by Elena Lawson
His lips twitched up into a half-smile, “How are you feeling?” he asked, changing the subject as I stepped behind the privacy screen to change.
“Better,” I told him, stripping off my robe and night clothes to step into the gown, “Thank you… for staying with me.”
Not that I was afraid, though I had considered the possibly that once the culprit found out I still lived, they’d try to finish me off in my sleep, no—it was nice to have someone there, to not be alone.
I heard him clear his throat before he spoke, “It’s my duty to ensure your safety, Liana. I would have stayed even if you’d ordered me to go.”
He must’ve known what he was saying was imprudent, and that disobeying a direct order from his queen could warrant serious consequences, but my heart leapt at his words—affirming my choice to make him my captain.
“Could you help me with this?” I stepped from behind the screen, clutching the bodice of the flowing gown to my chest to hold it in place.
I was hopeless with corsets, always had been. The thin strings laced at the back were impossible for my clumsy fingers.
Alaric’s eyes traveled the length of the gown, finally stopping to rest on where my hands cupped the fabric around my breasts. A soft growl escaped his lips before he could reign himself in, the reverberations pulled at something deep in my belly.
Without a word, he strode to where I stood, and I turned to plant my hands on the bedpost. His hands wove the strings into place, grazing the soft skin on the small of my back. I had to grit my teeth against the sounds trying to tumble from my lips as he pulled the strings tight. It wasn’t pain or discomfort, but some other thing I couldn’t name.
“There,” he said, planting his hands on either side of my waist, spinning me around, “I hope I did that right.”
So, so right. I reveled in the tender touch of his hands, warm where they still held my waist.
Kade returned hours later with no news other than to tell us the taste—who’s name was Selbi, was alive but hadn’t led them anywhere helpful. Finn was still following her around, “When I left, the taster was in the kitchens, and before that she was in her chambers, asleep.”
“And there’s no possibility she left her bed?”
Kade’s eyes widened as though Alaric had asked him the most condescending question, “No. I stayed close to her door, and Finn kept watch over her window from outside. She never left.”
Alaric’s eyebrows furrowed. “Well we can’t have her tasting Liana’s food—”
“Liana?” Kade asked, a cheeky grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“Yes, Liana. That is my name, the last I checked,” I drawled, rising from the settee in the parlor.
“Why do you get to call her by her name?” Kade asked in a whisper he likely thought I couldn’t hear, his words laced with jealousy and suspicion.
“You may call me by my name as well,” I offered, and his face split into a magnificent grin, “Now, will you two stop talking about me as if I’m not here? The taster will continue to taste my meals until we’ve learned something useful from her. If we replace her, she’ll be suspicious,” I held up a hand when Alaric tried to inject a rebuttal, “If you’d like, you can have a second taster come in after her, but Selbi is not to know of the second taster’s presence.”
Kade, still grinning from learning he could call me by name, agreed, “She has a point.”
“Fine. Find someone discreet to be the second taster, and then take shifts tracking Selbi,” Alaric retorted, rubbing his eyes. He was likely exhausted, as far as I knew, he hadn’t slept since we disembarked from the ship.
I shook my head, “No, Kade will stay with me,” I told him, gesturing to the winged male, “You need to rest.”
He didn’t disagree, nodding, “Very well.”
Kade couldn’t conceal his excitement, it poured from him in waves of heat that made me take a step back. Fire. That must be his Grace. I wondered if his brother was Graced the same.
Alaric whispered something to Kade before shooting me a meaningful look and lumbering out of the room. Kade watched his captain leave before turning to me, rubbing his enormous hands together, “So, Liana, where do you want me?”
Not more than an hour later, Kade and I were walking the halls of the palace. I wanted to see the Great Hall where I would be the star-attraction at the ceremony tomorrow. I need to know what I was walking into, you know, so I didn’t trip, or otherwise make a complete fool of myself. Kade had been blessed, he could tell me what I was meant to do since Thana hadn’t yet returned from the kitchens.
