“Oh, I…” Stars. If she had a list, my mission might be over before it had even begun because I wouldn’t be on it. This was such a stupid idea. Everleigh hadn’t thought this through. “Um….”
A stunning dark-haired woman in a fiery orange dress overlaid with black lace stepped up beside me. She wrapped me in a hug. “I’m so glad you made it in time! Now tell Phyllis what she wants to know, and then we can get caught up.”
I stared at her, trying to work out where I knew her from because she didn’t look familiar. Then I realized I didn’t know her. She was just trying to help me. I pulled my shoulders back and turned to Phyllis. “Amber Thornlea.”
Phyllis scribbled my name onto the bottom of her page. She looked up with a sneer. “From Iadrun?”
I clenched my jaw. I enjoyed Faery more than I’d ever expected, but I hated this sort of snobbery. For the first time ever, the Unseelie Court had offered places in the Declaration to women from across the whole kingdom and to women from Iadrun. A quick glance around told me that five of the six places allocated to Iadrun had been accepted. And those women were here because Fergus didn’t see humans as lesser. I wished all other fae felt the same way. “Proudly.” I lifted my chin.
Phyllis seemed not to notice, scribbling a note on her page and speaking as she did so. “Since you could not get here on time, you shall be last down the stairs. And last in line for a dance with the prince. If the evening runs late, you will miss out on dancing with him completely.” She spoke gleefully, as if she wanted that very thing to happen. As far as I was concerned, the later the evening ran, the better. I had no intention of being here when it was my turn to dance with Fergus, though it was tempting to stay. Especially since he wouldn’t know me.
The woman in orange scoffed. “You know as well as the rest of us that no matter how late the evening runs, the prince will dance with every one of us.”
Phyllis blinked in agreement, then nodded in my direction. “Well, no matter what, she will still be the very last one he dances with.”
“Perfect,” I drawled. Phyllis’ attitude annoyed me. “I’ll be fresh in the prince’s memory when he has to decide tonight.”
As if I’d set off a starter’s gun, women crossed the room toward us, faces set in determined lines. The first to reach us—a blonde woman wearing an ugly shade of pink—started talking before she got here. “Phyllis, you shouldn’t be so mean to the human. I’d be willing to go last in her place.”
A woman in chartreuse stopped beside her. “Oh, no. You shouldn’t give up your place, Piper. I’ll go last. Really, I don’t mind.”
“I’ll do it,” called someone else.
Until that moment, it seemed the coveted position in the line of women was at the front. But since listening to my conversation, many had suddenly changed their minds.
My savior pulled on my arm. “Come. Let them fight it out. Phyllis won’t rearrange her list, anyway. They all know it.” She dragged me out of the throng to stand at the edge of the room near the door I’d entered through. A woman drifted over to us, eyes on the ground. Her black hair was shorter than everyone else’s here, with curls falling to just below her chin and wound through with gypsophila flowers. Hugging her body to perfection was a dress the color of duck eggs with a slit nearly to her hip, revealing a toned, slim leg.
When she looked up, I almost jumped into her arms. “Dora,” I grinned. From the Court of Darkness.
Her smile wavered. “Have we … met?”
Fae’s breath. She couldn’t recognize me wearing the appearance spell. I shook my head. “N-no. I’m sorry. That was forward of me, but I heard the girl over there—” I nodded with my head in the direction she’d come from, “—say your name.”
“Of course.” Her smile widened. “Nice job putting Phyllis in her place.”
“I didn’t mean to put anyone in their place.” I hadn’t, but I was here for a reason. Tearing my eyes from one of the few friendly faces in the room, I forced myself to concentrate on the task at hand. The sooner I found the woman with the poison from last night, the sooner I could get out of here. I returned to staring at the women that walked up to Phyllis, checking out their hair color, and kept my smile distracted.
The woman in orange made a sweeping motion with her hand as if pushing all the other girls away. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Phyllis needed someone to speak to her that way. She’s been horrible to all the arrivals, all day. Especially those from Iadrun. I’m Jasmine.” She held out a hand. I dragged my eyes away from the others and shook it before shaking Dora’s hand.
