“So Sargon was king? I thought Ayden and Ariyon’s father was?”
“Both were. First was Sargon, who gave birth to Solana and her older brother Arkin. When Sargon was killed in battle, Arkin was crowned king and married Rune Elrod. Together they had Ariyon and Ayden.”
My mind spun. “I need a family tree,” I confessed.
Avis laughed. “Go to your school library, you’ll find one on every royal family alive. We are very serious about our blood lines.”
That made me smile. “Maybe I will. So howdoesthe royalty thing work? All the bloodlines. How many are there?” I knew that Ayden and Ariyon were next in line to the throne because their aunt was queen and had no children, but I didn’t exactly know the rules.
She took another sip of tea. “There were nine original royal bloodline families in The Gilded City, three from each house. The Maddens, the Carters, the Windwards, the Elrods, the Crawfords, the Yearwoods, the Ashbluffs, the Wixes, and…the Banes.”
I nearly spit my hot chocolate out. “The what? Bane, as in…”
She nodded. “You come from one of the most powerful royal lines of the House of Ash and Shadow. The Yearwood and Wix families were also of House of Ash and Shadow but have since died out.”
Holy Fae.My mind spun with this new information. I was…royalty? What did that mean? I’d also noticed she had said Crawford, as inBlair Crawford?
Was everyone at school descended from royalty?
“No one told you?” she asked.
I swallowed hard. “No. Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
She looked a bit ashamed. “Because everyone thinks it’s ridiculous a Bane would ever rule. In fact, the Maddens have ruled for centuries, and so the idea of any of the other families stepping up and challenging Solana or any of her heirs is preposterous.”
Ouch. I mean, I had zero intention of ever becoming the Queen of The Gilded City, but if that was a birthright bestowed upon my family, they should have at least told me. Seemed like something someone earned way back when and it should be respected.
“So, the Madden princes could only marry one of the nine families?” I asked. Not that I was wondering for myself, this was strictly for research purposes.
She nodded. “Six, really, since the Yearwoods and Wixes are gone, and no one considers wanting to marry into your family.” She winced as if regretting saying that. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
I waved her off. “It’s fine, no one wants dark fae magic, I get it.”
We then steered the conversation towards more neutral topics like my schooling and the dance coming up.
“Have you asked anyone? It’s ladies’ choice, if I remember correctly.”
I waved her off. “What’s the point? I can’t dance with anyone. One stray hair gets loose, or he grazes my neck or any piece of exposed flesh, and I’m twitching on the ground.”
She frowned, looking at my hair in its tight bun. Even now a small chunk had sprung free. I’d shaved it once. When I was eight, I begged my father and he did, but it didn’t help. It only made me feel like a boy and I still got bumped into at school. It sounded superficial but I took a lot of pride in my hair. It was almost to my waist and beautiful. It was thick, glossy, inky black as a raven’s feather…and I could never wear it down, which was just tragic.
“Besides I wouldn’t have anything to wear,” I added and Avis grinned.
“I’ll tell you what. If you get a date, I’ll buy the dress. Sandra owes me a trade over at her dressmaker shop. She could custom make it to cover as much skin as possible. Maybe with a silk cloak to pull over your hair and matching gloves too?”
“I couldn’t,” I told her, but excitement thrummed through me. A custom dress. It sounded dreamy.
The only problem was envisioning who I would dance with. The hypothetical guy kept morphing from Ayden to Ariyon, one smiling, the other scowling.
“I should get home. What happened here today is private and I won’t tell a soul,” I promised her.
She beamed at me and reached out to pat my hand. “I know that sweetheart.”
I got up to leave and she cleared her throat loudly, causing me to look back at her.
“You know I care for my sister, right, Fallon? She’s had a tremendous amount of loss in her life and lives under extreme pressure due to her duties as queen.”
I nodded, wondering why she would randomly say that, and then she met my gaze. “But I feel it only fair to warn you that you need to watch out for her. The way her energy looked when she spoke about you was…dark.Murderous.She would feel little remorse if she killed you. I imagine she sees you as a copy of your—of Marissa.”
