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“Don’t be so dramatic, and just enjoy yourself. This is your night, Snowdrop.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned.
“Your mother is right,” said my father, “Enjoy yourself, but remember you represent our family, and the seat of this entire Kingdom. Make us proud.”
My mother and father linked arms behind me and melted away into the crowd of gathered nobles and courtiers, leaving me alone in the sea of people, none of which seemed to be able to stop Lord Cyr’s relentless advance.
No one but…Valerian.
I saw him entering the ballroom from the far side. Unlike the other men in the room, he wasn’t exactly dressed in the best fineries Windhelm’s tailors had to offer. Lord Cyr, for example, was wearing a grey suit emblazoned with white and silver embroidery, his hair was perfectly shaped to compliment the curve of his antlers, and he had a silver necklace on with a bright blue gem hanging off it.
He was a shining beacon of Fae fashion and taste.
Valerian, on the other hand… it looked like he hadn’t changed out of the clothes he’d been wearing for the trial the other day. That wasn’t strictly true, of course. He was wearing a suit, like the other men around him, only his was plain, black, and boring. I couldn’t help but notice, though, how he had popped the top few buttons of his black shirt, or how well he fitintothe shirt he was wearing.
Lord Cyr arrived and bowed low before me. He spoke, but I couldn’t seem to hear him over the sound of my own racing heart. Why was it doing that? What was happening? I felt like I needed to get closer to Valerian, to speak to him, to…smell him?There was an urge inside of me to drink deeply of his scent, and I couldn’t understand what in the world it was, or why it was there.
I watched him run his hands across his dark antlers and through his long, grey hair to readjust the top-knot he was wearing.
That was when Lord Cyr came back into focus. I realized he had spoken, he hadbeenspeaking, but I hadn’t heard a word. The best I could do was hazard a guess, and assume he had complimented my appearance, my outfit, my… whatever.
“Thank you, sir,” I said, offering a slight nod.
“Think nothing of it,” he said, bowing even lower. “I am but your humble servant, privileged to be in your presence.”
I realized, then, I’d lost track of Valerian. “That’s not necessary,” I said, as I looked for the other Fae in the crowd.
“Oh, but it is. You are a Princess, and I a simple man, stricken with feelings of love and adoration.”
Yikes.The needle on my stress levels shot all the way up to fifteen. “Isn’t it… maybe… a bit soon to be talking of… you know, love?”
He grimaced. “Of course. Curse me, speaking from within the depths of my own heart without filter or regard for your own feelings. Please accept my apologies, Princess. I will not speak of such things again… not until after, of course.”
Lord Cyr bowed once more, and over his shoulder I spotted Valerian standing not far from us. “Right,” I said, skirting past him like I had somewhere to be. “Sorry,I’ll be right back,” I called out as I made tracks away from him.
Valerian had a glass of Claire de Lune in his hand. He sniffed it, winced as if he had just smelled something rancid, and placed the glass back down on the plate he had picked it up from. When the waiter moved away, I stepped into his view, and Valerian stiffened.
“Princess,” he said, taking a deep breath in through the nose as if I had just startled him.
“Dance with me,” I said, extending a hand.
Valerian looked at my hand, then turned his eyes back up to meet mine. “Are you sure?” he asked.
I turned around and gave him a sidelong glance. “No,” I said. “What I am is curious. Aren’t you?”
CHAPTEREIGHT
Iwasn’t sure if he would follow me, but he did. It was as if I could sense his proximity, his closeness, even though he hadn’t even taken my hand yet. The people around me parted as I moved through the crowd. Lord Cyr watched, wearing something like a scowl on his face when he saw me stop, turn around, and finally take one of Valerian’s hands.
Valerian looked at me, the full weight of his gaze upon me, and stepped in close. He placed one of his hands gently on my waist, and with the other he led us in a slow dance around the heart of the ballroom. The entire court was watching us, examining us, analyzing us, and yet, I felt like they were starting to fall away from my notice.
As if we had entered a soft circle of silence, of privacy, where we could spend a moment with each other and finally speak.
And yet, we didn’t. I was too aware of his closeness, the warmth of his hand on my waist, and the other I held in my own hand. He was much taller than I was. He had a wide, powerful chest, with the kind of muscles you would expect from a man of his size and capability. I rested one of my hands on his chest, then slid it up to his collarbone as we danced.
I didn’t know who he was outside of this competition. Yes, I had seen his name before, and sure, I had watched him participate in the Royal Selection so far. But it wasn’t until our run-in the other day that I had truly seen him. It was as if he had remained out of my notice for as long as I was away from him, only now that I had come close to him once, everything had changed.
After a long moment of silent dancing, I decided to break the ice. “How did you do it?” I asked.
