by Dyan Chick
"Yes, thank you for coming," he said. "I require assistance with my lady friend. She needs to be properly attired for a visit with an especially important diplomat."
Tristan walked over to them, a smirk on his lips. He stopped right in front of them and cocked his head to the side. "They tell me you two are the most experienced ladies in the house. They tell me you're the best. And the most discreet."
My chest felt like it was on fire as I watched him shamelessly flirting with the two courtesans in front of me. Seeing him turn on the charm for other females was nearly painful to witness. I clenched my teeth and felt my nostrils flare as I tried to calm my temper. It didn't make sense for me to care about how he acted or who he was with, but the jealousy surged through me the same way it would if it had been Ethan standing there flirting with them.
Tristan touched Lainey's cheek. "You'll be compensated well for your efforts." Tristan leaned closer to her and whispered something I couldn't hear.
Lainey giggled, and lowered her eyes again, playing the chaste maiden. My cheeks heated as I watched her, knowing there was nothing chaste about her. Was he making plans with her? Without thinking I took a few steps closer to them.
Tristan looked up as I approached. His eyes flashed with mischief as he stood back up to his full height. "Don't worry, princess. They'll take good care of you."
I knew my face was turning an even darker shade of red. "I'm not a princess."
"Cassia, just go with them," Cormac said.
I sighed and ignored the grin on Tristan's face as I walked forward, making sure I bumped into him as I passed.
Chapter Fifteen
Lainey and the other female were silent as we walked down the stairs. We reached Lainey's floor and I continued to follow the silent courtesans. I grimaced at the blood stain on the carpet and forced myself to keep my eyes up, away from the place the Orc and the guard had died just last night. I paused in front of Lainey's door, expecting her to stop, but she continued on to the end of the hall.
Finally, she opened the last door in the hallway and inclined her head in a subtle bow. I narrowed my eyes at her, hoping for an explanation but she kept her eyes averted. "In here?"
She nodded.
Feeling cut off and alone, I walked into the room and stopped right inside the door. The floor was a cool, shiny stone and the room was lined with rows and rows of clothing along each wall. In the center of the room stood a large bathtub. Steam rose from the water already waiting in the tub and my shoulders involuntarily relaxed as the promise of a relaxing bath loomed in front of me.
I heard the click of the door as it closed and spun around to face Lainey and the other female. Lainey did a quick glance around the room, then her stoic expression gave way to a smile. "I would have kept your secret last night. You didn't have to pretend you were a courtesan."
"I'm so sorry," I said.
"Are you really a princess?" the other female asked. She had long, straight black hair that hung to her mid-back. She was about a head shorter than me. Her features were delicate but her eyes were larger than most Fae I saw.
I shook my head. "No, Tristan knew it would bother me if he called me that."
The new female gasped, then giggled as she turned to Lainey. "You were right. She does use his name."
I covered my face with my hands, feeling embarrassed for slipping again. The last thing I wanted was for word to get back to Tristan, the Winter Prince, that I was disrespecting him. He was helping me and I didn't want to be rude.
"Don't worry," Lainey said. "Like I said last night, your words are safe with us. You might not be working, but I have a feeling you understand. Besides, we were told we're getting a Lady ready for an important event."
"You might not be a princess," the new female said, "but you're clearly high ranking."
"Maybe," I said, not really thinking about how the word would sound.
"That's enough, Jae. She doesn't have to tell us. It's clearly complicated," Lainey said.
"It is," I agreed. I'd spent last night with Ethan. The handsome Spring Prince that I felt a mating bond with. But the night before, I'd been with Dane. And my feelings for him were intense and hot and confusing. Then there was Cormac and our almost kiss. At least it felt like that. And I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to do all sorts of things to me.
"Well, if I had a chance to have a night with His Grace, I certainly wouldn't turn it down," Jae said, winking at me.
