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“Yes, well, I found myself racing after a certain someone today an awful lot.”
His eyes, and my mother’s eyes, floated over toward me. She looked a little amused, Tallin wasn’t impressed, and Tellren had that cheeky sparkle in his eye. “What?” I asked. “Nothing wrong with a bit of exercise.”
“Ahem,” said Lord Cyr.
I turned to look at him. “Right,” I said, and as I looked around, I realized the eyes of all the gathered nobles were on me. “Well, uh,good luck.”
The Fae lordling bowed graciously, as if my slightly dismissive gesture of good luck had been the best thing I could possibly have said to him. After bowing once more for the Queen, he proudly strode away, accompanied by his custodian and the few guards who had been appointed as his escorts.
The rest of the contestants went past without a fuss. Each of them offered little more than a polite nod as they made their way towards the Great Hall, and that suited me just fine, because it meant all I had to do was nod in return.
I breathed a sigh of relief when they were all gone. Tellren took a deep breath, straightened his suit jacket, and opened his mouth to speak—he was clearly about to escort us up the stairs and into the Royal Balcony, but the double doors at the end of the corridor opened once more with a loud clunk, and a single Fae stepped through.
Judging by the suit of grey and black leathers he was wearing, he was a contestant… but unlike the other contestants, I noticed something as he walked toward us.
He had caught myattention.
He was alone, unaccompanied by either guards or his custodian; he seemed to be rushing, too. He had long, gunmetal grey hair, some of which fell about his shoulders, the rest he kept in a top knot. His shoulders were broad, and he was tall, easily six feet—likely taller. Strong jaw, high cheeks, and eyes so blue they looked like gemstones, I couldn’t deny the strange pull I felt toward him.
I had heard his name once, but I had forgotten it because I hadn’t really been paying attention. But now that I had noticed him, it was difficult to keep my eyes off him.
Though he lagged behind the other contestants, he took a moment to approach us. He bowed, his silvery hair falling. “My Queen,” he said, his voice low, and gruff. “Princess.”
“As you were, Valerian,” said my mother.
Valerian.That was his name.
“Right…” I added. “Good luck.” Only this time, when I said it, I felt like I meant it.
Valerian nodded once more, then left us to rejoin the other contestants, leaving me standing there, wonderingwhat the hell just happened?
CHAPTERFIVE
Icould hear them on the other side of the doors. The people of Windhelm were clamoring, their voices rising to fill the Grand Hall my family and I were about to step out onto. My mother squeezed my hand and looked over at me.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“Is no an option?”
Her smile softened. “No.”
“Chin up, Princess,” said Tellren, “I hear today’s entertainment should be quite exciting.”
I took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with, then.”
With a nod to one of the guards standing beside us, the doors that would take us onto the Royal Balcony at the head of the Grand Hall opened. As soon as they opened, the noise beyond them reached fever pitch. Lord Bailen, a stout, round Fae with an impressive, curled,ice bluemoustache quickly announced our arrival with a voice that blasted across the Grand Hall like he had just eaten a megaphone.
“My Lords and Ladies,” he called out, “It is my esteemed pleasure to introduce to you, Queen Dahlia Wolfsbane, and our very own Princess Amara Wolfsbane!”
I had held my breath for a moment, because I was aware my mother had asked him not to call out every single one of her titles every time he had to introduce her to the Court. It seemed, though, that he had listened to her, because with that quick announcement, the trumpets blared, and that was our cue to go and find our seats.
Beneath us and all around us, the Grand Hall opened to reveal a huge, circular structure with rows upon rows of seats and rafters. Each was packed to the brim with Fae, many of whom were using their own magic to send colorful sparks of light, or snowflakes into the air.
On the ground, the Grand Hall had been emptied and transformed into a huge, wide-open arena. Its floor was a polished, deep blue kind of marble, the walls around its edges were easily ten feet tall, and at its center was a huge ice mound with large, cavernous holes going all the way through it. The whole thing exhaled wispy tendrils of frosty condensation, and while I couldn’t see what was inside, I was sure there wassomethingin there.
There were other Lords and Ladies up on the Royal Balcony with us, waiting for us to arrive. These were the special seats, the VIP seats. Only the most highborn and well-esteemed Fae were offered a chance to sit with us on the Royal Balcony. Lord Cyr’s parents were among them. In fact, they were sitting only a few arms lengths away from me. Every time I looked over at them, they smiled, brightly, warmly, fondly.
In their minds, I had already married their son and made them rich beyond their wildest dreams.
