Kneeling next to Lore, Soren quietly woke her and whispered something I couldn’t quite hear.
She glanced at me, then nodded.
***
After a quick changeof clothes from Lore—she finally gave me some pants, thank goodness, which were made out of a soft flowy fabric and a long embroidered tunic to wear over it—we left in a hurry.
Once we entered court, we wove through the bottom of the S shape, past a troupe of musicians filling the open-air space with sweet melodies, through the gardens, around trees, and toward the opposite end of court.
Far fewer fae—or humans—were here this time of day. That is, until we reached the thrones.
The three short sets of stairs drew my gaze upward like magnets.
I startled.
All three thrones were claimed by the king, queen, and prince. Not only that, but the artful structure of the stained glass created bright spotlights over each of them, making them appear almost angelic.
In front of them stood a creature with long black hair and even blacker skin covered in a web of glowing golden fissures, as if a molten substance lingered just below the surface. They studied her as if she was speaking, but the stairs went too far back and I couldn’t hear a thing.
King Mordeus shook his head in dismissal.
An attendant scurried up the steps to shoo her away. When she hesitated, two guards stepped out of formation, ready to physically escort her away, if necessary.
From below, as she descended, another attendant called out, “Greedle Hearst of the Sun Court.”
An elderly fae barely wider than a pole with hunched shoulders slowly climbed the stairs, slumping to his knees at the top.
King Mordeus gazed over his head, barely listening.
Soren and I approached the goat-horned attendant at the base of the steps. “Please add Brynn Donovan to the list,” he told the fae, who side-eyed both of us as he leaned over his podium to write.
I gulped. Did I want to talk to Caius in front of his royal parents?No way.Did I have a choice? It didn’t look like it.
The goat man sniffed as he finished. “I estimate you’ll be called in the next four hours to four days.”
What?
Gesturing to the banquet tables behind us, the attendant continued reciting in a monotone, “Please help yourself to a meal or find comfortable seating in one of the adjoining rooms. But if you miss your name being called, you forfeit your right to appeal to the crown for a month and a day.”
That was ridiculous, but the first time frame was even worse. “Fourdays?” I whispered to Soren.
The attendant stiffened. “We cannot put our king on a timeline,” he snapped before Soren could answer, clutching his pen. “If he chooses to take his time with a petitioner or postpone to another day, that’s his sovereign right.”
Swallowing under his sharp gaze, I nodded, following Soren when he turned away. He led us a short distance from the stairs, stopping beneath a tall tree with white flowers. It was close enough to still hear the attendant but was blocked by the tree in case the prince glanced in our direction.
Soren studied the court with narrowed eyes before reluctantly turning to me. “I suppose I’d better attend to my business.”
This time my mouth was too dry to swallow. If Caius saw me with Soren, there was a good chance he’d refuse to give my family to me either, so I couldn’t ask him to stay. But I desperately wanted to. “I’ll... find my way back after.”
With a sharp nod, Soren turned on his heel and disappeared.
I struggled not to visibly shrink.
Wandering across the room to the tables full of food, I tried to focus on the soft sunlight shining down through that strange open ceiling, warming my skin, instead of the idea of being on my own for “four hours to four days.” My nerves didn’t cooperate. A pale-blue-skinned girl with webbing along her face and hands turned wide eyes on me, blinking one clear lid, then a second regular one, before showing her teeth in a predatory smile.
Nope.
I switched directions, heading for one of those private rooms along the side that the attendant had mentioned. Who needed food? Not me.
