Page 181 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

I stared at her, the words circling in my mind like hornets. “I… excuse me?” I said, barely recognizing my own voice.

Inderia inclined her head slightly, her golden hair falling like a curtain over one shoulder. Still composed. Still regal. As if she hadn’t just tried to gut me with a silk-wrapped dagger.

“It is considered acceptable,” she said smoothly, as though we were discussing the weather, “for a male prince to… sow his wild oats in his younger years. Especially one as unconventional as Zander.”

My mouth opened, but no words came.

Unconventional?

She meant me.

“But Zander has an important future,” she continued, as though my silence was consent. “And I believe he will soon need to make decisions that are… appropriate for someone of his station.”

My blood boiled. The ring in the box. The seal. The practiced smile. This had all been an audition.

I stepped closer, the heat rising in my chest. “Let me ask you something,” I said, barely above a whisper. “Who do you think you are to summon me here and speak to me like I’m some?—”

“—His fiancée,” she said.

I froze.

Everything inside me halted. My breath. My thoughts.

Her eyes met mine fully for the first time. Cold. Calculating. Not cruel, but claiming.

“I am Princess Inderia Claen of Brosha. And I have been betrothed to Prince Zander Rayne for three years.”

It all made sense.

The seal.

The ring.

The pedigree.

She wasn’t just another noble.

She was Zander’s future wife.