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He shook her slightly before releasing her arm. Then straightening to his full height, he tugged his gold-embroidered coat into place. “Now, the king would like to see both of you now.” He turned and placed his palms on either side of the seam in the double doors, as though preparing to open them with great flare.

“What about me?” the peryton demanded in a bleating tone. “I had an audience scheduled for a half an hour ago.”

The servant sighed heavily. “Come with them if you wish, Fruzz.”

“Hey! You are out of line using my name—Gnatin. See how you like it.” The peryton huffed and flung his head up, knocking his antlers against the wall next to him and startling himself into a panicked scramble of hooves on carpet and wood before he settled again, huffing like he had run a race. Strangely, Fruzz didn’t use his wings in his scramble to regain his balance.

Gnatin snorted in derision before thrusting the doors open with a great flare and striding through. “Your great Majesty, I have brought the maidens you summoned.”

The blonde fae and I followed Gnatin a few paces behind him as he continued striding deeper into the lavish room beyond the doors. Draped velvet and gold-shot silks lined the walls. Pillows, overstuffed chairs, and a host of footstools filled the room, and a miniature tree in a massive pot dominated one corner. The tree’s branches and leaves were festooned with a glittering array of silver and gold ornaments and chains. I could almost hear the plant’s distress as it bent beneath its load.

Fruzz entered behind us with a flurry of tapping hooves until the edge of a lush rug quieted the racket.

“And Fruzz,” Gnatin added in an undertone laced with spite and annoyance.

“At last!” a loud voice boomed from a room beyond yet another set of doors. These stood open. “I will be out presently, ladies. Gnatin! Get in here!”

Gnatin disappeared through the open doorway, and Fruzz crossed to the gilt-adorned fireplace and posed with a careful arch to his neck that showed off his body’s lines to their best advantage.

The blonde fae narrowed her eyes at him, eyeing the ground at his feet with curiosity. I followed her gaze to see the shadow of a human, not a deer.

“At least he hasn’t killed a human yet, so there is that in his favor,” the blonde informed me as she rubbed the spot where Gnatin had been gripping her. Her hushed tone dripped with disdain. “I wonder what he is doing here. His kind are scavengers.”

Fruzz’s head snapped around. “I work for my keep!” He thrust his nose forward and bared his blunted deer teeth. “I am the king’s personal accountant, so there.”

The blonde rolled her eyes and then turned to face me, putting her back to Fruzz. “They call me Sicilia.” She offered her hand to me with a beguiling smile. “What do you wish to be called?”

“Rue.” I clasped the offered fingers and bowed slightly. “Did Gnatin mention why we have been summoned?”

She laughed. “No. I stomped my foot, threatened to scream, and everything, and he wouldn’t say.” She sniffed. “It probably has something to do with my sweet Nerio. He is one of the candidates for the throne, you know.”

I shook my head. “I wasn’t aware Nerio had a sweetheart.”

She laughed, a bright, tinkling sound. “He didn’t know either until recently. I, on the other hand, have known that we were meant to be together from the first moment we met.” She smiled benevolently. “Do you have a sweetheart?”

Before I was required to respond to her, the opening across the room filled with a tall male high fae. Gnatin cleared his throat from behind the new arrival.

“His Royal Majesty, King of the Unseelie Fae, Master of the Wild Wood, and leader of the Wild Hunt…” Gnatin continued listing lesser titles and honors, but the king didn’t wait for him to finish before striding across the room with a flourish of purple and ermine robes and a dazzling smile that he bestowed on Sicilia.

“Who is this enchanting creature?” he asked, cutting off Gnatin, who promptly ceased his list mid-word.

Sicilia giggled and blushed, simpering as she offered her hand. “Your servant, Sicilia of the Lolarian Dorims at your service, sire.” Prettily curtseying, she fluttered her eyelashes up at the king as he bent over her hand. A spell slid across the contact point and beneath her sleeve. He smiled and glowed with satisfaction as he released her fingers.

Then he abruptly turned to me. “And you?” His hard gaze scanned my features as his magic scraped across my senses, sharp and harsh in its assessment as it tested my defenses.

“Rue, Your Majesty.” I bowed my head as I curtseyed, did not offer my hand—as befitting an inferior meeting a superior. It took all of my self-control not to flinch as his magical strength narrowed and intensified on me. My magic thrashed as every instinct in me screamed that I stood before a predator intent on domination at all costs.

“Only Rue?” he asked as he again offered his hand.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I bowed my head and pretended not to see his gesture. I didn’t want whatever spell he used on Sicilia applied to me. Also, the less he knew of me the better. Thankfully, he had dropped his hand by the time I straightened again, but the intent buffeting my senses had grown sharper.

“Which of you is Kent’s impressive mate?” the king demanded with a heavy tone of compulsive magic. I flinched at the intensity as it drove through me like a punch to the gut. Instead of giving in, I breathed through the hard-fisted attempt at intimidation. This fae was a bully.

“Kent who?” Sicilia frowned at me. Her deception glowed between the king and her. But did she lie about knowing who Kent was or because she already knew who I was? It didn’t really matter in the end, though. I had given her nothing she could use against Kent or me.

“By process of elimination, my dear, I can only conclude you are her.” The cruel light in the king’s eyes brightened.

Pressing my mouth tightly closed, I blinked blankly back at him, attempting to look as passive as a tree.