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Arthur raked a hand through his golden hair, stance loosening. He turned for the corridor which lead back into the goldstone palace but froze a step from the blessed shade. “Youwillbe in attendance,” he said.

Damn.How had he known? I’d agreed to wear emerald, but I hadn’t actually agreed to attend the dinner—

“Veyka.”

“I will be there,” I ground out, stalking in the opposite direction.

I ignored my brother’s self-satisfied laugh and began plotting how I could slip hellroot into his aural tonight. It would serve him right to be flatulating while trying to talk up the terrestrial delegation.

“Careful. If you plan something too malicious, I’ll be forced to take you into custody,” Lyrena said, effectively reading my mind.

My favorite of my brother’s Goldstone Guards followed me into the shade, making for the blank expanse of goldstone bricks on the opposite side of the courtyard. Her eyes were glowing—not for me, I was certain. She’d just been watching my brother spar.

“I wouldn’t want to put you in a position to pick favorites,” I smiled, letting her come around me, push open the latch to the hidden door, and check the passageway for dangers.

Someday, the guarding would become cumbersome. But today, it was still new. Not to be guarded, but protected. Having someone care about whether I lived or died, instead of what threat I posed.

Lyrena winked as she motioned me through the hidden door. Her grin was unremarkable—only because she was always smiling. But none could question her beauty, even without the cheeky grin in place. She was perfect in every way our people measured beauty. Lithe, with golden skin burnished by hours spent in the sun training. Unlike me, muscular but soft, Lyrena was all corded muscle and flat stomach. Even her golden braid, styled almost identically to my own, looked decadent just because of its glowing color.

I could see why Arthur chose her, again and again.

But all that would end when his terrestrial bride arrived.

With an unnecessary snap of her fingers, Lyrena’s fire magic lit the torches lining the passage. The flick of her gleaming plait as the door closed caught my eye, a second before she was gone. A second was long enough to spy the jeweled band securing the tail of her braid: a band of gold and emerald. Arthur’s colors.

Glowing eyes—the curse of a passionate race, unable to hide lust and passion when it literally changed the brightness of one’s irises—and my brother’s colors in her hair. Their affair was still going strong, even after all these months.

Perhaps things would not change as much as I supposed. A thousand years was a long time to share only one female’s bed, especially if it was a joining of duty rather than passion.

I shuddered at what awaited my brother. I’d sooner cut off my left hand than suffer such an arrangement. For what must have been the tenth time that day, I offered a prayer of thanks to the Ancestors for the precious four minutes my brother had entered this world before me.

2

VEYKA

By the second round of toasts, I regretted not letting my brother gut me in the practice ring. The Court of the Elemental Fae was known for three things—opulence, heat, and deception.

Every goldstone pillar was gilded in gemstones the size of my fist. Literal fountains of aural poured from the walls. Though only those seated well below the dais were foolish enough to indulge in more than one pour.

The folds of my diaphanous emerald gown hid the beads of sweat rolling down my back. The delegation from the terrestrial court was not so lucky. Their thick woolen tunics were soaked through and darkened embarrassingly at the necks and armpits. Their quarters would stink like a decaying animal by the end of their visit.

But the toasts—those were what chased me from my cushioned seat on the dais. Another round of false, honeyed words and I’d likely try to drown myself in one of the aural fountains.

Unity, friendship… sweet deceptions to make everyone feel better, feel as if the accords between us were anything other than a pea balanced on a knife’s edge. A balance that I, thankfully, would not be tasked with preserving.

I took up a post on the perimeter of the throne room turned banquet hall, leaning against one of the goldstone pillars. Even it was warm. Couldn’t someone be bothered to cool the damn hall?

A horribly selfish thought. All magic had a cost. Cooling a cavernous room such as this, open to the elements, would take several less powerful fae. Even shared between them, they would likely be comatose by the end of the evening. Or worse, if the Ancestors demanded a steeper cost. A fire at home. A sick child. One never knew the cost until the magic had been expended.

My eyes flicked to Evander, second-in-command of the king’s Goldstone Guards. He lurked in the opposite corner behind the dais, looking cool and comfortable as ever. Easy enough to use your own magic to cool yourself; less risk there, more control.

Not all of us were so blessed with ice and wind in a land of perpetual heat.

I jerked my gaze away from him. If Evander caught me staring, I’d have to deal with him smirking at me for the rest of the night. Then I might be tempted to stab him. Which my brother would not appreciate, given our guests from the terrestrial fae court.

Thankfully, said brother chose that moment to rise. He drew all eyes to him effortlessly, glowing like the golden, sun-blessed ruler that he was.

“We welcome our terrestrial brethren, come to make our kingdom whole once more,” he began.