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"Currant?" I asked the head guard as we reached the carriage. "How did the rest of Raven team place in today's competitions?"
She gave me a hand up into the carriage and gave me a considering look. "The archery runner-up was theirs," she said thoughtfully. "Pity too. His bowstring broke at the last moment, or he would have had it in the bag. Quite skilled, that one." She shrugged. "Knives, though. The knife-throwing champion was theirs. Little wisp of a thing. Everyone bet against him because he looks so out of place around these other brutes, but he won anyway. He lost so many people so much money!" She grinned in glee, and I got the impression she was one of the few who had bet on the underdog and made a killing on it. “Their other member placed in grappling, but I think he was ousted pretty early on. I think they’ve still got a good chance though, depending on what other challenges the royals throw at them.”
I smiled secretly to myself as the carriage pulled away from the competitor's encampment.
What I told Jasper wasn't just to make him feel better—there were plenty more challenges to come. And I was surprised to find that I looked forward to what the next challenge would bring.
Chapter 11
The next day began a short period of rest for the contestants who were taking part in the tournament. It was a chance for them to recover from the physical exertions of the previous two days and for the royal officials and staff to prepare for the next challenge. Meanwhile, I was forced to mingle with the courtiers at the palace. I couldn’t attend as steward, but I could still lurk in the background with the rest of the favored nobles and pick up on the general topics of discussion amongst the elected elite. However, that meant attending formal dinners with the royal family and the rest of the court.
I didn't usually employ personal attendants, but given the setting, I thought it wise to give in to Amaryllis's urging and allow my assigned servants to dress and style me into someone who looked like they should sit at the royal table. I might be pretending to work here, but I was playing the part of someone who was paid very well to report to the queen. I might as well look the part. It was boring and uncomfortable, but I couldn't fault the result, and I told my two borrowed attendants as much once they were finally done with me.
I stared into the full-length gilded mirror in my bedroom, taking in the sight of Lady Rina, the queen’s gossip. She looked no different than Lady Katrina Bellflower, steward of Lockwood, duchess of Northbower estate, and friend to the royal family. But no one currently remembered me as such, except the king, queen, and princess. I was very grateful that the queen had decided not to leave her daughter out of the spell as a joke. My best friend, at least, would still know who I was. That was some small comfort. Though I supposed I was going to have to be very careful if I exchanged any letters with Gambol while I was here. It would be far too easy to slip up and complain to him about my situation, and I had no idea what would happen if I gave him information that was counter to the deception the queen had woven around me.
I gave my clothes one last pat as I gathered up the energy needed to attend dinner with the court. My midnight blue dress accentuated all my human-like curves in carefully tailored darts and flares of soft faille silk. The bodice was fitted, while the skirt flared away from my hips, with deep slits up the sides to reveal the intricate gold embroidery that traced up the outside of my fitted breeches. I left my hair down, where it bumped about my shoulders. The servants insisted on braiding the sides, which I had to admit, made my wild, kinky waves into an intentional mess that looked more like a fashion statement than a blatant lack of attention to personal appearance.
I would normally accompany Amaryllis to dinner and sit at her side near the head of the table while she filled me in on everything I had missed since my last visit to the palace. But tonight when I arrived in the dining room, poor Ama was already seated next to a lovely dark-haired, dark-skinned woman who held herself like a queen.
Which wasn't far off, really. The woman was the crown princess from Crownspire, a small fae country across the sea. The king and queen seated Amaryllis with her because they were hoping the two women would hit it off and form a political alliance through marriage. From what Amaryllis had told me, this was only the first in what would be a parade of potential suitors who were slated to visit Elfhaven. Even one of the human kingdoms, Atagonia, planned to send someone to woo our princess. The three major human kingdoms, Atagonia, Hamartia, and Bellspear were generally on good terms with Elfhaven. But it was always in the human’s best interest to strengthen ties and ensure the goodwill of the fae.
I would feel sorry for Ama, since I knew exactly how uncomfortable it was to think of marrying a stranger for purely practical reasons. But judging from the genuine way my friend smiled and laughed in response to something the other princess said, maybe it wouldn't be such a hardship for her after all.
Which, of course, just made me think of Bach and his teammates. I didn't really know much about the others, but given what I knew of Bach and how fondly he had spoken of his family in our brief encounters, I thought there might be hope for some form of happiness between me and my arranged spouses. For a similar warmth between us. Of course, Raven team had to win the tournament first. I was getting very far ahead of myself with my fantasies.
The royal dining hall was decked out in lavish excess, as usual. Every dish and decoration was decadent, and I was surrounded by the rich jewel tones of the forest at dusk. Savory smells beckoned, and I didn't hold back or affect some delicate appearance as I ate—the food at the palace was far too good for that kind of nonsense.
I sat at the royal table with the rest of the royal entourage of higher-ranking nobles in the center of the room. There were even a few familiar faces here, men and women who really were social spies. They simply nodded and smiled at me, accepting me as one of their own with an ease that demonstrated just how powerful the queen’s spell really was.
