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“It’s strong.” Saga chuckled. “Drink it fast.”

I swallowed, uneasy. “Is this common at court?”

As far as alcohol went, I’d had wine and ale, but nothing else. If the fae of this court drank often, then I needed to be aware. Drink loosened lips, and Roar and I had secrets to keep.

“This drink? No.” Sayyida shook her head. “I recently returned from a supply run in the Dragon Kingdom. A friend gave me the bottle, and I saved it to share with friends. But plenty of wine will flow during the Courting Festival if you’re more partial to that.”

“She only brought the Dragon Fire to get us drunk.” Saga nudged Sayyida with her shoulder, and the girls shared a warm, private look.

Others noticed too, for everyone else at the table glanced down at their glasses. And when Marit picked up her glass and offered a toast, I knew I wasn’t crazy. Something existed between Saga and Sayyida, and whatever it was, no one wanted to speak of it.

“To the Courting Festival.” Marit lifted a glass. “May we all find a mate and love.”

The others echoed her words, though Saga and Sayyida refrained.

Calpurnia glared at me so hard during the toast that even the burn of the Dragon Fire couldn’t melt her stare.

I set the glass down, shuddering. “That was awful.”

“That was just round one.” Sayyida’s lips slid up into a mischievous grin. “Marit, deal us out while I pour another round. The rest of you, place your bets.”

As the other ladies reached for purses they’d placed on side tables, or in Sayyida’s case, wore around her hips, I grew warm. Never had I worried about being poor. As a slave, poverty had always been a fact of life, but now it made me feel inferior. I cleared my throat to announce that I brought no money and should probably leave, but under the table, Saga planted a discreet hand on my forearm.

“As I pulled Neve from her chambers before she could grab a purse, I’m putting in for her,” Saga announced. Gold pieces flashed in her fingers. “We’ll start with ten gold bears a piece.

“Ten!” Calpurnia scoffed.

“You have the coin, Calie.” Saga rolled her eyes. “Stop being so cheap.”

In response, the Vagle lady scowled and pulled a few more pieces from her purse. As she did so, Saga handed the money over to me. I opened my mouth to protest, but she shook her head.

“It’s all in good fun.” Her eyes added, “don’t worry about it.”

So, I took the coin. The gold felt cold between my fingers and an image of a bear stamped on each piece stared up at me. One by one, the other ladies pushed their pieces into the center of the table. I followed suit, noting that Eireann added silver pieces to the mix when she came up one gold piece short. Four silvers laid on the table, so I worked out that four silvers made up a gold. On the silvers, a stag danced on two legs. The stag represented House Vagle—Calpurnia’s House and that of Queen Inga, too.

Calpurnia threw money on the pile last. She added coppers marked with a claw. I counted sixteen of those. Four silvers to a gold and four coppers to a silver.

Gold bears. Silver stags. Copper claws. Roar had mentioned the prices of things when we walked Guldtown, but as he held lines of credit at most places, I had seen little actual coin in Winter’s Realm. I committed what the money looked like to memory in case I needed to speak of monetary issues while at court.

“Drink up, then we start,” Sayyida said as another small glass of Dragon Fire landed in front of Saga first and then me.

Recognizing that arguing would be futile, I gripped the drink.

“To new friends.” Saga lifted her drink to the center and turned to toast with me.

“To new friends,” the ladies chanted, all except Calpurnia, who scowled and shot the drink back.

I brought the glass to my lips, barely tolerating the burn as it went down.

This would be a long afternoon.

Chapter 23

As Saga had warned, the afternoon turned into evening. A very late evening drenched in Dragon Fire.

I suspected the only thing that saved me from making an utter fool of myself was my sharp fear that I’d slip and spill a secret coupled with the supper brought up by a discreet brownie servant whom Saga claimed to trust. I’d indulged heavily in dinner, determined to soak up the alcohol as best I could, and downed at least five goblets of water too.

Thanks to the meal, by the end of the night I’d sobered a little, and I was certain I hadn’t said a single thing to implicate Roar or myself.