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She smiled at me. “I’ll take care of it, Master Lennox. Don’t worry.”
I nodded and retreated to change. Father would have derisive things to say no matter what, but if I showed up in a wrinkled outfit, it would make it worse. Once I’d dressed, I made sure my glamour was well in place and weaved my way through the palace. I managed to nearly reach the throne room before a man with a thick mustache strode down the hall and bowed. “Prince Lennox.”
“Sir Tucker. I hope you’re well?”
He gave a sharp nod. “Anxious over this recent aggression from the Unseelie.”
I nodded and clenched my teeth to hide my reaction to that word. It was a hateful term that Father had popularized with his campaign against the Prasanna in recent years. “I wouldn’t worry too much at present.”
“Is that so, Your Highness?”
I offered a bright smile. “Prince Sai fell right into our trap.”
“Trap?”
“The Memoria Globe was a setup. Prince Sai showed us our weaknesses in defense around the palace and revealed much of his magic. As the King and I suspected, luring the Prince here with a useless bauble has strengthened us.” A lie, if a pretty one. However, Tucker’s eyes had grown far off with thought. He was a known gossip, and this was the story we needed to spread, one that left us looking strong and intentional, one that prevented our people from panicking.
Tucker ran his fingers over his jaw. “That makes sense.”
“A pleasure to see you.” I bowed. “Forgive me, I have an appointment with my father.”
“Of course. Thank you, Your Highness.”
I kept the serene expression in place as I stepped into the throne room then tucked my hands behind my back as I waited for Father to address me.
Lira’s mother, Palaria, sat next to another siren in chairs in the corner, both sipping from chalices. I didn’t know why Father allowed them to be privy to his private consultations here. I didn’t understand why they were here at all, in fact. Father had always kept the fae he allowed to roam the human world at an arm’s length. Perhaps the time for discretion fell aside. He planned to move soon which was why I needed to convince him to let me take the magic of our people before he destroyed us.
A handful of military leaders stood at attention before Father, their emerald uniforms so sharply pressed the creases popped. Thank God I’d taken the time to clean up. The only thing that would make me look more despicable in front of Father would be showing up rumpled next to his military men. Father held a metal pipe in his hand and hefted it as if testing the weight. “What’s the range on one of these?”
Sir Eldrick stepped forward, and the gray streaks in his hair shimmered silver in the light from the window. “If you’ll allow me, Your Highness.”
Father handed the pipe over, and Sir Eldrick placed a dart inside, turned towards the end of the long hall where a target board stood, and blew into the pipe. The dart soared down the length of the room and smacked—dead center—into the board.
Palaria squeaked and color rose to her cheeks. Father grinned at the precision of the shot. That was a skill I’d never had nor possessed the desire to learn. If I’d been a better shot, a better match for the world Father respected, he’d have long since handed his magic over to me. He patted Eldrick’s shoulder. “Very good.” Father’s pale blue eyes darted to me, and lines of tension pressed onto his face. He addressed the leaders and the sirens in the room. “Leave us.”
The crowd retreated, Eldrick taking the target board with him. Palaria and the other siren sauntered out of the space, their colorful gowns sweeping the floor, and it made me want to scream. Her daughter was missing, but she sat here watching weapon demonstrations. Maybe that made me a hypocrite. I had done nothing to help Lira either. Like all aspects of my life, I’d failed in that as well.
Finally, Father and I stood alone in the massive room as sunlight poured in through windows and spilled over the stone floors, adding a gleam to the tops of my boots. He walked over to an open door and pulled it shut.
So, he was about to rip into me and didn’t want an audience.
I tried to steel myself for it, to slow my breathing and prepare for his words to wash over me. Somehow it didn’t work. Maybe it was because of my missing zevar or perhaps the decades of never meeting his expectations, but I blinked hard and curled my fingernails into my palm. “You called for me, Father?”
He tucked his hands behind his back in the same manner I had. I clenched my teeth. I was so much like him at times that it made me miserable. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re truly mine, Lennox.”
My mouth gaped, and I forced myself to snap it shut. After Aila had reopened memories of the goodness of my mother, he would question her integrity.
“Do you wish to explain how Prince Sai’s intrusion at the gala happened?”
“Explain?” I asked.
He finally raised his cold, blue eyes to meet mine. I hated that I’d inherited the same ones. They were an ugly color—sharp and mean. They lacked the warmth Mother’s gold-laced emerald irises had possessed. “Your only useful skill is maneuvering through political situations and conversation.” My fingers tightened against my palms. That wasn’t true. It would do me no good to argue. Beyond that, it was a useful skill, even if he refused to see that. I’d just spun this situation to our benefit, but he would scoff at my approach. “Yet, you let Sai get the best of you.”
So, this had nothing to do with the gala at all. It had to do with his hurt pride. “You saw the level of magic he possesses.”
“You once held the promise of great magic but look at you.” He thrust a hand dismissively in my direction. “If the ability to make oneself look pretty was a valuable attribute, I’d have something to be thankful for. Unfortunately, it’s not.”
The magic that whirled through me like stars streaking a sky flared, heat crawling down my neck like flames burned me. I took a deep breath to keep it tamped down. I could show him fucking great magic. Nothing good would come of it, though. “You despise magic.”
