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“Thank you,” I said, glancing at her reflection.

She had soft blue eyes and long, straight strawberry-blonde hair.

It was pinned half back, showing off delicate, pointed ears.

All the staff I’d seen so far had similar ears.

Lusha was a whole head taller than me, which also seemed to be the norm—that and sharp, elongated canine teeth.

Their fangs were beautiful, if not baleful.

I let out a shaky breath. I’d been treated well thus far. I was a guest. If they were going to hurt me, they already would have—at least that's what I was going to tell myself. And Galen didn’t seem to hate humans, even if his mother did.

Lusha plaited my hair out of my face, tying it back into the same style she was wearing. Tildy dressed me in a simple sage green gown that had been tailored for someone much taller than me, but I didn’t mind. It was still a vast improvement to my usual attire.

The dress wrapped around my curves, tied around my ribs, and draped down in light, silky layers. I could move so easily. The Wylks wouldn’t have stood a chance if I’d been wearing this .

By the time I was ready, my stomach had twisted in on itself.

I'd hoped Galen might come to my room and escort me down, but instead a dark-haired guard with a pallid complexion was sent.

Robert, a man of few words and even fewer facial expressions.

He frowned as I followed behind him, responding to my questions with one-word answers.

“How long have you worked here?”

“Fifty years,” he said gruffly. Fifty years? He didn’t even look fifty years old.

“Do you have a family?”

“None of your concern, Miss.”

“Have you ever escorted a human to breakfast before?”

He gave me an affronted look that silenced me.

Robert opened the double doors onto a veranda. There was an oversized pergola that offered shade above a large wooden table. Vines climbed along the beams and weaved through the lattice. Ripe bunches of purple grapes hung low and heavy.

If there were grapes, then there was wine…

a blessing from Terra herself. Would they water my wine here?

Something told me no. Galen took me to my room unescorted last night—that led me to believe they were less rigid in this court.

He could’ve left me compromised and my reputation destroyed , had our actions been observed in Aurelius.

It appeared that I was the only one concerned with keeping my virtue intact in this world.

If last night had been a test, assessing my inherent propriety, then I'd undoubtedly failed with flying colors. Perhaps that’s why Thea always synched my corset so tight…

I was less likely to become distracted by the opposite sex, if I was occupied with the task of simply trying to breathe.

Maybe she’d been on to something, because at this moment, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful faces that sat around the table. I inhaled a gluttonous amount of oxygen as my heart began to thud unevenly. Three Princes and no Queen… I exhaled in relief.

I could feel Galen watching me as I took a seat across from him and avoided eye contact, feeling shy under the harsh morning sun. “My mother takes her breakfast in her room. You can relax. Although, I must warn you… my brothers’ table manners might be equally offensive,” he said.

I finally met his gaze and was greeted with a sultry smile that sent heat to the places he’d kissed last night.

His brothers were sitting a few seats down.

Rafael was reading a book and barely looked up to greet me, while Louis gave a huge grin and dragged his chair closer, making the stone of the terrace screech in protest.

“How did you sleep?” Louis asked between mouthfuls of food.

“Better than expected, thank you. I’m quite nervous to talk with you all, to be honest. I’d prefer to skip any pleasantries and dive right in, if that’s alright with you,” I said to no one in particular.

Rafael flicked his eyes up from his book.

“You should eat first. Your appetite might be gone after you’ve heard what we have to say.

” I didn’t appreciate him telling me what to do, especially when it took the wind out of my sails.

In my stomach’s current state, I wasn’t even sure I could keep anything down.

“Here.” Galen offered me a biscuit with jam. “Eat this and then we won’t keep you waiting any longer.”

My eyes darted between them as I ripped off a piece of biscuit in a notably unladylike bite. I narrowed my eyes towards Raf who was buried in his book and didn’t notice .

We continued eating in awkward silence until I finished, washing my food down with a swig of herbal tea. The taste was unfamiliar and my heart sank. What if they’d poisoned or drugged it—added something that would make me speak more candidly? I set the cup down and didn’t take another sip.

“Done!” I declared, more chipper than I felt.

Galen glanced towards his brothers and said, “I’ll start.” He studied me as I tapped my foot and drummed my fingers on my water glass. “It’s alright, you aren’t in any danger.”

“Yet.” Rafael’s eyebrows rose as he spoke, but he still didn’t tear his gaze from his book.

I tried to ignore the remark, gulping down my worry with a sip of water, then motioned for Galen to continue.

“As you know, our people aren’t human… but we are originally from Erador, which makes it difficult to comprehend how you haven’t heard of our kind… We’re faeries. Fae , for short. Some humans think we’re elves. We’ve also been accused of being vampires.”

“Which we’re not ,” Louis emphasized, curling his lip in disgust.

I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t that. Faeries? Weren’t they supposed to be small and winged? I thought about voicing that question, but decided it might be offensive to three men who stood around six and a half feet tall.

“I’ve heard mention of faeries in fables and bedtime stories, and we’ve had occasional complaints of vampires from civilians, but I never thought there was validity to the claims.” I paused to gather my thoughts, furrowing my brow. “What makes a faerie different than a human?”

“We’re similar enough to mate with one another,” Raf said, glancing away from his book and straight into my eyes.

My cheeks went hot at the implication of his statement, paired with the intensity of his gaze.

His mouth curved into a smile, but not a particularly friendly one as he continued, “Faeries have stronger senses. Faster reflexes. Longer lives. We can heal from most injuries as well, and much more quickly than humans.”

I thought of my scratches from yesterday that had disappeared within hours and swallowed hard .

“We can also wield magic,” Rafael said, causing me to drop my jaw. “Fae have the ability to harness elemental energy, manipulate matter, heal the sick and wounded… Each faerie has abilities unique to them.”

“Most of us can shift into an animal form too,” Galen added.

Stunned, it took me a moment to find my voice. I studied their expressions and accepted that this wasn’t a joke. I drank an entire glass of water, dabbing the corners of my mouth with a napkin, before finally speaking. “Show me,” I said, challenging Galen with a hard stare.