My cheeks heated. Tristan. His Grace. The Winter Prince. He was speaking to me again, at least. A vision burst into view of my legs wrapped around Tristan's waist. Neither of us were clothed. My thighs clenched and I squeezed my eyes closed to try to clear the picture in my mind. I turned down his offer to sleep in the princess suite, then I'd slapped him in the face. "I'm pretty sure there's no chance of that for me."
"He is a prince," Jae said. "I'm sure his man would share if he wanted you."
The thought of Tristan's mouth exploring my body sent tingles to the place between my legs. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Jae, leave her alone." Lainey turned to me. "You'll have to forgive her, My Lady."
"You don't have to call me that," I said. "Cassia is fine."
Lainey nodded. "Alright, Cassia. Let's get you ready for that visitor."
I wasn't used to bathing in front of strangers, but neither of the females showed any sign of giving me privacy. Though, based on what happened last time I'd taken a bath, I should be grateful for their company.
"So, are you going to tell us why someone from the Summer Court tried to kill you? You didn't share that with me earlier," Lainey said.
"How did you know about that?" I stepped into the rose scented water and used my fingers to send the floating petals swirling around me. "Nothing stays secret here, does it?"
Lainey poured warm water on the back of my head, soaking my hair. I leaned back so it wouldn't run into my eyes as she worked the tangles out with her fingers.
"You are correct. The interesting thing about the House of the Moon, is that nobody considers us important enough to censor themselves around us. We probably have more knowledge of the inner workings of the Winter Court that anyone save the Prince himself," Lainey said.
My ears perked at her comment. I had a feeling conversations were very free around these females. "Yes, I was attacked by someone. Why do I have a feeling that you know more than me?"
"She calls His Grace by his first name, but he won't tell you what he knows about your assassin?" The other girl asked.
"She's a lady," Lainey said. "I'm sure he's trying to protect her."
The other girl, Jae, rolled her eyes and handed me a bar of pink soap in the shape of a rose. Apparently, the theme of this bath was to get me smelling as much like a flower as possible. I took the soap from her, then worked it into a lather between my hands, grateful that they were allowing me to soap myself up. Lainey had moved on to a brush, working the tangles out of my hair slowly.
"I sort of did something to upset him," I said. "I think he's withholding information from me now as punishment."
"So does that mean it's over between the two of you?" Lainey asked.
"I told you there's nothing between us," I said.
Lainey stopped brushing my hair. "You share with us, we'll share with you."
"What happened to not talking about him?" I asked.
"I won't share stories that aren't mine to share. It sounds like you have reliable information, I can't get punished for that," she said.
"No way," my cheeks heated. It was bad enough that I had accused Tristan of trying to hurt me when I knew, deep down he would never do such a thing. Slapping him just made me sound ungrateful. I wasn't sure I wanted to admit that to these females who insisted on using his formal title at all times.
"You want to hear what we know? I want to hear the story of how you upset the Winter Prince." Lainey leaned over my shoulder. "It seems to be the only story that isn't circulating right now. W
hat did you do to him that didn't make its way out to the rest of us?"
"You're really going to make me say it, aren't you?" I asked.
"It's been a long time since we've had anything entertaining happen around here," Lainey said with a shrug.
"There was an orc killed in the hallway last night. How much more entertaining did you need?" I asked.
Lainey waved her hand. "That's not entertainment, that’s business. Give us something juicy we can enjoy for a while."
I felt my cheeks heating even more. It seemed, Lainey thought whatever I had done to upset Tristan was more intimate than I intended. "It's not that juicy."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Fine." I huffed. "When I was attacked, I thought maybe he was the one who had sent the assassin. So I slapped him. That's it."
Lainey and the other female looked at each other, a moment of silent understanding passing between them that I wasn't privy to. "What?"
"You attacked the Winter Prince?" Lainey asked. "That is not what I expected at all. I mean, I thought for sure the two of you snuck off somewhere together."
