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“No.” He averted his gaze again.
“But she told you something?”
“Yes.”
“And what was that?”
“Not to trust you. That you’d lie.”
I laughed and scooped up the fine, heavy jacket, embroidered in purple silk, clearly made for a prince. Strange, how they’d had the clothes tailored and waiting for me. They couldn’t have known I’d be coming, yet they seemed well-prepared for my arrival. “She’s right. I’m untrustworthy, and I have been known to lie on occasion.” I could have a lot of fun with this one.
I finished dressing as the aide looked on while tryingnotto look and returned to the mirror. Zayan.PrinceZayan. Danyal thought the name gave me power, but I wasn’t so convinced. A name did not make a prince.
“Lying’s not always so bad,” I said.
“Yes, it is.”
He was adorable. “What’s your name?”
“Theo.”
“All right, Theo. What if I told you your eyes are too close together, your hair is an uninteresting ruffled mess, and we’d better hope there’s a growth spurt still to come as you don’t have much else going for you.” He gaped, and heat flushed his face. “Or—” I turned to face him and propped my ass against the dresser. “—your eyes are enchanting, your hair is quite the statement and I daresay your best feature, and if you don’t dance with that body like yours, it’s quite the crime.”
Now he glowered and folded his arms, halfway between furious and intrigued. “I don’t understand. Which is it?”
“Both.”
“It cannot be both. One is true.”
“One man’s lie is another’s truth.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe not here, within these walls, but outside of them, you’d see.” This one would be a joy to teach the worldly ways of courts outside of his own, where truth didn’t always have to ruin magic, and lies could be spun for good. “My point is, there are other ways besides those of Justice. Keep an open mind, and you’ll see them, Theo.”
I left him staring after me and knocked on the connecting door to Danyal’s room. “Oh, and if you like, I can teach you to dance. That part was true.”
The door opened and Danyal’s imposter stood before me. Almost like Danyal, but buttoned up in a slick red and black suit. His hair had been smoothed back, making his grey eyes startlingly penetrating. “By Dallin.” I laughed, and his grizzled face scrunched into a frown. “Forgive me, it’s a surprised laugh, not a mocking one.”
“Last time I wore anything like this I worked in the court. I hope you appreciate how uncomfortable I am,” he grumbled.
“Appreciate it? Frankly, it was worth it just to see you dressed like a lord.” I offered him the crook of my arm. “Dinner awaits.”
* * *
Dinnerin the Court of Justice was not like the sparkling, fancy affair of those in Love’s court, nor the raucous chaos of War. Pain didn’t host banquets, reserving gatherings for public punishment. Justice’s dinner had us all seated around a circular table. The only status symbol was a throne encrusted with sapphires, not much larger than the other chairs around the table. Queen Soleil’s, no doubt.
I settled in my assigned place with Danyal beside me, and as our wine glasses were filled by silent aides, we awaited the arrival of the remaining guests. All of them were strangers, and all were dressed in blue. Likely Justice’s equivalent of lords and ladies from nearby fiefdoms.
Justice Sonya took her seat and sent her fake smile sailing my way. I was beginning to think she didn’t like me. In fact, most everyone here avoided meeting my gaze, having heard of my reputation. Would they gossip later? Perhaps Theo could be persuaded to tell me what rumors swirled regarding my brother and me.
The door swept open as it had a dozen times, but this time I knew the man who strode in. Black pants, red sash, hair bundled back but with a few deliberate plaits swinging free.
Our gazes met. Draven’s stride faltered. His kohl-lined eyes blew wide, his mouth opened, but then one of the most beautiful women I’d ever laid eyes on swept through the door behind him, demanding every gaze in the room. Everyone stood, including me. She wore a gown of pale blue, with a sheer veil ghosting her face and a sweeping cloak of water-like silk edges in white, as though shrouded in frost. Justice’s sparkling crown gleamed and sparkled atop her head of golden hair, right there in plain sight, for all to see.
Queen Soleil’s beauty was well-known outside her court, but I hadn’t expected the tales to fall short. Her arrival tripped my already spiraling thoughts, leaving me scrambling to catch up, by which time Draven had taken a seat far across the round table and was making a concerted effort to ignore my efforts to catch his eye.
If he was here, where was Arin?
