Someone cleared their throat, and I lifted my splotchy face to see Prentis standing a few feet away. He shuffled from one foot to the other, looking horribly awkward, as if he wasn’t sure how to approach us.
I knew I should feel embarrassed to let him see me like this, especially in such an intimate embrace. But the truth was, I was too emotionally drained to care.
“What do you want?” Einar growled, his arms tightening around me. It was impossible to mistake the jealousy in his tone for anything else, yet his embrace felt protective rather than possessive. And I realized I liked it, far more than I should.
Prentis lifted an arm, drawing my gaze to a glittering dress draped over his forearm. “I came to give this to Adara. She needs to be presentable for her court appearance.” A female servant dressed in Prentis’s livery appeared at his elbow, holding an armful of toiletry items. “I’ve asked Misha here to help her freshen up and change.”
Sniffing, I gently extricated myself from Einar’s hold and gave Prentis a watery smile. “Yes, that would be lovely. I was just wondering if you’d packed anything for me to wear.” I took the dress from him, running my hand over the silky, lightweight fabric. The colors shifted beneath my fingers, revealing strands of iridescence beneath the gown’s eggshell-blue hue. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Of course.” Prentis smiled, looking pleased. “I would never allow you to walk into court looking anything less than your best.” He stepped back and gestured to Misha. “Follow Misha. She’ll take care of everything.”
Misha led me below decks to an empty salon, where a large bucket of steaming water and several towels waited. Over the next hour, she scrubbed me down, washed and brushed my hair, cleaned and trimmed my nails, and exfoliated my skin. Only when I was pink and soft and shiny and free of dirt did she help me into the dress and its accompanying undergarments, then plait and style my hair before finishing the look with a string of sapphires around my neck.
“There you are, my lady.” She stepped back, then turned me toward a full-length mirror bolted to the wall. “What do you think?”
“I… it’s incredible,” I said honestly, because it was true. I didn’t think I’d ever worn anything so fine in my life, not during the masquerade ball, or even during my brief time as King Aolis’s captive, when I’d had an entire wardrobe of fashionable dresses fit for nobility to choose from. The dress was a near perfect fit, nipping in at my waist and flaring out in a waterfall of skirts that swished around my ankles. The neckline was low enough to hint at cleavage while still being modest, and the jewels clustered at my neck elevated the look further. “I don’t think I’ve ever looked so regal in my life.”
But as amazing as the dress looked, I felt like an imposter in it. Regardless of the discovery that I was the daughter of Prince Daryan and Princess Olette, that I had the blood of dragons and fae running through my veins, the powers of water and fire blazing in my soul… in my heart, I was still Adara Greenwood. A simple fae girl who’d grown up in a small village with no concept of her powers or destiny, with none of the training or the wiles necessary to navigate political machinations or court intrigue.
Which was ironic, considering that the fae who’d raised me had been my mother’s lady-in-waiting, and likely knew everything there was to know about court life. If things had been different, if she’d told me the truth about my origins, she could have prepared me for all of this.
But there was no sense in going down that path. The past was stone, the future an ever-shifting landscape. The only thing I had any control over was the present.
Fake it till you make it, right?
Steeling myself, I followed Misha out of the room and into the captain’s office, where Prentis and Einar waited. The two men turned as I entered the room, and I stopped where I was, letting them get a good look at me.
“You look stunning,” Prentis said. There was an appreciative glint in his crystal blue eyes as he appraised me, and he gave me a pleased smile. “Misha did her job very well. You look like a princess who has stepped from the pages of a prophecy, just like you should.”
I blushed, then glanced at Einar. My breath caught at the molten look in his eyes as they traveled up and down my body, and I tensed, suddenly nervous. Though honestly, I didn’t know why I should care whether Einar liked the dress, or my hair, or the jewels. It was Lady Axlya’s opinion that counted, not—
“She doesn’t look like a princess,” Einar said to Prentis, a smirk kicking up the corners of his mouth. “She looks like a fuckingqueen.”
He practically purred the wordqueen, and if I was blushing before, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. My body went hot all over, a tingle rushing from the tips of my ears all the way down to my toes, and I barely stopped myself from taking a step toward Einar. There was no denying the desire pulsing through my veins—it was as if an invisible hook had sunk into my chest and was pulling me toward him, demanding that I do something about the sudden throb slowly spreading from my core and through the rest of my body.
Einar’s nostrils flared, and his gaze grew heavy lidded, his smirk sensual, as though he could sense my need. I blushed even harder, and I had a feeling that if Prentis wasn’t standing there, my dress would be in grave danger, my virtue even more so.
Prentis cleared his throat, breaking the spell between us. “She does,” he agreed, though there was a hint of reluctance in his voice. I wondered if it was because he didn’t like the idea of me being queen, or if it was that Einar had one-upped him with the compliment. The two of them definitely seemed to have some sort of rivalry going between them when it came to me, and I had no idea what to make of it.
We docked shortly after that, and Prentis led me down the gangplank to a carriage waiting at the docks. Einar was forced to ride with the soldiers, since his wings were too big to fit in the carriage with him and he refused to transform back. Which left Prentis and me alone together in the confined space.
“I must admit,” Prentis said with a sigh as we rumbled through the port and into the upper city. “I am glad to have a break from your dragon protector’s overbearing presence.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Einar is just doing his job, you know,” I said. “It’s only natural that he doesn’t trust you, or any other fae, for that matter.”
“But that’s just the thing,” Prentis said, his crystal-blue eyes glittering as he appraised me. “He doesn’t trust the fae, and yet he continues to stand by you, a water fae. Why do you think that is?”
“Well, I’m notjusta fae,” I said, feeling suddenly defensive of Einar. “I’m also half-dragon. And Einar was my father’s best friend. It’s only natural for him to want to protect me.”
“So he knew that, did he?” Prentis asked. “Knew that you were half-dragon when you met? Is that why you moved on King Aolis so quickly? Because the dragon taught you how to use your power?”
Prentis’s questions sounded casual, but I didn’t miss the glitter in his eyes. He was mining me for information, and I pressed my lips together, defenses coming up.
“Einar did help me learn how to control my power,” I said after a few seconds. “But he didn’t know about my heritage. And I didn’t come to Kaipei to kill the king or fulfill the prophecy or any of that. I just came to get my mother back.”
“Your mother?” Prentis leaned forward, a frown marring his perfect brow. “But your mother is dead.”
I shook my head. “I’m not talking about Olette. I’m talking about the woman who raised me.”