“You have nothing to be worried about,” Kade drawled, focused and yet flippant at the same time, “It’s all a formality, really. You walk up to the cauldron, fill the ewer and pour yourself a drink—then you drink it. You’ll get a taste of your Grace, everyone will cheer. Then we feast. The end.”
He had no idea it wasn’t being able to pour my own drink that worried me, but about what I would be Graced with. Would it be fire, the most difficult Grace to control, or would it be something useless, like the ability to understand animals or commune with spirits? Or, the most terrifying—to not be Graced at all. It had happened to many Fae who went to drink the water of the Sidhe, but never to a queen, or even a noble.
But there’s a first time for everything.
“Easy,” I agreed, trying to maintain an air of confidence.
We rounded a bend in the corridor and the Great Hall materialized before us. It was quite the room, and I had to work to lift my jaw from where it’d fallen to my feet.
The parquet floor was polished to perfection, midnight black, and starlight gray tile patterned for one hundred paces. A maroon carpet cleaved the room in two, running straight up the middle, over the few stairs, and onto the dais. There, the golden cauldron waited, wisps of bluish fog dancing along the surface of the water. The ceiling was arched, and ornately designed with a mixture of tile and beam. Six chandeliers hung in pairs down its length.
Servants milled about, some cleaning, and others arranging flowers.
Suddenly, I didn’t want to wait any longer. I wanted to get the damned ceremony finished with. But it was one tradition I would uphold. They expected it of me, of any noble to complete the proper ceremony in order to be Graced. But it was so frustrating. Why do they all need to watch?
“Do you want to get closer?” Kade asked me, gesturing to the cauldron.
I scowled, “No—I don’t.”
He quirked a brow at me, his flippancy replaced by something more like worry.
“What do you do around here for fun?”
Kade crossed his arms over his broad chest, considering. “I’m not supposed to let you leave the palace grounds.”
My eyebrows furrowed, “Says who?”
“Alaric.”
“Well then consider his request refused.”
His answering grin was infectious, and I yelped when he grabbed my hand and took off in a full sprint from the room, dragging me along with him.
We stopped at a small balcony, and he climbed onto the ledge, “Are you afraid of heights?” he asked, a challenge in his stare as he unfurled his wings.
My heart plummeted into my stomach, but not in fear—or at least, I didn’t think so. No, it was elation. I didn’t have time to respond before he pulled me up, wrapping his arms around my middle.
And then we fell.
I shrieked at the rushing of the wind. It was exhilarating, terrifying—pure bliss. When he flipped around, his wings caught the air current and we sprang upwards. I laughed, my eyes wet with unshed tears from the force of the wind.
Fun. I was having fun.
I was still laughing when he pushed us ever higher, gliding on the air currents until we were hovering over the bay, almost in reach of the clouds. I shivered against the chill of the oncoming night, and he held me tighter in response, his body heating with his Grace of fire. I shivered again.
“Don’t worry, I won’t drop you,�
� he told me, with a mischievous leer that made me think he just might.
“This is incredible,” I said between fits of giggles. The sun had sunk low, setting the sky ablaze with an orange and rose glow. Far below us, the palace was awash in the colors, and the water in the bay reflected them back at us. At that height, I could see the Wastes clearly, a maze of trails through the ashy mountain range. And far in the distance, if I squinted, I thought I could just make out the original palace of the Night Court—now nothing more than a ruin blending almost seamlessly into the rock face of Mount Noctis.
“Alaric would kill me if he knew I had you out here.”
“Our secret?” I asked him, tilting my head up so I could meet his ochre stare. He really was magnificent—chiseled features shadowed by honeyed bronze facial hair and deep-set eyes. In the light of the setting sun, he could have been a painting of some long-forgotten king. I reached over his shoulder to stroke his right wing, and his entire body tensed in response. It was like satin, but with the strength and hardness of something more solid. They shimmered when he moved them as though a million specks of diamond were embedded within.
