“Good to meet you, princess. I’m Thyl. You look like you could use something to take the edge off,” he said, showing her a small silver and red pill. “Take this and all worries will leave you.”
With wide eyes, Amira reached for the familiar pill. But another hand took hers. She turned her head to meet Tarnan’s eyes. He took the pill and crushed it under his heel.
“You have no right to offer or sell this,” he sharply said to Thyl.
The dealer raised his hands and quickly left. Tarnan turned to Amira. “Are you all right, princess?”
Amira fluttered her eyelashes, her drunken state clearly visible. “What was that?”
“Fortae, a cursed drug born out of suffering. You should never take it.”
“I…I don’t understand. Saydren tried to give me these pills on Falea Night. It can’t be cursed,” Amira said, slurring her words.
Tarnan shook his head in disbelief. “Are you sure it was Saydren, the royal healer? I can’t imagine he would do such a thing. It must have been a similar-looking pill.”
Amira’s memories of the end of Falea Night were still blurry. Maybe Tarnan was right, maybe she had confused the pill given by Saydren with this one,fortae.
A soothing hand appeared on her shoulder. “What happened?” Rhay asked as he joined them.
“You were with her?” Tarnan angrily asked. Rhay nodded. “You’re doing a terrible job taking care of her.”
Amira tried to move towards the door but the whole room was spinning. Rhay and Tarnan each grabbed one of her arms.
“We got you,” Rhay said with a worried smile while avoiding the storm in Tarnan’s eyes.
Slowly, they walked towards the door. Amira turned her head and saw the woman from earlier staring at her with a mysterious smile. The beautiful fae winked at her right before the door closed.
Chapter31
Amira
Amira’s head still pounded with a hangover the next day as she headed to the painting session of her engagement portrait with Karwyn. She couldn’t help but cringe as she remembered Tarnan and Rhay carrying her back to her room last night. She wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to face the King of Carnylen again.
The first thing Amira noticed when she entered the cosy parlour was the enormous easel in the middle of the sunlit room. A blank canvas was fixed to it, hiding the face of the painter behind it. Amira could only see his shoes—practical black boots—and the bottom of his large black trousers. And then, a familiar face peered around the easel.
“Oh, hello.” It was the mysterious woman she had met the night before. “I see you’re the first to arrive, my lady.”
“It’s you,” were the only words Amira was able to say.
The woman smiled and did a little curtsy. “I see you remember me. Varsha Marymlo, official painter of the Adelway family. Pleasure to see you again, princess.”
Blood rushed to Amira’s cheeks as she was reminded of their meeting at Rhay’s party. The silence between the two women grew more awkward with each passing second. Actually, Varsha didn’t look that uncomfortable. She had moved back to prepping her canvas and the different colours she was going to use for the portrait.
The door finally opened and, for the first time, Amira was relieved to see Karwyn enter the room. A very excited Rhay accompanied him.
“You should definitely read the book I just got from the black market. It’s…daring,” Rhay said.
Karwyn turned to him and said without blinking, “You are aware that the black market is not officially sanctioned by my authority?”
Rhay didn’t look guilty at all. “Come on, you’ve seen my outfits. You know it’s not coming from Liraen.”
“Yes and I hate them,” said a frowning Karwyn. Rhay gave Karwyn’s arm a little playful punch. Amira wasn’t sure if Karwyn’s irritation was real or fake.
The only thing she was sure of was Karwyn’s annoyance towards her. “Amira, such a pleasure that you are gracing us with your presence,” he said in a mocking tone.
“Were you planning on doing an engagement portrait on your own?” Amira hit back, provoking Rhay’s laughter.
“Hello, princess. I see you’re full of spirit today,” Rhay said, ignoring Karwyn’s gaze. He looked her over. “I love the dress you chose.” Rhay grabbed Karwyn by the shoulders. “Karwyn could learn from your sense of style. You’ve never seen how he dresses on his own. Luckily, I’m always there to give him fashion tips.”
