He nods, and apart from his sharp teeth, his smile is disarmingly beautiful. “Once. Although, I had the pleasure of seeing it from outside the walls of the prison, unlike my friend.”
“You get around when you’re nearly a thousand years old.” Wilder chuckles, and there’s a strange camaraderie between them for rulers of opposite realms.
“Not a thousand quite yet. Nine hundred twenty-seven,” he corrects Wilder, grinning.
Lochlan doesn’t look more than thirty-five inhuman years. How old is a Fae like Cyan if Lochlan is almost a thousand and barely looks older than Wilder?
“Very old,”Wilder whispers in my mind, and I glance over at him.
When I look back at Lochlan, his smile has fallen, and his eyebrows are pinched. “Interesting.”
“What is?”
He steps back, not answering my question. “I assume you are all tired from a long day of travel.”
“We’re here to see the?—”
“Oh, Cyan, you get more insufferable by the century.” Lochlan grins, cutting him off. “Come in. Enjoy. Rest. There’s always time to brood over war later.”
Lochlan turns, stepping back through the white curtains, and it feels a little like the enemy leading us to our demise, even if he’s on the king’s side.
Callum and Greer stick to either side of me as we all follow Lochlan into the manor. Wilder walks at more of a distance near the back of the group. Flowing white drapes hang from every window, but the breeze doesn’t reach inside as they dance in the wind, making it unbearably hot.
“Your rooms are to the left,” Lochlan says as he continues to walk. “Get changed and then meet me for dinner. We have much to celebrate.”
Lochlan’s eyes drift to the back, where I feel Wilder standing over my shoulder, but he doesn’t say more before leaving us in a grand hallway.
Greer and Callum guide me forward like they’ve been here before and know where we’re going. I suppose when you live for centuries, there aren’t many places you haven’t traveled. It’s easy to forget Callum had an entire lifetime—more than one—before his century on Alyssium.
Greer motions me to a doorway on the right while she continues ahead.
“Lady.” A female with red hair, a pixie nose, and sparkling green eyes looks up at me. “Your room.” She waves her hand.
“I’ll wait for you to head to dinner,” Callum assures me, continuing to his room farther down the hall.
Wilder stops at the room directly across the hall from me, where a stunning female with golden hair and a blindingly bright smile stares at him like he hung the stars. She looks at him like she’s thinking about helping him with more than getting changed, and I hate that it makes my teeth clench. Turning my back on them, I disappear into my room and refuse to think about it.
“Lord Lochlan left this for you.” The red-haired Fae points to a dress hanging from magical threads against the wall.
The white fabric is thin and airy. It ties at the neck and flows to the floor. After spending the day traveling in leathers, I’m looking forward to a dress that lets my skin breathe.
“Is there somewhere I can take a bath?” I ask, glancing around.
“Of course.” She hurries across the room, peeling back a curtain to reveal a large bathing chamber.
The walls are lined in bricks made of compacted sand. Bits sparkle where the sun streams through the open window.
Thankfully, the female leaves after warming the bath and showing me where to find soap and jasmine tonic. She doesn’t linger like Isolde did, and I don’t bother asking her name when she doesn’t ask for mine. The last thing I need is to put more Fae at risk.
By the time I’m bathed and dressed, my hair is nearly dry from the heat. It falls in long waves, so I tie pieces off my face with two braids. The blue is more vibrant than it’s ever been, which only seems to make the shimmer of my freckles stand out more.
A knock comes at my door as I smooth my hands over my dress, and Greer walks in without waiting for me to answer.
“Ready?” She turns the corner into my bathing chamber.
“You’re wearing a dress.” I spin around.
Greer frowns. “It’s not the first dress I’ve worn in my life, Elorie.”
