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“It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady, whether or not I agree with your husband’s theories regarding my heritage.” Kent bowed over the offered hand with a practiced grace that clashed with his rough attire.

“Your mother agrees with me,” Greyson stated with a firmness he probably hoped settled the matter.

Having observed Kent handle disagreements with Master Hobb, I doubted a firm tone would settle anything with Kent.

Lyra extracted her elbow from her distracted husband’s grip, ducked under his arm, and slipped over next to me. “And who are you?”

I blinked in surprise. “Merely a friend of Kent’s. Nobody important.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment.” Lady Lyra smiled warmly at me. “If Greyson allowed Kent to bring you and the child with him, then I know you must be of importance.”

“Wife.” Greyson’s warning tone sent shivers of ice along my spine.

Lady Lyra flashed a mischievous smile at her husband before turning to face me once more. “Please call me Lyra. What name should I call you?”

“My name is Rue.” Torn between guardedness born of experience and falling for the genuine warmth that the woman next to me seemed to radiate, I bit my tongue.

“And your relationship with the precocious child that came with you?” She motioned to where Mela was describing something with animated gestures to a matronly female.

Lyra’s guileless blue eyes hid no ulterior motive and the sense of authenticity she projected matched, but I had been fooled before. I fumbled for words. “She is as a younger sister to me.”

“More like a mother-child relationship,” Lord Greyson added.

“But she is not biologically mine.”

“That is evident to anyone,” Lyra agreed. “She is very clearly as human I am.” A soft smile pulled at her mouth as she watched Mela animatedly chattering at a dwarf nearby. “I suspect my daughter will enjoy having a human playmate after so many fae companions.”

“Speaking of which, where are the hoodlums?” Greyson scanned the area as though something was creeping up on him. “I expected to see at least Jas.”

“She is napping.” Lyra smiled at her husband. “I am not about to inflict her nurses with a grumpy child for the rest of the day just because you wanted to see her.”

Greyson sighed. “And where is Heath?”

“Studying his lessons with his tutors.”

Greyson dropped a kiss on his wife’s cheek. “I will leave these three in your capable hands for now. The heir’s mother should arrive with her escort within the hour. I am going to check in on the little ones on my way to my office. You know where to find me.” Then he nodded to a formally dressed fae who had been standing off to the side, and they departed speaking in low tones.

Lyra turned to the uniformed fae lurking behind her. “Which rooms do you recommend for our guests, Bartle?”

“The master already selected chambers near the family in the west wing. Something about not wishing to stretch the security spells too thin.”

“I would guess the three of you wish to remain near each other.” Lyra decided. “The Summer Suite in the family wing will do.”

“Agreed,” Bartle said as he motioned. Two servants approached at his beckoning and a third walked away with purpose. The two that approached offered to collect our outer clothing.

Too exhausted to protest, I handed mine over and numbly followed our hostess and her staff into a dizzying maze of corridors and staircases. I didn’t even try to learn the way through.

Finally, I entered a bedchamber larger than Kent’s whole cottage and received instructions to bathe in a massive beaten metal tub of steaming water. I complied and then a servant bundled me into a soft linen gown and tucked into bed.

Mela, who had made a great fuss about bathing and dressing, refused to sleep in the small bed they had made for her in the same room. She climbed in with me and tossed and turned, making it nearly impossible to sleep.

Kent

I woke to the sound of someone stealthily moving about the room.

Exhaustion pulled at me, beckoning me back toward sleep, but I resisted the urge. Reaching for my magic, I rolled out of bed and to my feet before I even opened my eyes. The sudden rush of power flooding my senses all at once startled me so much, I stumbled as my whole body pulsed with magic. Only then did I fully wake as I stared down at the blue flame burning brightly from the fingertips of my right hand.

“My lord?” A quavering male voice recalled me to my purpose.