Smaller tables had been arranged off to the sides for the rest of the palace staff and visitors. Despite the social hierarchy that was still ingrained in our people, the current monarchs were trying to change things. There were quite a few different types of fae present in the royal dining hall tonight. Lowborn mingled with highborn and those with human blood in a way wasn't possible back a century or two ago.
Change came slowly to the fae, since we lived longer than some other races. But it was possible. Any fae could earn a position at the palace now, through hard work and the occasional helpful social connections. In the past, that sort of thing was only available to those of a certain breeding—and of a certain level of magical strength.
The current rulers of Elfhaven extended the same inclusion to all people. A few full-blooded humans graced the royal hall tonight, when once upon a time, they would have been seen as beneath all fae, even those of us with mixed blood. Delegates from the human kingdoms of Hamartia, Bellspear, and Atagonia were a regular fixture in the palace now. They were seated among the rest of the court tonight, socializing and scheming with the best of them, as if they were completely at home here.
I was musing on this when the man next to me asked me a question. He was a handsome highborn with light brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and an adorable fox tail. I blinked and forced myself to stop daydreaming and make small talk the way they expected me to do. "I'm sorry," I said with an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention."
He chuckled softly and gave me a commiserating smile, full of brilliant white teeth and charisma. "No worries, my lady. I simply inquired where you hailed from before you became a fixture here at the palace?" He picked up his wineglass and arched a brow, his expression carrying a hint of flirtation. "You seem familiar, but I don’t recall if we’ve formally met before. A social butterfly like you can’t possibly claim reclusiveness. So the error of not making myself known to such a lovely woman must be all my own."
I huffed and played along. I assumed sticking to the truth as much as possible wouldn’t be too dangerous, with the spell in effect. And it would make it much easier for me to keep my facts straight and stay in character. "Such flattery,” I said with a smile. “It will get you everywhere. As you guessed, I'm not reclusive. So the fault really must be yours. Though I do spend long stretches visiting my family now and then. We hail from Larkwood, so I have a mountain range between my current home and the place where I grew up.” I waved a hand at the current gathering and all the barbed conversation and political scheming and schmoozing that was probably going on at the moment. “And honestly, even someone in my position needs a break from all this every once in a while.”
The man grinned and took a sip of his wine. Then he set the glass aside and offered me his hand. "An opinion that I wish more people shared," he said easily. "My name is Alrick Summerhaven. I hail from a small town in Trireme, but my family is just noble enough to earn a seat at the royal table."
I shook his hand, then went back to my delicious meal. Alrick made surprisingly good company, and I found myself pulled in by his effortless charm and wry flirtation, despite my best intentions. The seat on my other side stayed empty throughout dinner. But after the dessert course was laid out in a lavish spread, the seat was finally claimed. I found myself sitting next to a regal blond highborn woman in a garnet-colored gown that highlighted every slim, perfect asset. Alrick excused himself to go speak with someone right before the woman arrived, and I immediately missed the distraction his company had provided.
A touch to my arm drew my attention to the woman who had just taken a seat. She was every bit the stereotypical highborn fae, all tall, slender, graceful lines and smooth perfection. Her wings shifted and settled against her back, giving off a faint glint of purple sheen. Her moss-green eyes sparkled with humor as she leaned in to speak softly, for my ears only. "Alrick is quite the charmer, isn't he?"
I shook my head and cut off a piece of the raspberry cake that currently occupied my plate, but couldn't help my wry smile. "He is. Do you know him?"
She smiled as she turned her attention to scanning the desserts before us. "You could say that.” She gave me an assessing look. “I must warn you, sharp ear; Alrick might be charming, and his prowess in the bedchamber is legendary. But he won’t tell you the names of his more secretive lovers. You’ll be disappointed if that’s what you’re looking for.”
I arched my brows at her in surprise. She might have been calling the man out. But she didn’t seem upset at all about his antics.
She winked at me and smiled. “He's my bonded. I’m often with him on those bedroom adventures." She tilted her head as she cast me a sideways glance. "My name is Una. I'm the baroness of Summerhaven—a small town on the border of Trireme."
I took this all in as I tried to remember if I had ever heard anything about her. Nothing immediately came to mind. But then, I didn't pay much attention to gossip. And truthfully, I wouldn't have taken any special notice of a baroness of a town I'd never heard of, in another territory, under another steward's supervision, anyway.
I knew I should have a more thorough knowledge of all the titled nobles in Elfhaven. But I just wasn't that invested in the political games. Larkwood and its biggest city, Mistvale, were my only concerns, and my territory kept to itself and operated in a self-sufficient manner. But that was all about to change when Larkwood’s prosperity started growing. It was probably well past time for me to brush up on my networking skills. I knew all the other stewards were far more well informed than I was. I was going to have to learn to keep up.