“Amber.”
Jasmine grinned. “Thornlea, right?” Jasmine was pretty, with a youthful smile that lit her face.
I nodded, my gaze returning to the other girls again.
She bumped my shoulder. “Don’t worry about them. They’re harmless, mostly. Except perhaps Piper.” She nodded to the girl who’d approached Phyllis first. “And I’m hoping the prince will see through her and she’ll be out of this competition within the hour.”
The chances of that were high. Although forty-two women had been invited to take part in the Declaration, by the end of tonight, that number would be down to fourteen. Each girl would be introduced to the prince and have a brief dance with him. From that single meeting—and from any meetings that had taken place last night—Fergus would choose two girls from each court, including two from Iadrun, to remain in the contest. The rest would return to their homes.
I glanced at Piper, who stood with two other girls, talking and laughing loudly. I hoped Jasmine was right. From the little I’d seen, I didn’t think Piper was Fergus’ type at all. “I’m not worried. I mean, he’s going to choose the girls he’s most attracted to, right? And I can’t do anything about that. I just wanted to see what the other girls looked like.” In my mind, I knew exactly the color hair I was searching for. Deep brown at the roots and fading out to a white blonde at the ends. Before I walked into this room, I’d imagined the color was unique, but there were at least five girls that fit that description, and another five more whose hair was piled on their heads in a way that hid the ends but that could also fall into that description. “Is there a reason so many have the same hair color?”
Dora screwed up her pretty face. “Have you been hiding under a rock?” Her words weren’t mean, but she seemed surprised I was asking.
I stared at her, unsure how to answer. “Um, no?”
Jasmine laughed. “I think she means that almost every other woman here has been watching Prince Fergus’ every move for weeks, trying to discover the things he likes in the hopes it will give them an advantage. It’s refreshing to find someone who hasn’t.”
“Thanks. I think.” If only she knew. I could recite a list as long as my arm of Fergus’ likes and dislikes that these women would never have heard before. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Dora looked back at Piper, her nose wrinkling again. “Piper was the first to arrive at the castle. Prince Fergus commented on how much he liked her hair and I guess quarter of the girls rushed away and gave their hair the same coloring.”
I shook my head. “Don’t they care that he might prefer someone who values her individualism?”
Jasmine shrugged. “It’s a delightful idea, but this is Faery, and he’s a male. He’s going to want his woman to keep up with whatever the fashion of the season is.”
I bit down on my tongue to keep from saying that Fergus wasn’t like that. In the time I’d known him, he’d never cared about such things. Of course, during that time, we’d mostly been running for our lives.
Dora opened her mouth to speak, but the door beside us, the one that I’d come in, opened and shut and a hush fell over the room. She snapped her mouth closed.
Just as Jax walked in.
FOUR
I cursed under my breath and turned my back to Jax. Beside me, Jasmine sucked in her breath, and whispered, “I take it you know who that is?” Without givi
ng me a chance to answer, she said, “That’s Jax Sunfall. He’s the prince’s second in command. And he has muscles on top of muscles.” She giggled quietly. Both she and Dora watched Jax like they’d never seen a man before. The noise in the room dropped to nothing. Everyone watched Jax. Half these women would probably be just as happy marrying him as they would Fergus.
“Good evening, ladies.” Jax’s deep voice filled the air. Keeping my back to him, I shuffled away, placing myself behind one of the women with that hair color, while hoping Jax didn’t glance in this direction. “The receiving line will start in a few minutes, so please take your places. Remember, this and your dance with the prince, will be what determines if you stay on at the castle to compete further for the prince’s heart, so don’t hold back. If anyone would like to withdraw from the competition, now is your chance.”
No one moved. I wanted to, and if anyone else had been asking, I would have. But Jax would see through my glamour, and I had nothing useful to tell him yet. Seeing me here would only make him angry.
