Chapter Thirteen
WhenFlorianfinallycaughtuptotheminthegardens,JerahexclaimedthatFlorian’soutfithadreturnedfromthetailorandhewantedtoseehimtryitonbeforethefeastlaterthatnight.FlorianandKadesharedalong,lingeringlook,untilKadegesturedforhimtogowithawrygrinpressedtohislips.Nothavingagoodexcuseotherwise,Florianagreedtohisfather’srequestandfollowedhimbackintothecastletotryonthesilkshirtandpants.Theoutfitlaidoutforhimwasmuchfinerthananythingelseheowned,andwhenhetriedthemon,theyfitbetterthanhecouldrecallanythingeverfittinghimbeforeinhislife.
The clothes were nice, but decidedly not worth missing out on having sex with Kade, as far as Florian was concerned.
“The colors will match mine,” Jerah was saying as Florian modeled the new clothes and did his best to mask the irritation that he was feeling. “The blue is just a tiny bit iridescent, too—see that in the light?”
“I see it,” Florian said with a nod, glancing at the shirt in the mirror.
“The pants are a little long, but I can have them taken in really quickly—”
“No need,” Florian said, and with a brief moment of concentration he was tall enough to fill out the length of the trousers without any issues. Jerah laughed in delight.
“I forgot about that, to be honest,” he chuckled, clapping his hands together. "”Well, excellent. I'm glad you like the clothes. And... I had this brought out for you, too.” He reached for a wooden box on a dresser a few steps away from them, and pulled out a crown: plain in shape without any sort of ostentatious decoration; but finely made, even at a cursory glance, in a burnished golden color that somehow paired perfectly with the dark blue of their clothes. Carefully, Jerah lifted it over Florian's head and set it, adjusting his curls so everything sat just so.
“Look at you,” Jerah murmured next to him, as they both looked into the mirror. “A veritable prince.”
He did look princely. It was strange how natural it felt.
“Thank you,” he said softly, still looking at his own reflection. He could see Jerah grinning with pride next to him in the mirror.
“You have nothing to thank me for. It's your birthright,” his father answered, and he carefully removed the crown and set it back in the wooden box. “Leave that for last when you're getting dressed, and call one of the servants if you need help—a fae, not one of the spectral servants. And don't wait too long to start getting ready.”
“I won't,” Florian said, but he was already striding out of the small dressing room, adjacent to Jerah's own quarters.
“Take those with you back to your room if you don't want to come back here to change, but be careful, alright? I'll meet you in the foyer before we make our entrance,” Jerah called over his shoulder, without waiting for a response. Florian watched him go, then looked back at his reflection with a sigh. The dark, almost-black navy of the silky shirt with its iridescent hue was definitely nice, and matched many of the other colors that he'd seen the Winter Court decorated with—the blue and gold theme had not been lost on him.
He wondered where Kade was. After he'd gotten back into his regular clothes and carefully laid out the outfit for the feast in his wardrobe—the box with the crown set gently on his writing desk—he padded back out into the hallway and around the corner to Kade's room.
He knocked softly on the door, but no answer came.
“Kade?” he murmured, close enough to the door that if Kade were in his room he definitely would have heard. But still there was no response, so with a sigh, he went back to his own room to wait out the rest of the day, until the feast began.
He didn't see Kade again until the feast had already started. Florian sat at the head table: Jerah had the place of prominence, and he sat to his father’s right followed by Tatiana. Suddenly, without having seen him approach, Kade pulled out the chair on the opposite side of the table and sat on Jerah’s left. He was dressed in a solid black tunic with some silvery accents: it was plain but well-made, and the dark and almost mysterious air it conveyed suited him. Kade met his eyes briefly, when Florian glanced over at him with a nervous smile, but only gave him a slight nod before looking away.
The whole thing had been awkward so far, so he couldn't tell if the discomfort he felt at Kade's underwhelming reaction was due to his own nerves, or if something was actually off about him. So instead of thinking too hard about it, he looked back down to his plate of food.
It hadn't been all bad: the food was great; the music was nice; Tatiana had been chatting with him more than she ever had before, which kept him occupied. But it was still early, and Jerah hadn't spoken to the crowd of fae that had gathered. From the many tables arranged in the garden, all of them facing theirs, Florian could feel their eyes linger on him with curiosity—some seeing him for the first time, and surely all of them wondering who he was that he would be seated at the king’s table in the place of honor. Some of them probably assumed he was related to Kade somehow, and others may not have had any guess at all. He wasn't sure if the looks were worse than whatever Jerah was going to say in his announcement.
Florian had started on his second plate—his nerves had put a damper on his appetite at first, but the food smelled good enough to coax him into eating—when finally Jerah stood, clearing his throat. The movement was enough for the whole crowd to quiet down, all waiting for him to speak.
“Thank you so much to everyone for coming,” Jerah started, gesturing out at the crowd with a wide smile. “It is my joy and my honor to spend this time with you, all of you. And, of course, a particular thank-you to the lovely Shanna and her team in the kitchen for making all this wonderful food.”
He pointed toward a woman sitting at the closest table. She waved her hand dismissively, but the smile spreading across her tired face betrayed her appreciation; and he answered the smile warmly.
“And to everyone who helped set up everything for today, we wouldn't be here without you,” Jerah continued, spreading his arms to gesture toward the crowd. “A thousand times, thank you.”
A few smatterings of applause broke out in the crowd, and Florian clapped along politely, though his focus was almost exclusively on Jerah. His heart had started to pound, and whatever appetite he had gained was completely gone now. If anything, he felt like he might be sick.
“While I think most of us don't need much of an excuse to have a party, I'm sure some of you are wondering why all this happened at such short notice,” Jerah continued, as the noise died down once more. “The reason is twofold. The first is that I'm about to set out on a journey—a dangerous one—though of course with help. I thought it might be nice to see you all off this way, until I return to you again, so thank you for joining my farewell party.” He paused, taking in a deep breath, as a soft murmur spread through the crowd. From what he had told Florian, it seemed he often was out and about on business, but he wondered just how much the citizens of the Winter Court knew about where he went, or what he was doing all this time.
“And, secondly,” Jerah started, hesitating for a moment, as he glanced over at Florian before looking out at the gathered fae once more. “As many of you know, my wife Inessa and I had a child. For many years our child was lost from the Veil, but now he has returned.”
He gestured toward Florian. A surprised, unsettling silence had taken hold—Florian wanted to look out toward the crowd, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from Jerah, who was meeting his gaze with an unwavering smile.
“My beloved son has come home, the foretold Changeling Prince, who will help free our world from the Nova Blight. Please, welcome and celebrate the return of my son with me, Prince Florian of the Winter Court.”
For a moment all Florian could hear was his heart pounding in his ears—the crowd still silent, though whether it was out of shock, or disgust, or something else he couldn't tell—then next to him, Tatiana stood to her feet and began to clap. She beamed down at him with such unhindered pride that he couldn't help but smile back up at her, wobbly as it was. Next to Jerah, Kade also stood, clapping along with Tatiana. His expression was less clear, but the way his eyes were crinkled—the beginnings of a smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth—made Florian think he was proud of him, too, and his own smile strengthened.
