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Ha ha.
A prince with no kingdom, no kin, no rightful claim to the throne of Dranada. Five hells, he didn’t even possess manners. The only thing he actuallydidhave was the personality of crotch lice.
But all I said was, “What a catch, indeed.”
“He has not found his mate,” Cici continued, “so the pressure for him to take a human wife is growing. As things stand, he’ll need a strong,reliablehuman ally who won’t stab him in the back to win this war.”
Unease welled in my chest at Father’s prospects should Malyr gain such an alliance. “Well, I am no competition.”
“Oh, don’t be so harsh on yourself for your obvious lack of experience in matters of seduction,” she said, which wasn’t what I’d meant at all. Not that her assessment was wrong, either. “Although, perhaps, it is for the best, given the rumors.” She leaned in even closer, letting her voice drop into a whisper barely discernible over the noise. “His sexual urges are… peculiar. Or so some say. I never managed to find myself in his chambers.Yet.”
My mind wandered back to how hard he’d been in his breeches when he’d violated me in my room. How he’d held that knife to my mouth with every intention to see me bleed.
I shook my head, dislodging that memory. “I believe the prince has no interest in taking a human wife.”
Cici scoffed, “As if he would be the first prince forced into marriage.”
“He sounded adamant. Said he would never breed with a human. A strange thing to say, considering that he himself is a half-blood.”
“Half-blood?”
“His mother,” I clarified. “She was human.”
“Galantia, my friend, you ought to seek out the library. Your education is severely lacking.” That pitiful look coming over her regal features did nothing to make me feel any less ignorant. “His mother was a half-blood. For many years, she neither shifted nor did a gift reveal itself, so most written accounts refer to her as human; it’s true—the ones written and rewritten by our scholars, anyway. But she had magic, Galantia. And after what happened with his mother, surely Prince Malyr can see how political marriages make or break houses.”
Now I felt downright stupid. “What do you mean?”
“How beautiful you look, Galantia.” Sebian stumbled up beside our table wearing a white shirt with no adornments, halfheartedly shoved into his brown breeches as if he’d only just fallen out of bed. “In that dress, I nearly didn’t recognize you. Halfway expected to see a long-lost lady from some noble Raven house.”
“Must be the feathers.”
“Indeed! I’m tempted to start a courting dance right here.” Grinning, he wiggled his shoulders and bobbed his head much like doves did when they walked. “How am I doing?”
A smile tugged on the corners of my lips, again, easing away some of my tension. “You look ridiculous.”
“It looks better on my ravens, maybe.” His attention fell to Cici. “What is court’s newest gossip? Your mouth is talented in many things, but none so much as running it.”
“That the Lady Galantia is in dire need of books to pass the time while she hides away in her chamber,” she said. “Truly, Sebian, she’s as innocent and naïve as a cow in the pasture.”
My hackles rose at her remark, but I could hardly blame her. She was right. I knew nothing about anything, feeling like a child who had toddled out of the nursery and accidentally stumbled between the grown-ups, unable to follow their conversations. Why had everyone kept me from all this?
“Well, we all know how humans destroyed most of our accounts after the war broke out and rewrote their own. And ours? Well, they’re buried beneath shadows.” Sebian gave a knock on the table before he turned away. “If the ladies will excuse me.”
I looked after him as he turned and walked toward the high table. He jumped up, only for his ravens to cross the distance with one beat of their wings before Sebian reappeared seated… at the high table. Beside Malyr.
They wereclosefriends.
Disturbing.
“What about this one?” I jutted my chin toward Sebian but kept my voice low. “Can he be trusted?”
“That one charms himself between the legs of the most gods-fearing maidens, leaving them ruined and heartbroken,” she whispered, but Sebian must’ve heard it anyway, since he looked up from where he poured himself a cup of wine, narrowing his eyes at Cici. “Alsothoroughlysatisfied.”
Sebian gave Cici a little gesture of gratitude and hinted a bow. Then he stared at me, mirth sparking light and color into his handsome green eyes before he winked. It sent an unwelcome flutter into my chest until his face disappeared behind the cup. Gods fetch him, he was a terrible scoundrel, wasn’t he?
A flicker of light caught my attention.
On instinct, my gaze shifted to its source, a silver knife that reflected the lick of the flames from a candlestick. A finger ran along it, slowly, pulling dread down my throat and into my burning chest with how I suddenly held my breath.Don’t look up. Don’t look up. Don’t—
