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18
Lily
“But I don’t want to get dressed up and parade all around the Palace showing myself off to people!” I protested, when Krynn returned with several long, elaborate gowns draped over his arm.
“You must, my Lady,” he told me. “You’ll need the support of the Court behind you in order to ascend to the Silver Throne.”
“Mordren must not be able to persuade them you aren’t the true Princess,” Seldarin added. “The more they see you—see your Royal Purple eyes and the Mark of Lolth on your forehead—the more they’ll believe you’re truly the Lost Princess returned to us.”
“I’m not sure I believe it myself!” I protested. “What if I’m a regular human and the food and that nectar stuff you gave me just made me look like this?”
“Large amounts of Fae fare like you consumed last night would kill a regular human,” Krynn said quietly. “In fact, it killed the human part of you already—do you not remember the distress you were in?”
“I remember feeling sick and having bad dreams. And then I woke up naked between the two of you.” I glared at them. “What was that all about, by the way? What exactly did the two of you do to me?”
“Nothing but warm you up when you would have frozen to death from the effects of the Nectar of Lolth,” Seldarin growled.
“If you were trying to warm me up then why was I naked?” I demanded.
“Because prior to freezing, you were burning up,” Krynn told me. “I swear to you, my Lady that Sel and I didn’t take advantage of you in any way.”
“We’re not rapists,” Seldarin added, frowning. “Besides which, it would be fucking disrespectful and wrong to take advantage while you were so helpless. We have more honor than that!”
Their promise that nothing had happened between the three of us made me feel a little better about waking up naked between them.
“Well…all right,” I said, accepting their explanation. “But I still can’t get over the fact that you two fed me food that you knew could kill me and just kind of hoped for the best.”
“We weren’t fucking hoping for the best—we knew you were the Princess,” Seldarin growled. “You bear the Mark of Lolth on your forehead.” He pointed to my birthmark, which I now realized was warm and tingly again. Why was that?
“But—” I began.
“No more ‘buts,’ my Lady,” Krynn said firmly. “You must get dressed and go out to meet the Court. You must be seen around the Palace—it is your birthright, after all. You must claim ownership of it.”
“Claim ownership? Of this whole huge Fae Palace?” I demanded, my eyes getting wide. “Are you serious?”
“Of course he’s serious. The Palace and all its wealth belong to the ruler of the Dark Fae,” Seldarin said, frowning.
I shook my head, having a hard time taking this in.
“What, my Lady?” Krynn asked gently. “Are you really that surprised?”
“It’s just…” I cleared my throat. “I’ve been homeless for weeks—living in my minivan in abject poverty. I mean, I couldn’t even afford a jar of peanut butter yesterday! And now you two are telling me I’m actually the heir to a massive palace and the wealth and status that comes with it? That’s a lot to wrap my head around.”
“Get used to it,” Seldarin advised. “And start acting like you own it. The Dark Fae need a firm hand to rule them.”
“Sel is right—you need a more authoritative attitude—and you need to be sure to claim your birthright,” Krynn told me. “The people must feel your certainty of who you are and what is owed to you.”
“I don’t know about that,” I began. “I—” Then I hissed again because I’d forgotten why I was holding my nightgown out in front of me and had let go of it to gesture with my hand. But the minute the soft, champagne colored silk brushed my nipples, twin bolts of pain went through me.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Seldarin demanded at once.
“She’s in pain because of the quickening of her power,” Krynn answered, before I could say anything myself. “It’s possible her Thirst is coming on faster than we anticipated it would. We need to ease her pain.”
“Ease my pain? How?” I asked, bewildered.
“Like this, Princess.” And before I could stop him, Seldarin was drawing the long silk nightgown over my head and baring my body for the two of them.
19
