Page 16 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Emmeline

V alen unrolled a scroll on the enormous table in the formal dining room. The edges of the paper curled, so he pinned them down with a flower vase and a few candle holders. I couldn’t read the loopy words written on it, but I recognized the drawings as a building’s floor plan.

“Is this for the palace?” I asked, leaning closer.

“Yes.” He pointed. “The main ballroom is here.”

I barely stopped myself from squealing in delight. I scanned the scroll quickly, as if any second now, it would burst into flames. Then I slowed, letting my eyes drink in the details.

“So many entrances and exits…” I murmured.

“We’ll be coming through the main doors here.”

He stepped closer to point out the spot on the scroll, and my breath caught. I should be used to his closeness by now, but it still made my stomach flip—yet not out of fear. He had a subtle, crisp scent that carried hints of leather. Lightheaded, I forced my focus back onto the scroll.

“And the jewel could be anywhere,” I said. “It depends on where the princess goes.”

“This is the ideal spot for stealing it.” He indicated a narrow balcony a short distance from the ballroom. “It’s isolated. Most guests prefer the west balcony because it overlooks the Moonmirror Pools, but it wouldn’t seem suspicious to lure her there.”

“And how do we do that?”

Valen cleared his throat. “Princess Regula is married, but she goes through lovers faster than a pegasus through horseshoes. You’ll shapeshift once we’re inside, flirt with her, and lead her to the balcony.”

It wouldn’t be the first time I’d seduced someone to steal from them, but still…

“Can’t you do that?”

Valen smiled humorlessly. “I’m not her type.”

“How can you not be her type? Does she have straw for brains? You’re everyone’s type.”

Valen blinked at me, and my stomach dropped like a stone down a well. I’d just completely given away that I found him attractive, hadn’t I?

“I saw you at Tullus’s party,” I said quickly. “You would’ve needed a sword to fend off all the fawning ladies.”

“Yes, well…” Valen coughed and looked away. “Princess Regula likes her men younger, more delicate, and much more bootlicking.”

I quickly changed form, hoping to keep his attention away from my accidental confession.

Taking on a slender male body, I fashioned glamorous clothing with tights that showed off my legs.

I made my face as fine-boned and attractive as I could, with thick eyelashes and chestnut-colored hair that fell artfully across my forehead.

Valen assessed me closely. “Not bad, but change the hair. She prefers blonds.”

That was easy enough.

“And the shirt,” he said. “Make it a looser style, the kind that opens in the front to show off the chest.”

I made the change, having seen men wearing that when we’d gone out dancing.

“Good.” He looked me slowly up and down, gaze lingering on my now-exposed chest. He swallowed. “I expect she’ll find you tantalizing.”

“Do you?” I asked, and immediately wanted to die of mortification. “I mean, do you find men attractive?”

He shrugged. “I’ve had a few male lovers, but I usually prefer women.” His gaze pinned me with a strange intensity. “And you?”

I made a muffled choking sound. I’d rather kiss a plague rat than have this conversation, but I had technically started it.

“I’ve only ever fooled around with one man, and it was disappointing.”

I looked down at the scroll, desperately searching for something that I could use to change the subject.

“You never tried again?” he asked.

“Never met anyone worth the risk. I’ve seen too many women die in childbirth. Not to mention all the diseases. Don’t you—”

I snapped my mouth shut. I did not want to steer the conversation to his potential venereal diseases. God and Goddess, what was wrong with me?

“We have methods of preventing that,” he said, guessing what I’d been about to say. “And I see a healer regularly.” His eyes sharpened. “Do you need—”

“No, I used some of Tullus’s money on a full healer’s examination.”

He nodded. And was I imagining it, or did he look relieved?

“Exits,” I blurted out, waving at the scroll. “What’s our plan for getting out once we’ve got the jewel?”

He hesitated before turning back to the scroll, all business again.

“Ideally, we’ll walk back out the main doors at the end of the ball. Timing is key. We can’t steal it too soon, or we’ll look suspicious for leaving the ball early.”

“But you’ve got backup escape routes planned in case everything goes to shit?”

“Of course. No fewer than three.”

Good. He knew what he was doing. I looked at the sketch of the grand ballroom, imagining it full of dancers and musicians.

Too bad we couldn’t just take the jewel and run.

I hated the idea of mingling with snobby fey for hours, but that was why Valen had insisted on all those damned etiquette lessons.

“Will Amatien and Ishaq be there?” I asked, thinking it would be nice to see a friendly face or two.

