The music continued, but the conversations stopped, and all eyes turned on me. At first, silence reigned, but then one fairy clapped, and then another. Soon, the entire room was applauding, although fear coated many of the nobles’ expressions.
I stood stiffly, searching for a friendly or even familiar face, but my introduction was quick, and everyone soon went back to their previous conversations, although almost everyone side-eyed me at one point or another.
Plastering a smile on my face, I made myself continue onward with Kole right behind me.
“You belong here,” he whispered into my ear. “Don’t forget that.”
His steady composure and firm reminder of my birthright had my shoulders squaring. A tray floated to me, and I nabbed a flute of champagne. I didn’t sip from it, knowing I needed to test it first, but I didn’t want the fact that someone was out to poison me to be entirely obvious, so I just held the glassware.
Walking slowly, I dipped my head at every noble that I passed while looking for my parents. The throne chairs perched on the dais at the far end of the room were empty, so I guessed they either weren’t here yet or were somewhere in the mix.
But instead of finding the king and queen, my gaze alighted on my sisters.
As though sensing that I’d found them, Koraline and Lillith’s attention swung my way. They’d been standing with three young males, and all of them appeared to be under a hundred summers or close to it. Considering one of the males stood closely to Koraline and occasionally ran a finger up her clothed arm, I could only guess that he was her betrothed, Neb Deerwood.
At my back, Kole stayed close, and I didn’t have to look at him to know that he was studying everything around us too, as though waiting for a threat to strike, even here of all places.
“Primelle!” My mother’s joyous call carried over the music, and several nobles parted to allow the queen to hurry to my side. “You’re early. We were hoping to be waiting for you at the doors when you entered, but we got pulled into several conversations. I’m so sorry, my darling, but you handled it so well.” She took both of my hands, then kissed my cheeks. “Oh, look at you. You’re absolutely beautiful!”
“That she is.” My father sauntered up behind her and leaned down to press a kiss to my cheek.
Like me, they were dressed in finery. My mother was bedecked in an opulent crimson gown, while my father wore a regal dark-purple jacket with full lapels. Crowns adorned both of their heads.
It struck me again how bizarre this situation was. My magic recognized them as Aunt Opalin and Uncle Roosep, yet before me stood Queen Oleander and King Russem.
The king gave me a wry smile. “Stunning, my love. You look absolutely stunning, and as your mother said, we’ve alreadyfailed on our first night of official parenting. We should have been at the door to greet you.”
“Nonsense.” I swished a hand. “I’m fully grown. I can certainly enter a ballroom by myself.”
“And what an entrance indeed.” My mother beamed.
I smiled tentatively, and the new reality of my life hit me all over again. The king and queen of Mistvale Kingdom weremy parents, and they were making a show of my arrival and how happy they were to see me, and amazingly, it seemed genuine despite all of the heartache my magic had brought them.
I couldn’t help but wonder what the past thirty summers had been like for them, in which they’d had to pretend that their youngest child was dead while visiting her in secret, cloaked as commoner fae. It must have been very difficult never to proclaim their love for me as my mother and father.
“Have you seen your sisters yet?” my mother asked.
My smile faltered. “I’ve seen them.”
Her eyes dimmed, and I guessed she knew what I meant—seen them, yes, but spoken with them, no.
“No matter.” Her cheerful grin returned, and it struck me who I’d likely inherited my optimism from. “They’re probably busy, but you have other relatives coming tonight that we’ll introduce you to. Your father’s two brothers should be arriving any minute, and my sister is coming as well. All of them had to travel from their home cities and weren’t able to leave until today, but they’ll be here soon enough.”
My heartbeat kicked up. “I have an aunt and two uncles?” Funny how I’d never thought to ask of any extended family. I’d been so consumed with learning the ten House families that I’d forgotten to learn my own.
“Cousins as well,” my mother replied. She and my father shared a guilty look.
“We wondered if you knew,” my father replied.
I twisted my hands together. “I probably heard of your relatives at some point in my life.”
Another huge smile streaked across my mother’s face. “Well, no need to worry about that. Your father and I would have mentioned them sooner, but we thought perhaps it was too much to come to terms with at once. I know the past few days have been quite an adjustment for you.”
“And you,” I offered.
My mother patted my hand. “Don’t worry about us, darling. Tonight is aboutyourarrival home.”
I kept my smile in place, but it was hard. More relatives meant more potential judgment. I could only hope that they didn’t view me as harshly as my sisters did. I glanced over my shoulder at Kole, but he was surveying everyone around us.