Kade winked at me, “Yeah, our secret.”
Something caught his eye from below and I turned in his arms to find what drew him. There, on the southern road leading to the palace, was a lone rider on horseback. Kade swooped lower, causing my stomach to drop again, until we were close by the palace, but concealed in a copse of trees.
The horse was a white stallion, and if the panting of the animal was any indication, it had carried its rider far. The rider was… odd. He was dressed in shades of topaz with a belt and reigns of gold. His hair was also golden, and longer than most males, reaching to his shoulders.
A falcon flew over the male in wide circles, never letting the rider out of his sight.
Kade grew hot at the sight of the foreign rider, scalding my back and legs where his bare arms held me. He kept the malice it was obvious he felt out of his voice as he gave me a wan smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Your emissary has arrived.”
Chapter Eight
The servants came in after Kade and I returned, him lowering me gently onto the balcony of my bedchamber. Luckily, no one saw us arrive, though they seemed surprised to find us in the royal quarters. Thana, it seemed, had been looking for me.
They told me the Day Court emissary had arrived, and was escorted to the opposite tower, He was given the quarters meant for noble guests, as I had instructed. I told the servants I would not formally receive him that night, blaming the late hour and the need to rest before my Blessing Ceremony tomorrow afternoon. The truth was that I was nervous. I had no idea what he would be like—or if the council was right about them, if he would try to kill me outright.
No, I would receive him tomorrow, just before the ceremony, with more than one armed sentry at my side.
Kade and I sat at the table in the dining room, laughing about something Finn had said to him earlier when Thana burst in.
“Where have you been?” she asked, hands on her hips.
I subdued my laughter long enough to reply, “Kade took me on a tour of the palace,” I told her, failing to mention that part of the tour was held in the sky.
“And why did no one know where—”
Alaric paused in the doorway, a frightened boy in tow behind him. “A tour of the palace?” he directed his question towards Kade, who only shrugged in response. “You remained on the palace grounds, as I requested?”
Kade faltered, “Well, I—”
“We did.” I answered for him. “The brute wouldn’t let me leave the front gates.”
He looked much better than that morning. Some color had returned to his face, and his silvery blue eyes seemed brighter, more alert. He corralled the boy forward to the table, and it was then I noticed the manacles on his hands and feet, clanking as he walked.
“What is this?” I asked Alaric, teeth clenched as I beheld the boy. It was plain to see he had not yet transitioned from mortal to Fae and couldn’t have been more that sixteen. His dull brown hair was matted and greasy—his face streaked with what looked like soot.
Alaric looked just as displeased with the situation as I was and handled the boy gently as he nudged him forward, “This is your second taster. His name is Rin. He’s guilty of attempting to take the water of the Sidhe without royal consent. He will remain a prisoner until the council decides his fate.”
I understood Alaric’s decision, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. As a prisoner confined to the dungeons, the boy could tell no one of his position as a taster. So long as someone Alaric trusted guarded him, and escorted him to and from my chamber in secret, no one would know.
“Hello, Rin,” I said to him, and he raised his head in response, revealing a handsome face beneath the layers of dirt and eyes the color of wheat. He looked tired, and hungry, and maybe a little frightened, though the tension in his jaw told me he was trying to hide it. “This is a dangerous job, but if you help me, I’ll do my best to help you get out of this mess you’ve got yourself in.”
He inclined his head in a bow, “Yes, majesty. I would like that very much.”
I nodded to Alaric, gesturing to his shackles. He hesitated for only a moment before relenting to my silent request. The manacles fell to the floor, and the boy rubbed his sore wrists, raw and red from the iron circlets.
“You will speak to no one of what you’re doing here,” Kade injected.
“I need this to remain between us, and only us. If you do your part, I will help you—starting now. Once you’re through tasting the dishes,” I waved an arm over the table before us, laden with roast meats, fruits, and cheeses, “I’ll see you’re fed and clothed properly. And a bath, perhaps?”