"I wouldn't call it an attack, exactly." Embarrassment surged through me. "It was a mistake. I was scared. I've apologized, but things still haven't returned to normal between the two of us." I reflected on those words and realized I had no idea what normal between Tristan and I even looked like. I hadn't known him very long, I hadn't known any of the princes that long. But Tristan and I seemed to exist on a different level than I did with the others.
"Who are you?" Lainey asked, dropping my hair back against my back. She grabbed the edge of the tub and stared at me, brow furrowed. The levity of our conversation was gone, replaced by something more serious.
"I told you, I'm no one important."
"No," Lainey said. "The last person who insulted the prince, was sentenced to death. He does not take betrayal lightly. The fact that you did that, in front of his entourage and his guards, I'm honestly surprised you're still alive."
"You can't be serious," I said, watching her expression. I expected it to break. For her to laugh and tell me that she was teasing me. But she didn't falter.
"You call him by his name, you insulted him, you assaulted him. You are someone very important," Lainey said.
A knock sounded on the door and the other girl promptly got up and scurried away to answer it.
I lowered my voice. "You're not going to tell anybody about this, are you?" I realize now that if she was telling the truth, this could be very dangerous for me and very difficult for Tristan to explain.
"As I said, everything that we say is private. We don't violate that rule here. We take very seriously."
The other girl returned and hovered above me next to the bathtub. In her hands, she held a bundle of clothing. "His Grace sent this for you. And like Lainey said, nothing leaves this room." She curtsied, averting her eyes. "My lady." Then she looked up and just the flicker of a smirk crossed her lips. "Or should I be calling you ‘Your Grace’?"
My stomach turned at the thought of being given such a title. Tristan had offered for me to sleep in the suite designated for his wife, the one who would eventually wear that title. Then, he'd teased me by calling me a princess. Now, I find out the actions against him would have resulted in serious discipline for anyone who wasn't me.
Tristan came across as a flirt, but I didn't think there was anything other than sexual attraction between the two of us. Obviously, I was interested in him in that sense because who wouldn't be? But what if there was more to it than physical attraction?
Chapter Sixteen
I thought of Ethan and I felt the weight of shame in the pit of my stomach. Hadn't we formed a mating bond? Didn't that mean I was his and he was mine? Thinking of Tristan in such a way seemed like I was betraying Ethan. And then there was Dane and even Cormac, who hated Tristan. I shook my head. "No, that's never going to happen. Tristan and I have nothing in common."
Lainey laughed. "If sex or even mating were just about the things you had in common, nobody would ever be with anyone. Trust me, Cassia, we've seen it all in here."
Jae held up a towel. "It doesn't really matter what you think you are to His Grace. Especially if you are, as you say, a nobody. He rules these lands. His word is law."
I blinked at Jae, not sure of how to respond to her. I knew he was the ruler of the Winter Court based on what I'd learned so far, but I never considered that he'd force me into anything I didn't want to do. Was I being naive? I frowned. I might not know him well, but I trusted him. I wasn't sure if that was a mistake, but I had to start somewhere with my intuition. "He's not like that."
"He is like that, Cassia," Lainey said, a look of concern drawn across her face. "He's been like that before. Please, be careful. Don't upset him."
I bit down on my lip to keep myself from saying anything more. Her words were making me question everything. If my judgment was this far off with him, could anything I'd done be trusted? I'd made a lot of choices in the last few days that I wouldn't have dreamed of making in the human realm. Even if Lainey was wrong, which I hoped she was, her warning wasn't lost on me. I needed to tread carefully in Faerie. There was too much I didn't know.
I stood, water rushing off of me back into the tub, then stepped onto a rug that had been placed on the ground.
Jae hurried over and draped the towel over my shoulders. I tugged it tighter around me, then turned to Lainey. "Thank you, I will heed your warning."
Lainey nodded once.
"Can you tell me what you know about the assassin now?" I asked.
