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“What would be in the alliance for me?”
“Land.”
Though I tried to keep a straight face, I was certain my bewilderment showed.
Lord Winster plucked a white grape. “As of now, your reach doesn’t extend past the Queen’s Palace. Even your alliance with the Delvers can’t give you more than that. But I can. I own almost as many of these islands as one of the fae kings, and I would give some to you.”
I studied my apple, hiding my confusion while pretending to consider the offer.
“The more land you own, the more respect you are given,” the woman at his side said. “Land is a good thing.”
After she spoke, Lord Winter stepped back to present her. “Queen Althea, this is lady Calliandra, my beautiful wife. And she makes a good point.”
They watched me as if expecting an answer now. I should have made Talen come with me, but he’d said something about me only learning the ways of the realm if I went alone, so here I was.
“You won’t get this offer from someone else,” Lord Winster pressed. “You would have to win your way into land without me.”
I drew in my lips. The only downside to the deal was being connected to a man who made my skin crawl and being reminded of how he’d all but fooled me into such an alliance. Would the fae see me as powerful for gaining land or would they respect me for turning down a deal? It was impossible to guess which way their opinions would sway.
“Your Highness?” A girl’s gentle hand landed on my elbow. “I brought you a goblet of the finest wine you’ve ever tasted.”
I eyed the white liquid. It was clear enough to be water and filled almost to the brim. Small bubbles drifted from the bottom to gather on the surface.
Lord Winster sighed. “Think on it.”
He waved a hand and musical instruments picked themselves off the wall and played for us, a harp plucking its own chords and a flute dancing in the open night’s air. My mouth dropped open as Lord Winster and his lady mingled with the crowd. The girl held the goblet while gazing after the lord of the house.
She looked my age, whatever that meant in fae years, and had a button nose over full lips. While my dress carried ribbons of flowers, hers held ripples of leaves, almost as if we’d coordinated the outfits like friends might, but I had no friends here.
“What happens if I drink the wine?” I asked.
The corner of her brow lifted above her red mask. “I wonder, were you always such a skeptic, or have we done that to you already?” Her voice was as sweet as berries, and her smile just as captivating. “It will bring you no harm. I promise.”
Did the word promise bar someone from deceit? I couldn’t remember. “Is it a trick of some sort?”
She let some of the wine trickle down her own throat. Then she held out the goblet again.
“It’s just the best wine I’ve ever had,” she smiled impishly. “I stole it from Lord Winster’s cellar.”
My reflection stared back at me when I took the cup.
“It isn’t a trap,” she said. She flipped over her wrist. The mark of the House of Delvers was drawn into her skin, a snake coiled in a dead tree. She hid it quickly. “I’m Odette, a friend of Talen’s, and he sent me to accompany you.”
I relaxed. “To spy on me, you mean.”
Odette shrugged as she tossed a lock of her long hair over her shoulder. The gold band coiled around her arm flashed. “He can only do so much damage control. My task is to keep you alive and preferably talk you into an alliance with Lord Winster.”
My stomach twisted in knots. Talen thought me to be far more forgiving than I was.
“There’s something about that man I don’t like,” I said. “I can’t put my finger on it. It could be those narrow eyes or his curly mustache. Maybe it’s how he tried to kill me. Just something inside me wants to say no.”
“I get it. But you’ll need alliances, and you probably should have garnered some last night. You’re our first queen to finish her coronation without one, while others have walked away with as many as seven. You’ll be seen as weak without them, and if you finish your first week with only the House of Delvers, the realm will wonder why no one else will align themselves with you.”
I looked at Lord Winster. He laughed and tossed another grape into his mouth, fully capturing the attention of his wide audience. If I’d just walked into the room, I’d have guessed he owned it within a few minutes from the way he commanded the eyes of those around him and held his chin high.
He reminded me of my father, back when he was a general in the war. Then the war ended, and Mother was gone. This man was more like my father than my father was now.
I had no interest in being aligned with someone like that, either version of him.