He nodded fervently, eyes glazed with hunger as he beheld the bounty before him.
“Go ahead,” I prodded, handing him a fork and the duller of my two knives. “Small bites and wait a moment between each tasting. You can survive a small amount of poison with the proper care.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he answered, taking his first bite.
I slept restlessly. Tossing and flopping about the bed until sleep claimed me.
I was dreaming. I had to be. My arms were heavy. Chains. Metal bit into my wrists. I was manacled to a wall in a dungeon somewhere far below the earth—surrounded in cobwebs and slick, cold stone. There was no light, save for what crept in through a small slit beneath a heavy-looking wooden door. I yanked at the manacles, but it was no use. I fumbled around the wall, but there was nothing. No way out.
I screamed, and I screamed, but no one came to rescue me. No one was on the other side of that door, and no one heard me. I was alone. And I was trapped.
“Liana,” a voice called, and then louder, “Liana!”
I came back to myself, bolting upright in my bed. It was dark. Sweat covered me in a thin layer of ice, made even cooler by the breeze spilling into the room from the balcony. I shivered, heaving in the chill night air to quell the constriction in my lungs.
“Liana,” Alaric said again, calmer, cupping my face between his warm palms. I pushed myself into him and he tensed. His intoxicating vanilla scent enveloped me, and I was almost immediately at peace… and embarrassed. I hadn’t had a night terror like that in years, not since I was still mortal.
He wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned into his chest. It was safe. I was safe. The trembling stopped, and I sighed in relief.
“Are you alright?”
I tilted my chin up, “Better,” I sighed again, my muscles relaxing.
“Good,” he replied, tucking my damped hair behind one ear, “If using my Grace on you makes you uncomfortable, I apologize.”
My stomach clenched, “Your Grace?”
Alaric narrowed his gaze at me, cocking his head to one side, “You didn’t know? My Grace is touch. I can make anyone feel anything I want them to so long as my skin is in contact with theirs.”
“Oh.”
He moved his arms out of the way as I moved to sit up. Touch. Of course. That thing he did on the ship wasn’t an old sailors trick. He made the nausea go away using his Grace. It seemed a useful ability though not as revered as the sort which could be used offensively.
I lifted one of his hands from the bed, clasping it in my own. “Do it again.”
He lifted a brow, “Are you sure?”
“Make me feel… confident.”
“Confident?”
I dropped his hand, “Yes, confident.”
He shook his head, but lifted my hand back into his again, “You’re a queen, and you seem fairly confident already.”
The sensation rushed over me in a wave, electrifying my body in the most amazing way. My back arched, and my head cleared. I considered the room through a new set of eyes, knowing what had to be done. “I hate all this white. Everything is so white. Have Thana summon a decorator tomorrow. I don’t wish to live in a replica of my mother’s chambers.”
Alaric laughed, clasping my hand tighter, “Alright, as you wish, anything else?”
I surveyed him, took in the sound of his voice, the eagerness to please written all over his maddeningly handsome face. Holding his gaze, with my free hand I moved his hair from his face—then traced a line down to his jaw, to his collar-bone, and planted my hand on his chest. He shivered, and a hunger awoke inside me. My hand wandered ever lower, and he growled with desire. I wanted to touch him, wanted him to touch me back. Wanted—
Alaric let go of my hand, shoving himself from the bed and leaving me in a daze. I tried to shake my head to clear it of the thoughts still clasping to become reality. What was I doing? What would I have done if he hadn’t let go?
“Damn, Liana. Have you any idea what you’re doing to me?”
My cheeks inflamed, “I—I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was doing.”
But I did know. Something attracted me to him. And whether he used his Grace on me, he made me feel safe. The confidence boost was meant to make me less nervous about the Blessing Ceremony, but when I saw him, I—well I almost did something I obviously wanted to do, whether I knew it or not.