Jasmine drew another deep breath, and I imagined Jax was smiling as he spoke. He had a gorgeous smile.
Phyllis nodded. “Please form a line beside the door in the order you will meet the prince. And remember, your magic is out of bounds while you are staying here at the castle, unless the prince commands you to use it. Should you disobey this rule, you will immediately be removed from the castle, and from this contest.
Jax put his hand on the door handle. “Good luck, ladies. I’ll see you out there.”
The door clicked closed, and the room exploded into chaos. Women ran from one side to the other. Some went to the bathroom through one of the doors I’d noted on the way in. Others banged on the bathroom door, demanding their turn in the little room. Rouge was applied to lips, hair checked in the mirror.
I drew myself up. I was done here, and I’d failed. The most I could give Jax was a list of names that included a quarter of the girls here. Those with the hair color I’d witnessed—which was likely no use at all. Tonight had been a waste of time. If I left now, I could return to Seelie before anyone knew I’d been here.
I took a step toward the door, shaking my head. “This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come.” I nodded to Jasmine and Dora. “It was nice to meet you.”
“Wait—” Dora put a hand up to stop me, but I wasn’t listening.
I walked to the door and tried the handle.
The door didn’t budge. I pulled on it, tried to rattle it. It held tight without even the slightest flex or movement.
Jasmine stopped beside me, whispering. “You can’t leave now. Surely you must have read the rules?”
I turned and met her blue eyes. “But he just said…”
Dora stepped forward. “The rules state that once your name is on the list, you get one chance to leave. And that chance was just now when Jax offered each of us an out.” She shook her head, eyes apologetic. “This door is sealed until every one of us leaves through that door.” She pointed to the door at the other end of the room. “And walks down the stairs and into the ballroom.” She gave me a tight smile. “I also considered leaving.”
“You don’t want to be here?” asked Jasmine, eyebrows lifting.
Dora shook her head. “My heart is in the Court of Darkness. But leaving would cause my family shame, so I will begrudgingly do everything I can to win the prince’s hand.”
Jasmine gave her arm a squeeze, like she understood.
I felt sorry for her, but I was more concerned about myself. “But…” I shook my head. How could I have made such a stupid mistake? Now I had to walk down the staircase with all of Faery watching, either from down in that ballroom or through the black glass the Unseelie court had provided for the kingdoms. And all of Faery included Jax Sunfall. I pointed to the other door. “Can’t I leave the competition through that door? Can’t I just take a left turn instead of a right, or something?” My heart was racing with panic. I didn’t want to compete to be Fergus’ wife. I didn’t want to put myself anywhere near him.
“Out that door is a staircase that leads only to the ballroom. You can’t go anywhere but down.” Dora’s eyes were sympathetic.
Jasmine glanced at Dora, then back to me, her smile uncertain. “It’s just nerves. You’ll be fine. I mean, he’s only a prince, right?”
Dora giggled, but her words sent a jolt through me, so close were they to the phrase Fergus often used. The phrase that hadn’t graced my ears in close to a year now. I ached to realize he would soon say those words to someone else.
Jasmine squeezed my arm. “I have to take my place near the front of the line. I’ll see you down there.”
I looked across the room to find almost all the girls had formed a single line snaking back from the only exit. There were a few gaps left, for those in the bathroom, and for us. Phyllis hurried us to our places, leaving me no chance to ask anything more of Jasmine or Dora.
I stood at the very back of the line, my heart beating out of my chest. Almost every girl here was nervous—it was a palpable force inside the room—but no one else’s presence could get Fergus killed. I was bound by a blood promise that was held in place by magic, governed by the Court of Light. The magic within that promise had only allowed Fergus and me to rule our separate kingdoms because our bond no longer existed, and because we weren’t part of each other’s lives anymore. The Court of Light refused to allow anyone to rule over both kingdoms the way Rhiannon had tried to. But being here, I was back in Fergus’ life. And I had no idea if the magic within the promise might now consider the promise broken. Or what the Court of Light would do if they found out I’d come here in secret. Not to mention, I was unsure what Fergus’ reaction would be to all of this.
