Page 13 of Veil of Shadows (Fae of Woodlands & Wild #2)

CHAPTER 13

“That seemed to go well.” Alec sauntered along the paved walkway outside of the palace. Bright sunlight shone down on us as we crossed the lawn, and a few pastel clouds had formed in the sky, but it was still mostly clear. “Even I believed you two have spent time between the sheets. If I didn’t know better, I dare say I would be jealous.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, and I had the strongest urge to roll my eyes at him.

“Alec, calm yourself,” the prince said tightly even though Phillen snorted, Trivan snickered, and even Lars muffled a laugh. “You are not to flirt with Elowen anymore. It would blow our cover.”

“Of course, my prince.” Alec fell into a deep, mocking bow. “I agree. We must take our roles very seriously.” The Graniteer House noble winked subtly at me, and I really wanted to roll my eyes at that gesture but managed to refrain myself.

The prince glanced my way, but the earlier irritation he’d worn around his friend had faded.

“And, Elowen,” Alec continued. “Why the scent of your lust was enough to fill the room back there. I daresay you had the king completely fooled. You almost had me fooled.” He released a low whistle. “I must say, you’re quite good at acting. Because it was an act, correct?”

A blazing blush bloomed in my cheeks just as the prince growled at his friend.

“Yes, of course it was,” I replied a tad defensively. “I mean, I’ve always taken my roles quite seriously too.”

Trivan barked out a laugh, and their teasing was growing so insufferable that I tried to put some distance between Jax and me, just to fend off my embarrassment, but his arm tightened, refusing to let me do so.

“Enough,” Jax said to his friends. “Elowen and I need to stay in our roles the entire time we’re here. She doesn’t need to be constantly teased about it.”

My eyebrows shot up. “The entire time?”

Jax’s lips curved in a satisfied smile. “The first lesson you have to learn if you’re to be working with the Dark Raider is that we never break our roles. We stay in them until we return to Stonewild. Always.”

“But you’re not the Dark Raider here,” I said beneath my breath. “You’re the prince.”

He shrugged. “It’s only a technicality on this visit. What I’m doing here has nothing to do with princely duties. We’re to stay in our roles.”

“You actually mean the entire time?” I licked my lips. “Even at night?”

“Yes.” Fractured sunlight twinkled in his eyes when he cast me an assessing look, as though gauging my reaction.

“But...” I sputtered. “It could take days or even weeks to find Bastian.”

“True. Will that be a problem for you?”

I tried to picture what being Jax’s supposed lover for an extended length of time could mean. Constant touches. Frequent, heated glances. Occasional kisses and caresses. And, Goddess, possibly even a shared chamber at night.

It was essentially foreplay for, well, possibly days on end.

Kill me now.

“Um, no, that will be fine, my prince.” Somehow, I managed not to groan. If I was as aroused as I was now, after only an hour of play acting, I couldn’t even imagine what I would be like by the time we left.

“Elowen?” He leaned closer again, and his nose brushed along my ear as his scent billowed around me. “Are you sure?”

I snapped my spine upright. I hadn’t realized what I signed up for when I agreed to this, but I managed to get out, “Yes, my prince. It’ll be okay.”

“You two reek of lust, you know that, right?” Trivan called from behind us.

Jax cast him an irritated look.

Trivan held up his hands in surrender, yet a cheeky grin emerged on his face. “I was simply pointing it out as a way to tell you that you’re doing a fantastic job in your roles.”

Alec sighed again. “And here I thought I stood a chance at becoming Elowen’s lover after our time together in the palace and ship.”

Jax cut him a look so hard, it could have punched through Alec’s jaw. “Alec. Enough.”

Alec bowed again but even more dramatically.

The charged atmosphere around us grew so energized, that by the time we reached the outward part of the Matches, more than a few siltenites were openly staring at us. I told myself it was because I was plastered to the side of a foreign crown prince, and it wasn’t actually me they were looking at. But when several nostrils flared as we sauntered past, I couldn’t help but wonder just how potent my arousal truly was.

“Someone please kill me by week’s end,” I mumbled under my breath.

Jax’s fingers tightened at my waist. “It would be a pity to partake in such a violent act with a female as lovely as you,” he whispered. “I fear I would never get over it.”

His comment sounded teasing but the slight heaviness in it gave me pause.

I shook my head. Surely, I was being delusional. Jax would whole heartedly get over my passing if such a tragedy did ensue, even if he did want me as his mistress. Obviously, the roles we decided to play were impairing my judgment. It was best I remembered why we were actually here and not get lost to the sensations the crown prince was provoking in me.

My thoughts returned to Ladies Aerobelle, Penepee, and Lucille on the ship. In only a full season’s time, one of them could be his wife. Unlike everything Jax and I were doing, which was temporary.

We kept walking toward the Matches, and the sights grew closer.

“There’s a new barn just over there,” I whispered and pointed subtly to the structure I’d spotted atop the enchanted carpet.

Jax angled us that way, but everyone still kept their attention on the events, our destination not entirely obvious.

