Page 25 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Valen

M y mouth went dry. He was bluffing. He couldn’t have uncovered my plans.

“Go on.” Somehow, I kept my tone light. “Tell me what that genius mind of yours has deciphered.”

I popped the canapé into my mouth and chewed obnoxiously at him.

“Why you’re screwing that human when you could have any woman in the Court you wanted,” he spat.

I swallowed. “That’s an exaggeration. There are plenty—”

“You’re using her. Whatever scheme you have planned, she’s a part of it.”

My pulse sped up, and stars, I wanted to punch him again. I hated that my own brother stalked and harassed me. I hated that he could never get over his foolish jealousy, that he used it to justify the cruel brute he’d become. But most of all, I hated that he was right.

I’d sought Emmeline out because she had a skill I needed, and I’d coerced her into becoming my accomplice. She’d become someone I cared for, but that didn’t change that I still planned to use her skills for the heist. I was putting her in danger, and she didn’t even know why.

“I pity you, Drudon,” I said coldly. “That you can’t comprehend love even when it’s right in front of your face—”

Whispers swept through the room like a sudden rainstorm, and everyone craned their necks to look toward the entrance. I followed their gazes and found the reason for the palace guards’ presence.

Prince Caelestus had arrived, two more armored guards flanking him.

Dressed in white and gold, he looked suitably regal, his silvery white hair falling freely down his back.

He kissed Symphorosa’s hand in greeting and smiled at something she said.

It was a wan smile, but at least he’d dragged himself out of the palace.

Or maybe Queen Verena had kicked him out.

The party should distract him from his grief, if only for a short time.

Guests flocked to him once Symphorosa moved away, and his smile grew even more strained.

I seized two glasses of sparkling wine and stepped away from the table.

“I’m not finished with you, Valen,” Drudon growled.

I paused and looked back at him: the brother I’d once loved, now the biggest threat to my mission.

“Fuck off,” I said, and kept walking.

I found Emmeline alone, Florina and Felina having flocked toward the prince. The nobles and court officials seeking to discuss royal policy with him would have to wait. A group of admirers surrounded him, flirting as if their lives depended on it.

“So that’s the prince,” Emmeline said, watching the scene with amusement.

“Yes.” I handed her a glass. “He’s a friend of mine.”

“Is he?” Emmeline tilted her head. “Are you going to rescue him then?”

Cael was looking increasingly uncomfortable. One woman ran her hand over his bicep before a guard intervened.

I took back the glass before Emmeline could drink. “Sorry. I’ll get you another.”

I made my way toward Cael, excusing myself as I slipped through the dense press of bodies.

“—looking forward to the light display, of course,” Cael was saying. “We’re graced with perfect weather for it.”

“Yes! Weather!” Felina cried. “I also enjoy weather tremendously.”

Florina kicked her.

“I couldn’t possibly focus on the lights with you here,” purred another woman. “Your eyes look like emeralds tonight—”

“Sapphires.” Yet another woman elbowed her way forward. “They’re blue, obviously. And they’re dazzling.”

Cael took a step backward. “Well—”

“Your Highness!” I held up the glasses. “What are you doing without a drink? You can’t enjoy the festivities sober.”

“Sir Valen.” Relief filled his words. “How good to see you. It’s been too long.”

“Hasn’t it?” I pushed ever so politely past his admirers and handed him a drink. “You haven’t even met Emmeline yet.”

Cael downed half the glass. “You haven’t introduced her. A mistake I hope you’re going to fix?”

I led him through the throng, feeling like I was rescuing a soldier from enemy territory. A few women shot me dirty looks, but none could object. Cael’s posture relaxed once some space opened around him, and we reached Emmeline without anyone trying to waylay us.

I made the introductions, and Cael kissed her hand just as respectfully as he had Symphorosa’s. It spurred a few whispers among the onlookers, though I don’t know why they’d expected the prince to discriminate against a human when he’d taken a human lover himself.

“And thank you for the rescue, Valen,” he said. “I don’t know how you managed that so smoothly.”

Emmeline smiled wryly. “He’s had plenty of practice fleeing from crowds of women smitten with him.”

“I don’t think ‘fleeing’ is the right word,” I protested, though I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Remind me how we met again?”

“At a party—”

“Where you were hiding in the bushes to escape the women flirting with you. I think I compared you to a frightened rabbit.”

“Which should have warned me about the constant ridicule I’d suffer if I courted you.” I clutched my chest as if pained. “Alas, I was beguiled by your beauty and charm, and now it’s too late for me.”

Cael stared at us with a faint, crooked smile.

“Did he ever mention the time he tumbled into a fountain while trying to escape a drunken councilwoman’s kiss?” he asked Emmeline.

“No.” She laughed as I groaned. “Tell me everything.”

Cael launched into the story and followed up with two more embarrassing anecdotes over the next several minutes.

“I could make fun of Valen all night.” He glanced around, causing people to look away and pretend they hadn’t been staring. “But I’d be remiss if I didn’t do the rounds.”

He bid us farewell, deftly avoided a simpering admirer, and started conversing with an elderly magistrate who wouldn’t be comparing his eyes to gemstones.

I didn’t have time to say a word to Emmeline before Lord Petrocus and his husband swept in.

“That was nicely done, Sir Valen. You certainly diffused the situation.”

I gave him a slight nod, but he kept talking before I could say anything.

“Crass behavior. Absolutely unacceptable. Symphorosa had the young woman who groped His Highness escorted out—did you see?”

I had.

“Of course, I don’t know what the prince expected,” Lord Petrocus continued. “He’s barely shown his face in public for months. Of course he’s going to stir up excitement by finally reappearing.”

“He’s been grieving,” I said, not completely hiding the sharpness in my tone.

“It’s been months,” Petrocus repeated. “How much longer does he need to mope over a—” He caught himself as he looked at Emmeline. “—a lover. It’s not as if she were his wife.”

He’d been about to say “a human,” and that was only part of what incensed me. I thought of the weight Cael had lost from not eating and sleeping, the red-rimmed eyes, the few times he’d brought himself to speak of the woman he’d loved.

“She could have been if she’d lived,” I’d said.

Petrocus scoffed. “Unthinkable. I know Queen Verena was… self-indulgent in her second marriage, but she did her duty with her first. People of our status can’t afford to wed for love. A good marriage is an alliance. Our feelings about the other person matter little.”

His husband gave him the side-eye. “Indeed.”

Petrocus either didn’t notice or ignored the sarcasm. “Princess Regula may have lower standards for her daughter, but I would think the queen will ensure her son aligns with someone of good breeding—”

“Speaking of marriage.” His husband glared at him before turning back to us. “Are you two planning a wedding? I hear you had quite a whirlwind romance. Is it true her father disapproved, so you snuck away in the dead of night? It sounds terribly romantic…”

He trailed off wistfully, and Petrocus’s entire body froze as he realized he’d chosen a poor audience for his words.

I wanted to give him an icy glare and stony silence, but my party persona didn’t intimidate people like that.

“We’re not rushing our courtship,” I said.

Emmeline smiled with fake sweetness. “And my father did disapprove, but I thought love was more important.”

Petrocus’s mouth spasmed as he tried to smile back.

Thankfully, the conversation didn’t last much longer. The couple moved on, and Emmeline shot me a look.

Can you believe that asshole? I could practically hear her saying.

I lifted my shoulders in the barest of shrugs. If only he were the worst one here .

She slipped her arm around mine, and we moved on to the next conversation.