“No, they’re not high-status enough to get an invitation.”

His tone was perfectly bland, but a muscle ticced in his jaw. Angry on his friends’ behalf?

“We dined with them first because they’re easygoing and wouldn’t care if you made a blunder,” he continued.

“Thanks for your confidence.”

“When we attend the hunt tomorrow,” he went on as if I hadn’t said anything, “you’ll meet more of the Court. Most of them will attend the ball.”

Translation: don’t screw up at the hunt.

“That reminds me…” I fidgeted with the edge of the scroll. “Amatien said something to me after dinner. I wanted to ask you about it.”

“I told you Amatien’s a gossip,” he said lightly, though his shoulders stiffened. “You shouldn’t believe what he says.”

“He said you used to be betrothed and had gotten your knighthood in some horrible way.”

Valen’s jaw tightened, and I wondered if I should have kept my mouth shut.

“I tried to pretend I knew what he was talking about.” I leaned against the table, changed my mind, and straightened.

“Because you probably would have told that stuff to your real lover, right? So maybe…” I sighed.

“Look, I don’t care, but I need to know the basics for the next time someone brings it up. ”

There. That was a logical argument, right? I needed to know for our cover story, not just to satisfy my curiosity.

Valen said nothing, eyes on the scroll. His entire body looked rigid. The obvious discomfort made him seem more… human.

“I suppose you have a point,” he said finally.

Then silence. Was he going to tell me? Or was he hastily thinking up a story? I was letting my guard slip around him, and I had to stop. The caring gestures and personal conversations didn’t change that he was a lying fey.

“I was betrothed to a woman named Aurea.” He faced me, but his gaze didn’t quite meet mine. “She’s the daughter of a knight. We broke it off after seven months, and as far as anyone knows, we just discovered we weren’t suited for matrimony. Personalities clashed. It happens often enough.”

“But what really happened?” I asked, sensing a lot more to that story.

“That’s not your concern.”

The words lashed out like a whip, and I tried not to flinch.

Valen sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “If someone asks, just tell them you think you’re a better match for me than she was.”

“Yeah, sure.”

A traitorous knight and a conniving thief: we were perfectly matched.

“As for how I got knighted…”

He abruptly walked to the window and stared out at the garden. My legs tensed. Had the intruder returned?

“I was a child at the time,” he said. “My mother was a baker. The palace commissioned her to make a cake for the queen’s anniversary. She was thrilled.”

Oh. Valen wasn’t actually looking out the window. He just wanted to keep his back to me so I couldn’t see his expression.

“The assassins came the night before.” His voice was low, tone detached, like he was telling a story about somebody else. “Enemies of the queen. They wanted to poison the cake and threatened us—my mother, brother, and me—to go along with it.”

He fell into silence again, and I didn’t push him. My fingers felt suddenly cold.

“I knew they’d kill us anyway.” He folded his arms behind his back. “So I attacked first.”

“But you were just a kid.”

“Fortunately, I was good at killing even then. I managed to gut one of them, but the other slaughtered my mother.”

I clutched at my throat.

“The neighbors heard the screaming and came to help before my brother and I could get murdered, too. And Queen Verena knighted me for saving her.”

My skin felt clammy beneath my dress, and I put a hand on the table to steady myself.

I should have asked Amatien to explain instead of making Valen retell the tragedy.

I never thought I’d feel compassion for the inhuman knight who’d coerced and trapped me, but here I was, a tight knot forming in my chest, making it difficult to draw a full breath.

If something like that had happened to my mother…

“Now you know the story.” His voice cut like a knife, though he hadn’t turned from the window. “You can gossip with the other courtiers. Just don’t expect much sympathy. A good number of them would kill their own mothers if it meant getting a knighthood.”

“They’re soulless, shit-splattered cocks, then.”

He looked back at me, his face a blank mask. “It doesn’t matter. I saved the queen and was richly rewarded.”

“You saved yourself.” I swallowed but pressed on. “And if your mother’s anything like mine, she’d just be thankful you survived.”

His face twitched, but he smoothed out his features before I could read his expression.

He walked back to the table, shoulders straight and voice flat. “We’ve gotten distracted.”

He was ending the conversation. God and Goddess be praised. If we kept on sharing experiences and vulnerabilities, I was going to start caring about him. Then I’d be easy pickings, and he would use me and dump me just like Tullus had done to my mother.

“Right.” I looked back at the map. “Tell me about these other exits, then.”