Page 46

That did not happen. Most stared, but if I caught their eyes, they looked away. I suspected that, at the moment, few wanted to be associated with us—the pair who had earned a trusted Clawsguard a whipping.

I cringed. Before we retired for the evening, I needed to stop by the healers’ sanctuary to see if Sir Qildor was awake and how he fared. The knight was a dear friend, part of my inner circle. A cabal member. I huffed out a laugh, unable to deny that I was warming to the term, though I had yet to let my sister know. Some things an older brother needed to keep to himself.

“Vale.” Sian patted my shoulder when we joined his small group, consisting of Vidar Virtoris, Thantrel Riis, and two of Sian’s many siblings, his sisters, Baenna andEireann. “I take it the journey back to the castle was uneventful?”

“The vampires have already sailed west for the Blood Kingdom,” Vidar interjected, brushing aside a large leaf caressing his shoulder.

Neve let out a low breath. She hadn’t seemed worried about the vampires. Apparently, she’d been hiding her worry well. Not a surprise considering how well she’d been playing a part at court.

“We stopped for lunch at Ragnor’s,” I replied as a servant appeared with a tray of sparkling fae wine and small toasts topped with a fermented fish and winterberry. Not wishing to have bad breath, I opted for the wine, then handed a glass to Neve. She took it and sipped, her lovely eyes going wide at the taste.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Vidar asked, bestowing the same smile on my wife that I’d seen steal the hearts of many courtiers. Unfortunately, he was already taken.

Father had betrothed Saga to Vidar a few turns back. Their union had not yet come to pass because Vidar had, until recently, been sailing the seas for the majority of the last three turns. It was a voyage every heir to House Virtoris took. For her part, Saga didn’t seem to mind his absence, but I suspected that soon they’d be wed, and I’d be able to call my dear friend brother.

“Did anything out of turn happen?” Vidar asked. “In the city?”

The question surprised me, but it shouldn’t have. The Virtoris heir was always one to expect trouble. I supposed that was only natural when you would inherit an armadathat often had to deal with pirates in the northern seas around our kingdom.

I shook my head. “Nothing happened.”

“Except that I atefartoo large a lunch.” Neve’s hand landed on her belly. Her gowns were limited to those that Warden Roar gave her, but she’d found a navy blue one in the lot of House Lisika colors. So much bleeding crimson and gold.

I made a mental note to have Saga’s seamstress come by my suite and measure Neve for new gowns. Ones in my house colors. Even if our relationship was a sham, she needed to look the part for as long as it lasted.

“Ragnor’s is so good!” Eireann’s wine sloshed close to the top of her glass as she gesticulated. “I haven’t been since we arrived in the city for the festival, but Father always takes the family.”

“Says it costs him a fortune because Ragnor’s is expensive, but it’s worth it,” Baenna added.

“More like it costs him a fortune because your parents have so many bleeding children.” Thantrel laughed, his cheeks flushed pink from the drink.

My outgoing friend had changed from sparring attire into an outfit I could only describe as a half dress. The back flowing long, the front ending in a normal tunic. Thantrel had eccentric tastes, and I suspected he liked the attention those tastes earned him.

“Only one way to stop that.” One red eyebrow, trimmed and darkened slightly, probably to emphasize the gold shimmer Thantrel wore on his eyelids, arched. He pretended to toast the Baliks.

Eireann scowled. “Perhaps give your own father that advice? He has too many children to count!”

They were both right. Lord and Lady Balik of the great house of the southlands, had nine children, quite a lot for a faerie family. Our kind often had trouble reproducing, but as we also lived for thousands of turns, larger families could still be created. The Baliks, however, did not seem to have any problem birthing heirs as once they began, many were born in rapid succession.

Lord Riis had never wed. And yet, the Lord of Tongues sired as many children as House Balik and House Armenil, the great house of the north that boasted six heirs, combined. The only difference was Lord Riis’s children were all illegitimate.

Many expressed their surprise when Father allowed Luccan, Arie, and Thantrel to attend the Courting Festival. Or summoned them, more like.

Then again, the king hadn’t done so out of the kindness of his heart. He possessed a reason for wanting the nobles here, and Lord Riis had to be included in the lot. Hence, Father legitimized Lord Riis’s eldest sons, and they received invitations.

The ladies set to discussing other matters, and Neve fell right in with them. That surprised me for a moment, but then I recalled that the day Neve arrived at court, and Saga invited her to a game of nuchi. Baenna and Eireann had probably been playing too.

Happy to let Neve relax a little, I turned to Sian and Vidar, the latter of whom was nodding excitedly.

“You and Sayyida would make a great match.” Vidarplucked a small hand pie off a tray as another servant came around. “If you wish, I can bring it up to the king?”

“Appreciated,” Sian said. “And I agree that we’re well suited. If anything, we’re aligned in personal matters.”

Vidar nodded. “She’ll need a husband who is understanding. One who expects little in the, uh, bedchambers, and who doesn’t mind if she takes to the sea.”

My lips curled. It wasn’t well-known at court, but Vidar was close to his sister and two turns back, she’d confided in him that she preferred female company. Since then, Vidar had been fretting over the day Lady Virtoris set a marriage for her daughter.

The proposed match between Sayyida and Sian worked out well, as he preferred male companionship.