I drew myself up tall. No. I could handle this. Jax was the only one in all of Faery who could recognize me while wearing this spell. And that was a blessing. I’d walk down the stairs, introduce myself to Fergus as Amber, then let Jax come find me. Once he knew I was here, he’d get me out of this stupid competition faster than I could blink. It was going to be fine.
Every few minutes the door opened, and the line grew shorter by one. The chatter decreased with each girl that left until there was only me and my racing heart.
I was about to set eyes upon Fergus again for the first time in nearly a year. If I wanted to be honest with myself, which I didn’t, I might have admitted that seeing him again was part of the reason for the elevated heart rate, and for not fighting harder to find a way out of this.
Phyllis opened the door and nodded to me. With a deep breath, I stepped over the threshold and onto the wide marble staircase. It curved slightly so I couldn’t see Fergus from where I stood, but he was supposedly waiting at the bottom of the steps. I could, however, see hundreds of faces turned upward from the dance floor. Soft music played, and the crowds were so quiet it was as if they weren’t there at all.
A deep voice boomed over the music. “Miss Amber Thornlea. From Iadrun.”
The crowd clapped as I made my way down the staircase, my fingers trailing the bannister in case my shoes should slip on the polished marble floor.
Then I saw him.
My heart almost exploded out of my chest. I hadn’t realized how much I missed him until my eyes landed upon him. I’d thought, without our bond, there would be no feelings left between us. But we had shared some traumatic experiences in the time we’d known each other. Perhaps it wasn’t unusual that his lack of presence in my life had left a hole.
He was dressed as I knew he would be, in a black jacket, black pants and black shirt and tie. He wore his hair loose, longer than I was used to, and wavy. And stars, it suited him well. His brown eyes met mine, boredom lurking in their depths. Little wonder, with forty-two unfamiliar faces to meet. And even though it was ridiculous, my heart ached as he looked at me without a hint of recognition.
I smiled and it seemed to spark something and the boredom cleared from his eyes. But when I bl
inked, he was looking straight through me. I tore my eyes away to look out across the ballroom.
And stopped dead.
I was no longer in the ballroom of the Unseelie Castle. Or, more correctly, Fergus had spelled the ballroom to appear like we were on Lanwick Island. It brought on such a kick of homesickness I almost couldn’t take another step. I only realized I was no longer moving when Phyllis cleared her throat from somewhere up the stairs behind me.
I continued down the marble staircase, my gaze soaking up the view. The stairs I currently walked upon seemed to come down from Fergus’ room on the island. Where the pool would be on the actual island was the dance floor—the place where the guests currently stood watching me. Tropical plants grew in the gardens at the edge of the ballroom—the same gardens the fae of Lanwick Island had used to keep Rhiannon from stealing their magic. I blinked, pushing that memory away, only to see the three steps that led down to the beach, and the glittering azure water lapping at the sand. The sand I’d walked upon with Fergus so many times. Some fae stood down there with their shoes in their hands, feet burrowing into the cool sand. How I wished I could return to this place, but without Fergus in my life, it was off limits to me for always.
At the bottom step, I stopped in front of him, dropping into a deep curtsey. “Your Highness,” I whispered to the soft clapping that marked my entrance. Stars, it even smelled like Lanwick Island. Salt and tropical flowers. “This ballroom is the most glorious room I’ve ever seen.”
Fergus’ eyes widened. Perhaps in all the short conversations he’d had tonight, no one had complimented him on the stunning ballroom. “You like it?”
I smiled and inhaled the sweet scent of passionfruit flower. “I couldn’t think of a more perfect setting for an evening as important as this.”
One side of Fergus’ mouth quirked up until he was almost smiling. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I inclined my head and took a step to move away. Phyllis had said not to linger at the bottom of the stairs, and I was eager to remove everyone’s eyes from me.
Kingdom of Future's Hope (Royals of Faery Book 4) Page 5