Page 10 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Valen

“ H ave you been looking for me ever since you caught me in Tullus’s manor?” Emmeline asked the next morning. “Would you really have turned me over to the city guards?”

It was early—too early for such pointed questions.

We sat at a small table awaiting breakfast. I usually ate meals here rather than in the formal dining room, the window in the cozy nook letting in sunlight during the day cycle.

But dusk had fallen, and that meant two straight weeks of night before seeing the sun again.

“Rest assured,” I said crisply, “you’ll find yourself on trial for theft if you back out of our agreement.”

“That doesn’t answer—”

“Hush.”

Nin and the cook arrived with the food: delicate fruit tarts that gleamed with sugary syrup, small quiches topped with tomato slices arranged to resemble flowers, freshly baked bread, and steaming hot sausages.

It was a much bigger spread than they usually served me.

They must be trying to make a good impression on Emmeline.

If the look on her face was any indication, they’d succeeded. A few more seconds, and she might just start drooling.

“Enjoy!” Nin called as she and the cook departed.

I observed Emmeline, waiting, but she didn’t press for an answer to her question.

I had been tracking her for months, of course.

If the black market dealer she’d sold Tullus’s treasure to hadn’t been a snooping double-crosser, I would have never gotten her name.

And I didn’t make idle threats, so I would have her arrested if she betrayed me.

But my empty stomach twisted at the thought.

She didn’t deserve imprisonment for stealing from Tullus of all people. Hell, I admired her for the theft.

I pushed away the twinge of guilt and focused on more immediate problems. Emmeline would need training to mimic courtly manners, but the question was how much? I needed to determine where we were starting from before I could estimate—

She grabbed an entire quiche and stuffed it into her mouth, moaning like a woman about to orgasm. I’d never seen anyone chew and swallow so quickly. Then she tore apart the bread loaf with her bare hands and devoured it, crumbs falling onto the table.

I rubbed my face. This might take longer than I’d thought.

“Why are you looking at me like I just pissed in your teacup?” she asked, mouth full.

“Rule one of formal dining: never start eating before your host.”

She glanced at my untouched plate. “Even if they’re sitting on their ass doing nothing?”

“Yes.” I repressed a sigh. “It’s rude of a host to keep guests waiting, but even ruder for the guests to start without them.”

“Huh.”

“And may I direct your attention to the cutlery on either side of your plate? It’s there for a reason.” My stomach sank as a horrible thought occurred to me. “Have you ever used cutlery?”

“Nope.” She popped a berry into her mouth from atop a tart. “Stole an entire fancy set once, though. Got enough money from selling it to buy a fur cloak and enough food for half the winter.”

“Just… try.”

She awkwardly picked up the knife and fork. I moved to correct her grip, and she flinched.

Coldness spread through me, but I couldn’t fault her reaction.

Unlike everyone who thought they knew me, she’d glimpsed who I really was.

She hadn’t seen the worst. She didn’t know what lines I would cross, how ruthless I could be, but she was smart to fear me.

My appetite vanished, and despite the delicious scents wafting up from the table, my stomach felt leaden.

I didn’t want her to feel comfortable around me. That might make her think she could betray me without consequences, while fear would keep her in line. I should be pleased with her reaction. I was pleased.

“Hold it like this.”

I moved her fingers, and some of the tension left her body when I drew away from her. Then she attacked a second quiche with her fork and knife like she needed to kill it before it ran off her plate.

“Slower,” I said. “And not so harshly. Watch.”

I demonstrated. She watched me for a long minute and then tried again.

“Better.”

For the next several minutes, we ate in silence. Emmeline studied me, mimicking my movements, and improved more rapidly than I’d expected. Presumably, she was used to watching people and copying their body language to impersonate them with her abilities.

“So why do you want the Selenanum Jewel?” she asked.

“Selenian. And that’s none of your concern.”

She gulped down tea. “Is it magical?”

I picked up my teacup and modeled a dainty sip. “Its magic faded long ago.”

She picked up the teacup again, imitating me. “So it used to do something important?”

“Queen Diamanda, our first queen, used it to make the moon habitable. When she first gathered the survivors of nine destroyed courts, there was no plant life, animals—not even air. She transformed the entire moon, but the effort burnt out the jewel’s magic and drained her life.

The royal ball is in celebration of her feast day. ”

Emmeline peered at me over her teacup. “I can’t see you wanting it for the money. You’re obviously rich enough. Are you a collector or something?”

“You don’t need to know my reasons. You just need to steal it for me.”

“Fine.” She painstakingly cut into a sausage. “Tell me about the ball, then? Best place for me to corner the princess? Any specific time you want me to strike?”

“We’ll discuss it later. Right now, just focus on holding your fork and knife correctly.”

