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I couldn’t let that happen. I trusted the glamour to keep me hidden from the lords. People who didn’t know my face or my name. Damien was different. He would corner me, trying to learn my secrets to seduce me. But what if he recognized me? My voice? All it would take was one moment of questioning, a fleeting thought, and the glamour would shatter.
He would see me.
A glimpse of silver eyes, and Damien would know it was me. That I was the Dark Fae’s date. That I was traveling with a band of criminals. That the king’s Blade had betrayed her king. Everything we had done would come crumbling down because of Damien and his foolish pride.
I took a deep breath. I needed to find Riven now.
I stood up so fast my chair fell, bouncing off the floor and splintering its back. I didn’t care. I rushed up the staircase. Riven wasn’t on the balcony. I scurried down the hall, scanning the thin crowd. He wasn’t there.
I peered into the cloakroom.
Not there either.
“Keera?” a voice called behind me. I felt my body relax with relief. Riven was the only one here to know me by that name.
“Riv—” I said, turning around to face him.
But the Fae behind me did not have violet eyes or dark hair trailing down his back. He wasn’t a Fae at all.
He was a man.
A prince.
Just not the one I’d been expecting.
IBOWED A LITTLE TOO LATE.“Your Highness,” I said, glancing at the floor.
“I thought that was you,” Killian whispered, taking a step toward me. His green eyes surveyed the hall to make sure no one was listening. “I saw you dancing earlier with a Fae, but your eyes...” He trailed off and I felt his gaze trail along my body. Not piggishly the way Curringham had or cruelly the way his brother would. He looked like he was trying to piece together a puzzle.
He knew too much. I was caught. My hand wrapped around my wrist hiding the glamoured bracelet from view.
“That’s ridiculous,” Killian said, breaking into a soft smile. “Your eyes are the same as they’ve always been.”
“How did you recognize me?” I asked, pointing to the mask and dress. Not to mention the glamour that was supposed to make me unrecognizable.
Killian paused, taking another step toward me. A loose curl fell over his face, grazing his high cheeks. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the blond curls back. He was close enough that I could smell the parchment on his skin.
“Silver eyes,” he said. He leaned in and his breath fell on my cheek. “Your beauty has no equal, Keera,” Killian whispered against my ear. “Especially in that dress.” He leaned back and gave me the same mischievous grin he had in Koratha. One side poking his cheek so high a dimple appeared beside his mouth.
Prince Killian had recognized me on sight? I let out a breath and pasted on a stiff smile of my own. He didn’t realize he’d shattered the glamour then. He still had no idea my face was disguised to everyone else. But how?
I’d only seem him a handful of times at the palace. How could he see through the glamour so easily when we didn’t know each other? When he didn’t know I was here?
“Your Highness?” A lord poked his head out of the grand doors of the library.
“I will join you momentarily, Duke,” Killian said with a smile. “I’m taking a tour of the dance floor.” He raised his arm to me.
My shoulders tensed. I couldn’t refuse him; he was the prince. I scanned the hall for any sign of Riven, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Shall we?” Killian said. His gaze dropped to his arm, still suspended in the air. I smiled and nodded. If Killian didn’t know that I was glamoured, then maybe he didn’t know I had arrived with a Fae. I could use the dance to my advantage. Set the narrative for the night so I could control the version I told to the king.
I took a deep breath and grabbed his arm. I could feel the soft warmth of him under my hand. With his lineage, I thought Killian would feel different than other men. Stronger and sturdier, like a Halfling, but no. Killian felt completely Mortal. His pale skin flushed the same color as his blood. Red.
“I want to know what’s going on,” Killian whispered in my ear as we descended the stairs. His lips barely moved, keeping the soft smile he wore in front of the lords and their guests. I guessed that was the first mask a royal learned to wear.
“Sire?” I asked coyly. I wanted more information before I answered any of his questions.
“I know you danced with a Dark Fae,” he murmured, pulling me against his chest as we started to dance. “I’m assuming it has something to do with the Shadow?”
