anniversary of his mother’s death tonight? Or was that yesterday?”
My heart pounds.
“I believe it’s tomorrow, but he’s unavailable for the whole week, as you know—”
“You’d think the future queen could break him from his stupor,” Dominik mutters.
“No contract, no crown,” Kassandra says, looking to Rose. “It’s a declaration not of your character but rather of his indecision.”
“I do not think him indecisive in this matter.”
“No?”
“I have frequented his bed lately. Have you?”
I tense up again, almost dropping a plate of fruit. Rose has opened the door, one that Dominik now waltzes through with a smile on his face.
“If that truly mattered, then Avery would be the next queen,” he says.
All eyes in the room fall to me—Dominik with his smug expression, Rose and Briar with looks of horror, and Kassandra…My stoic mistress does not even purse her lips or flare her nostrils. Instead, she takes a sip of wine, glancing at her brother.
“ ‘Avery’ does mean ‘queen’ in the old Illusion tongue,” she says.
Rose chokes, bringing a napkin to her lips. “Pardon,” she whispers. “I feel I may have overstayed my welcome.”