Corralled domals whinnied in the distance, and another roar cut through the sky when the larpanoon let loose another bellow. Most of the fae wandering around the enclosures were in pairs or small groups, and thankfully, the fearsome beast garnered most of their attention. But whenever someone did happen to glance our way, a flurry of whispered comments followed.

“Isn’t that the crown prince of Stonewild?” someone muttered under their breath.

“It is. I heard he might be here to watch the Finals.”

“But who’s with him?” another hissed.

“Probably his current lover. Look how close they’re walking.”

“I heard he’s to marry soon,” another whispered. “That poor female. She’ll be thrown out like yesterday’s trash in no time.”

I stiffened when that comment swirled toward me on the breeze as we grew closer to the barn.

“Does this look familiar to what the semelees showed you?” Jax asked me quietly.

I studied the dark-wood siding and peaked roofline. “Not the exterior, no. They never showed me that.”

“Let’s go inside.” Jax angled us toward the main door.

Two wildlings stood near it with large forks. They were spearing hay and tossing it onto a small wagon.

When we passed, they stopped and bowed at Jax. Others did the same when we drifted by them. The entire time, Jax either ignored them or dipped his head, and it struck me that this was who Jax truly was. He might be the Dark Raider at night or during clandestine endeavors, but in reality, he was the heir to Stonewild’s throne.

The truth of that struck me so completely that I nearly stumbled.

“Are you all right?” Jax pressed a kiss to my temple, and a tizzy of whispers erupted following that gesture.

I shivered and forced a nod.

We wandered into the barn, the rest of our group following, and Jax’s touches continued as we all pretended to look around and admire the domals. They were some of the largest I’d ever seen, and I wondered what events they would be used for at the Matches.

The aura around Jax swelled as we ventured down the aisles. So far, only stalls had greeted us, and certainly not anyone who looked like his brother.

I leaned up and pressed a kiss to Jax’s neck. His step faltered, but he quickly corrected himself when I whispered, “Sorry, I was just trying to get closer to your ear so I could tell you that this is likely the wrong barn.”

He squeezed my hip. “All right. Let’s walk the length of it and search for more.”

His pulse throbbed in his neck, and even though he was masking his worry in his expression, I could feel it since I stood so close to him. The end of the barn neared, and crashing disappointment rose from him in swells.

We ventured outside again and went to a barn farther west, but after searching that one too, we once again came up empty handed.

“There’s another one over there.” Lars pointed subtly toward it.

We strode through the crowds, admiring everything we passed, but when we reached the third barn, nothing about it showed any hint of Bastian being there either. So far, each barn had simply held stalls with animals, and that was it.

Worry grew in Jax’s aura, and I knew that he was thinking of the time that’d passed since his calling. Bastian could literally be anywhere now.

“The damn Lochen,” he whispered under his breath. “If they hadn’t...” But he cut himself off, as though realizing complaining about things he had no control over was pointless.

We were about to leave the fourth barn we’d checked, dismay evident in the prince’s energy, when I spotted a door with a large room closed off in the barn’s corner. I stopped, effectively halting the prince with me.

“What do you suppose that is?” I angled my head toward it.

Jax’s eyes narrowed, and his pace increased. He seemed to realize his eagerness two steps into it, though, because he slowed.

Only a handful of other siltenites were in the barn, and none of them were paying us any attention, yet Jax still kept his pace controlled.

The door neared, and the more I studied the enclosure, the more I realized that a sizeable room lay behind it.

When we reached it, I subtly brushed my fingers over the handle. “It’s locked.” Before anyone could reply, I whispered one of the many unlocking spells I’d mastered. The words flowed effortlessly out of me, not even a hint of rattling coming from my collar in its new relaxed state.

The door clicked the second the final word left my lips.

Alec snorted quietly. “You fit right in, Elowen.”

I gave him a side-eye but couldn’t stop my smile.

Jax turned the handle, and we all sauntered into the room casually as though it was part of our self-guided tour.

Inside, my eyes widened at what it held.

A dozen beds, bolted to the walls and stacked three on top of each other—all the way to the ceiling—waited before us. On the far wall, domal equipment and saddles waited, but it was obvious a group of employees likely slept here. A few of the beds even had rumpled sheets.

Energy spiraled out of the crown prince, and before I could say anything, Jax had the door closed and locked behind us.

Everyone kicked into action. All of the males went to each bed. Jax even bounded up several of the bunks to reach the top ones. He brought the sheets to his nose, then the pillows, going from one bed to the next.

My jaw dropped. It hit me that he was scenting for his brother.

All of the other males were doing the same, going to each bed and sniffing, their stag senses kicking in.

“Here!” Jax hissed. He’d stopped at the middle set of beds, his face going white when he lifted the pillow from the mattress. “This smells like Bastian. Elowen was right. He’s been here, and recently too.”

A moment of relief hit me that we found a clue as to where his brother had been, and that he was still here , but just as quickly, I wondered why that was and what had happened to Bastian to make him run from his only brother in the first place.