Soul met soul.
Chapter Fifteen
The cold stone of the throne felt as though it was seeping into my very bones after so many hours of sitting upon it. The small band of string musicians played on a platform in the middle of the grand open space that made up the throne room. The music they played wasn’t horrid, but it echoed throughout the open room, making my head throb relentlessly. That, and the hundreds of people that crowded the normally empty space.
Recently, my advisors insisted on opening the castle gates to nobles and civilians alike for a grand coronation ball. Since my coronation had been rushed due to Father’s untimely demise, wehadn’theld a public ceremony with thefaeof Hollis. The event I had found myself stuck in for the evening was to make up forthat, supposedly.
I watched and waved a hand dismissively at eachfaethat approached the throne and offered their congratulations. Hugo had mentioned that they were all well-meaning, but Icouldn’tseem to understand how that could be. Didn’t they realize it ran deeper than congratulating me on my accension to theHeartshirethrone?
Didn’t they realize what we’d lost—and for my gain?
Icouldn’tstop the creeping feeling that if Father were here,he’dhave been disappointed. There I was, wasting time on a useless ball when there were still larger problems at hand that needed to be addressed.
The thought made my blood run hot, and I had to clench my handsin an attempt to control the swell in myziriliumthat matched my emotions.
I desperately needed to get a handle on them.
Or to find another outlet, a voice that reminded me of Father’s said quietly in my mind.
I shook my head as the sound of his voice echoed in mythoughts, andabruptly stood from the solid onyx throne. The four guards on either side of me stood slightly straighter at my sudden movement.
“Relax, soldier.I’mjust in need of refreshments,” I said, looking toward the nearest male. He bowed his head, then offered to send somebody else to grab me a glass, so I could remain where I was.
The thought of sittingstilla moment longer made me feel sick to my stomach.
“That’salright. I shall return in no time at all,” I assured the guard, then walked off thethrone’splatform before he couldattemptto persuade me further.
Sliding my way through the crowd with my wings tucked in tight, I brushed off anybody who tried to stop me for a chat. Sweatbegan to bead on my forehead, right under the silverHeartshirecrown that sat atop my temples.
Father’scrown.
A moment later, Ireached the far wall and made my way around the long buffet style table, so I could stand on the less crowded side. I came to a stop in front of the wine, grabbing a goblet of the deep red liquid and taking a heavy swig, then another.
My skin was slick, my head was throbbing, and my heart had begun to race.
But at least there was wine.
It had to help.
Right?
Just as I went to take in my third mouth-full of liquid, a voice rang out nearby.
“A wise fae would likely suggest that you slow down.”
Shifting to see who had just spoken, I found myself mere steps away from a female.
Her short hair wasa softyet rich brown, her eyes a striking blue, with a small beauty mark dotting her left cheek by her eye,similar tomy own. Her wings were an ashy gray, and she wore the classic Northern colors of blue and silver—but a soft blue, not the usual navyonesawall over Hollis. Her creamy skin appeared soft, but the calluses I noted on her hands as she reached for her own goblet suggested she did some sort of manual labor, too.
So there was more to her than met the eye, it seemed.
“Fortunately, I would not consider myself wise,” the female said, the corner of her mouth tilting up into a sly smile.
Any other male would have drooled at the sight of her—relished in her attention. Yet to me, she just appeared slightly…off.
Her hair wastoodark, her eyestoointense. Her lips, while plump and pink, were not the ones I had imagined kissing so many times before. The ones I still thought about as I fell asleep somenights, andhad for years.
The claim to that part of myself belonged to one female, and one female only.
