“Wait a moment,” he hissed, dragging me into a shadowed alcove. “I should glamour us both first. You’re still probably wanted by the guards – since I doubt Erik’s order has reached much further than the dungeons – and I can’t see them wanting me anywhere near the prince.”
My eyes narrowed. Now that he mentioned it, who was Arenn pretending to be here? He couldn’t exactly reveal to the rest of the nobility that he was a faery prince in hiding, waiting to kidnap me. Not that he would explain it like that, I supposed.
A giggle burst from me at the thought.Ancients, I really was tired.
“What?” Arenn grumbled. “Why do you laugh at me?”
I tilted my chin up, still smiling. “Who even are you here?” Arenn’s brow quirked. “Obviously Lukas, Raena, and I know who you are – even with your human ears.” I glanced at them pointedly. “But what lie are you giving to everyone else?”
His shoulders sagged briefly before his wicked grin returned. “Curious human,” he mused. “But the answer to that question really depends on who’s asking me.” Reaching forward, he spun a lock of my hair around his finger. “I told Cora and Ronan I was a lord from Drothmore. The Dalkings think I belong to Hallshire and the Hallshires think I’m from Dalking, or perhaps I’m misremembering…”
I rolled my eyes while he thought.
“I suppose the details don’t matter when you’re charming enough.” I folded my arms, pushing his fingers away from my hair.
Arenn grinned. “You find me charming?”
Scoffing, I stepped back. “Just glamour us, please, so I can help the prince before his condition gets any worse.”
“It is done already,” Arenn purred with a flourish of his fingers.
“But you’re still—” I stopped myself when I remembered how his appearance hadn’t changed before when he glamoured us in Faelenna. I didn’t feel any different either.
Glancing down at my hands, they still looked just as pale as ever. “Fine, let’s go,” I said after a few short breaths. I didn’t care how we looked to other people. As long as the guards let us through, that’s all that mattered.
“Just follow my lead,” Arenn said with a grin. Slipping his hand into mine, he whisked us both up the narrow staircase.
As we approached the small door that led to Raphael’s bedchamber, the sleepy guards on either side panicked for a moment before bowing deeply.
“Queen Cora and King Ronan,” the left guard called out to us. I shot a glance at Arenn.Of all the glamours he could’ve chosen…“Forgive us, we thought you had returned to your chambers to rest,” the guard spluttered.
“You cannot expect us to rest for long when our son is ill,” Arenn declared, marching us closer to the door.
I tilted my head. It was odd seeing him act so seriously.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Dipping his head, the guard swung the door open, and we stepped inside the dark room.
The moment the door clicked shut, I pulled Arenn aside, whispering, “Stay back. If it’s fishpox, I don’t want you to catch it.” I didn’t know if being a faery granted him any immunity from human illnesses but still – better safe than sorry.
“So you do care?” Arenn murmured.
Growling, I was about to tell him how I cared more about him possibly infecting the entirety of Faelenna when he returned home,alone. But then a quiet, weak voice carried through the darkness, along with the overwhelming stench of seawater.
“Mother? Did you come back? Is that you?”
Raphael. My heart ached. “Unglamour me,” I hissed to Arenn.
The faery prince tilted his head.
“Just do it,” I pleaded, keeping my voice low. “I won’t pretend to be his mother, and Raphael likes me. He won’t alert the guards.”
With a sigh, Arenn nodded and hesitantly pushed me away from the wall. “Just don’t take too long. I’ll stay out of sight,” he whispered before slinking back into the shadows.
Darkness hung over the prince’s room like a heavy veil, but eventually, with the light of the moon, I could just about make out the shape of a grand bed and someone stirring beneath the blankets.
“Raphael?” I called softly. “It’s me, Naria. I’m here to help you.”
“Princess Naria?” His voice was weak. “What are you doing here? Did you come to make me better?”
