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“I thought that was the point of having you as my guest tonight.”

My eyes narrowed at his clear avoidance of the subject, not that he could see my glare. “Hardly. I’m just chasing out the prey tonight. Jinon I will deal with later.”

“Has anyone ever told you how intimidating you are when you speak like that?”

“Not to my face. But I’m happy my message got across.”

Honestly, it rankled me to no end that Irin didn't jump to action after revealing Trisne's death. It shouldn't have surprised me, though, to see yet another Gailish royal so uncaring about the women in their kingdom. I turned to pull back one of the curtains and peered through the glass to avoid looking at him for the rest of the short ride. He seemed just as content to keep the silence, though I could feel the cold burn of his eyes through the thin black veil. I chanced a quick side glance and caught him trying to straighten his smirk, which only stoked the fire of my frustration. He kept his posture loose and casual, slouched a little in the padded bench so his knee just barely brushed my own, tucked close to my side of the carriage. One arm was draped across the seat back and bent at the elbow so he could rest his head on a fist as he kept staring. It was like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

“Where is your hound?”

The question caught him off-guard. Irin’s brow wrinkled slightly before smoothing out again. “I keep Behar in my room when I attend functions like this. There are too many opportunities for me to be distracted enough that something… unfortunate could happen to him.”

“Hmmm,” I answered noncommittally. His magic was unstable again. I hoped it wouldn’t affect my efforts tonight. “You must have a strong bond with him.”

“I do,” he confirmed. “I’ve had Behar since he was a pup. Father was… less than pleased when he found out I’d been hiding him in my chambers for almost a year. I think he was more upset at how unaware he was of the situation.”

“You were not close with him.” It was more of an observation than a question, one Irin seemed to take in stride. Not that Iwas surprised. Every other time he spoke of his late father, it was with the same tone as mentioning the passing of an old acquaintance and not a beloved parent.

He shrugged, as if his father’s approval meant nothing. “After I chose to study terramancy, he avoided me almost entirely. He thought practitioners were weak because they relied on magic to make their lives easier.”

“That’s an extremely ignorant view of the world. Terrifying that someone that obtuse was ruling this country for sixty years.”

A smile curled Irin’s full lips, but it was sardonic. “I thought so too.”

Showing up to a masquerade party without a mask was a conscious choice on my part. I wanted whoever thought they were hiding to believe they were bold enough to let some tidbit of information slip. Tonight, I was the bait and the predator. But walking into the main ballroom with a very eligible, very attractive prince brought on a whole other kind of attention I wasn’t particularly interested in. We barely made it past the coat check before a rail-thin woman in a parakeet mask approached us out of nowhere, towing an equally thin daughter by her elbow. Their outfits were obviously very coordinated, both in white, high-collared gowns accented by feathers around their throats and wrists in bright, garish colors.

“Your Highness!” She curtsied deeply, still pulling her daughter to dip just as low. The poor girl wobbled on her heelsto keep from falling, and I instinctively reached out to catch her. “We are so honored you grace us with your presence tonight! You remember my daughter, Malita, don’t you? We were so thrilled when the royal council reached out to us regarding her eligibility as your bride!”

The mother’s face practically cracked in half from the beaming smile she showed Irin. Malita, on the other hand, seemed absolutely miserable. The only part of her face that matched her mother’s was the mask she wore. “Good evening, Your Highness.” She was much less enthusiastic, but still polite in her subdued greeting. “I am… thrilled to be considered.”

Irin was visibly uncomfortable. “Thank you, that is very kind. However, I have not given much consideration to my potential bride yet. I’m still… in mourning over the sudden loss of my father.”

His voice was smooth and pleasant enough, but the arm mine was looped through flinched hard. I thought someone had bumped into him from the other side, but something on his glove caught my eye. His hand was fisted so tightly the fabric stretched over his knuckles, and across the top of his pointer finger, a patch of red spread slowly over what I thought was a ring. For a moment, I couldn’t take my eyes from the bloody spot. That violent red, creeping slowly over pristine white… just like blood seeping through fresh snow.

The sight of it was confusing more than off-putting. Did he cut himself on something?

“Have a good evening Hilra Bavomont, Lady Malita.”

I felt Irin pull me away from the women, even as the mother sputtered and made to follow us. “Prince Irin, perhaps—”

I’m not sure what possessed me to stop and turn back to address her. Irin seemed just as shocked, accidentally pulling me ahead in his attempt to flee a confrontation. Malita was holdingonto her mother by her dainty wrist and trying to keep her from following us.

“Step. Off.”

Both of the noblewomen reared back at my hostile tone. The whites of their eyes were visible even behind the masks, giving them an almost comical appearance of scared birds, ruffled feathers and all.

While my face couldn't have been visible, something had Irin pulling me lower by my arm, urging me to lean down slightly to match his height. It didn't seem to bother him I stood a head taller, even when he had taken my hand and guided me from the carriage in front of Jinon's mansion. The softest brush of air hit my cheek through the veil, then a quiet chuckle tickled my ear. “Let it go. They’re not worth the fight.”

Irin pulled me again, guiding me to a tall table, but I kept my eyes locked on Hilra Bavomont’s gaunt, shocked face until the crowd of party guests swallowed us. I wished for a moment shecouldsee my face, so my glare could take full effect. People became uneasy when I stared at them with my mismatched eyes. They didn’t like the unnatural or unusual here.

“I need a drink,” I muttered. “Please tell me they have some decent goldtine in this place.”

A smile spread across Irin’s lips, and he navigated us to some long tables lining the left side of the ballroom. They were laden with exorbitant amounts of food, the likes of which even a gathering this large couldn’t finish, arranged in intricate displays of Resparian fauna interspersed with game caught in Ber’s Forest nearby. It was revolting.

How could Jinon put this elaborate party on when he assumed his own daughter was dead?

“This is probably not your typical scene, is it?”