She scowled, and the rest of breakfast passed in silence.

The seamstress arrived shortly after and took Emmeline’s measurements. She had a dress available that wasn’t a perfect fit but would allow Emmeline to wear something more than a chemise, and she left with a promise of dazzling custom gowns soon.

I spent the rest of the day giving Emmeline a crash course on etiquette, everything from a proper curtsy to how to address a social superior.

The courtiers liked to pretend it all came naturally to them, that their noble blood gave them grace and civility beyond that of the common man.

But they trained from childhood in courtly manners.

“This is a waste of time,” Emmeline snapped.

We were practicing the proper method of backing away from royalty after being dismissed. Turning one’s back on them was inexcusable.

“I just need to get in, get the jewel, and get out.” She gestured sharply. “Who cares if I don’t properly suck up to some stuffy nobles in the meantime?”

“The actual theft is only part of the equation.” My foot tapped the floor in annoyance before I stilled it.

“The rest is avoiding suspicion. We want the Court to overlook us. I don’t want them to even remember your name when they think back on the ball.

If you make a fool of yourself, they’ll remember you.

And when every palace guard and official is trying to track down the jewel, one of them might question why Sir Valen’s lover was acting so strangely. ”

Her shoulders slumped, and she rubbed her face.

She worked the rest of the day without complaining. It was… exceedingly suspicious. Was she trying to lull me into complacency? Make me think she was cooperating so I’d lower my guard, letting her escape?

We ate dinner in the same small nook as breakfast, the garden outside cast in shadows. Nin had placed candles and a vase of flowers on the table in a hopeless attempt to make the atmosphere romantic.

“You’re doing much better,” I said, watching Emmeline eat. “Especially with the cheese.”

I’d half-expected her to devour the cheese platter like a starving animal. She’d waxed poetic about the food when impersonating Lady Celestine. The lady wasn’t known for a love of cheese (Was anyone?) so that must have been Emmeline’s real personality shining through.

I almost smiled in remembrance of the conversation—almost, before I stopped myself. We weren’t chatting at a party anymore. I was using her to steal the Selenian Jewel. I could fake friendship to manipulate her better, but I couldn’t let myself feel any genuine affection.

“I have noble blood, sir,” she said in a nasally, snooty tone. “A commonplace food such as cheese isn’t worthy of touching my superior skin. And I certainly don’t need to eat it.“ She waved her fork with a flourish. “I subsist on an over-inflated ego, not food.”

I smothered my chuckle as ruthlessly as I’d stopped my smile. Then the crystal on my armband flared with heat, and I dropped my fork.

“Excuse me.”

I shot up, flung open the window, and leaped outside before Emmeline could say a word.

Earth's blue glow brightened the night sky, but thick trees shrouded the area around the chateau in darkness. I plunged into them, startling a few birds that took off into the air.

The crystal remained hot against my skin. I’d upgraded the protective spell around my property after last night’s intrusion. The crystal on my armband would heat in alarm when anything larger than a rabbit passed over my wall.

But I saw no one. Dark trees surrounded me, and the flowers amid the thick grass glowed. A leaf fell from overhead, twirling lightly in the air before landing soundlessly on a tree root. It was the only movement in the entire garden.

A slow, systematic search would uncover the intruder. But I couldn’t stay out here long, or Emmeline would seize her chance to escape. I glanced worriedly back at the chateau. Then I closed my eyes and listened.

Behind the chateau, a pegasus snorted in the stables. Muffled voices came from indoors—Emmeline and Nin, presumably—and the faint clip-clop of hooves came from somewhere down the street. An owl hooted in the distance, and ahead of me, someone took quick, ragged breaths.

I shot towards the sound, and a figure took off running. Big and broad, short hair, most likely male , I noted as I raced after him. He was sprinting toward the stone wall surrounding my land.

I ducked under a low branch, leaves smacking me in the face. The trespasser had a head start, and I pushed myself to close the gap between us. I couldn’t let him escape. I had to find out why he was stalking me, whether it was related to my plans.

He reached the wall and quickly climbed. As he heaved his bulky form upward, recognition hit me. I slowed in shock—only for a second, but it was a second too long.

He leaped over the top of the wall and vanished from sight. The street lay on the other side, and no doubt he’d take off running. I could give chase…

I slowed to a stop, though my heartbeat kept racing at high speeds. If I went that far from Emmeline when she wasn’t shackled, I might as well give her a pegasus and open a portal to Earth for her.

Cursing, I stalked back to the chateau. I knew the identity of my trespasser, but what was he trying to accomplish? It could be nothing, just a boneheaded attempt to make a nuisance of himself. Or it could be the complete undoing of all my plans…

Emmeline was waiting for me outside.

“What the hell was that?”