She glanced over at Jae and the two of them seemed to exchange another silent conversation. Finally, she turned back to me and sighed. "There has been talk that the attack wasn't against you." She paused, glancing over at the door as if to make sure it was still closed. "They say it was intended for His Grace."
My chest tightened and I held my breath. Someone wanted to kill Tristan? The thought of anyone harming him made my heart ache. I wasn't sure where I stood with him, but I didn't want anything bad to happen to him. "Are you sure?"
"You can never share that," she said.
"I won't," I said. "But I need to know if you're sure."
"I'm sure."
My mouth went dry and I licked my lips and swallowed, trying to make the feeling go away. Tristan's nobles were calling in their armies and an assassin had been sent for him. This wasn't about me. There was mutiny in the air. Someone was trying to send him from him throne. "I have to see him."
"You need to put clothes on first," Jae said.
"Or not," Lainey said.
"Clothes," I agreed. "Then, I need to see him."
Jae insisted in rubbing rose oil on my bare skin before she'd let me put any clothes on. I stood as still as possible while feeling completely awkward as she rubbed the oil all over me. Between the rose petals in the bath, the rose soap, and the oil, I smelled as if I was sitting in the middle of a rose garden. "Is this normal?"
Jae paused, her hands on my thighs. "Oil after a bath? Of course. It keeps your skin soft."
"The roses," I clarified. "Is that a favorite scent?"
Jae finished rubbing in the oil on my legs, then stood to her full height. She rubbed the leftover oil onto her hands and up her bare arms. "Not that I've seen." She turned to Lainey. "How about you?"
"No," Lainey said. "Roses don't grow here. It's expensive stuff. We usually use almond or olive oil."
Jae blotted the excess oil from my skin with a fresh towel and I was left to wonder why I'd been set up with such luxury. There didn't seem to be a reason for most of the things that Tristan did. Maybe they wanted me to smell extra nice for the Queen's sister.
"This dress is stunning," Lainey said.
I turned to see her holding up a silver gown. It was long sleeved with an A-line skirt. Along the neckline was a row of white pearls and row of gray gems. The fabric shimmered in the flickering candlelight of the room as Lainey walked over to me.
It reminded me of the dress my sister had worn on my failed wedding day, only this one was even more beautiful. My jaw tightened as I remembered how quickly she'd dismissed Nani. She would have done the same thing to me.
Lainey held the dress out in front of me. Everything about this dress screamed Winter Court. It was a dress fit for a princess. I frowned at the gown, hating the fact that I was being dressed up like a puppet for whatever plan Tristan had. We all were. Since we first entered the Winter Court, Tristan had been dressing all of us as if we were his entourage. The plan had been to take me to the Queen, yet, we were still here, in Tristan's home land. The dress was beautiful, but it reminded me that I was still between worlds. Not fully at home anywhere. Until I learned how to channel my magic and figured out where I came from, I was going to feel like I was make believe no matter how fine the gown was. "It is stunning."
Lainey and Jae helped me into the gown. Then, the two females chattered away while they worked on my hair. They seemed to have forgotten all the dangerous conversations we'd had in the last hour. But I couldn't focus on anything anymore. I was left wondering if Tristan was at risk and what the Queen's sister would want from me. It was overwhelming and confusing and I was ready to be as far away from royal politics as possible. The sooner we got this over with, the better. But first, I wanted to see Tristan. "Can you get me alone with Tristan?"
"I think we can handle that." She turned to Jae. "Think you can do that?"
"Of course I can." Without hesitation, she walked toward the door and slipped through it, closing it behind her.
"You be careful with him, alright?" Lainey said. "I know you have something different with him, but he's still who he is. That's never going to change. Not even his wife got him to fully let go of some of his ways."
"Like what?" I asked.
Just then the door opened and Lainey snapped her mouth shut and lowered her eyes. "Your Grace."
"Leave us."