AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I tried to move forward, but King Kieran tightened his hand on my back, unyielding.
“She’s right.” He tipped his head toward the doors. “We should join the others. Will you have your first dance with me?”
That was the worst possible thing I could do. Being close to him was dangerous, and Maeve would very likely kill me herself if I didn’t keep my distance.
I nodded, unable to form words. My head screamed at me to stop, but I was at the mercy of something else entirely.
“Perfect.”
Without removing his hand, he turned my body toward the door. The mouth of the Summer Fae who’d wanted me to die tipped down even more.
I stared each nearby fae in the eye, refusing to cower, but I avoided Maeve’s gaze. I knew she was glaring at me from the way the nape of my neck tingled.
King Kieran’s body brushed mine as we went to the entrance, and two tall men opened the double doors as we approached.
My first view of the ballroom made me stop. The floor was smooth and frost blue, similar to the tunic the Winter King wore under his surcoat. The walls and ceiling were lined in purple twilight flowers, giving it a romantic glow, and three fae dressed in opera-esque clothes were playing strange instruments I’d never seen before. The music was magical.
I’d never seen anything so glorious before.
When King Kieran and I stepped into the room, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at us.
My head spun. I wasn’t used to attention, especially not like this.
“Come.” King Kieran took my hand, leading me past Orla, Dallas, and several others to the dance floor.
My head screamed no, but I couldn’t pull my hand away; not even my sister’s stare landed on me.
I followed the king to the center of the room, where he placed his free hand on my waist and lifted our joined hands.
“What are you doing?” I fidgeted, sensing everyone’s gaze on me.
He smiled. “I believe I was clear when I asked you for a dance.”
My heart squeezed, my reaction to him scaring the shit out of me. Yet I didn’t move, and my traitorous legs stepped closer to him. I murmured, “But everyone’s watching, and I don’t know how to dance.”
“Then we’d better give them a good show, and you’ll be fine if you follow my lead.” He moved, confident and regal. The two words described him perfectly.
Without any input from me, my legs followed as if we’d danced together our whole lives.
He smirked. “See. I won’t lead you astray. You just need to trust me.”
I flinched, slowing our pace.
“What?” His brow arched. “Did I say something wrong?”
“This whole thing is wrong, and we’re competitors. The worst thing I can do is trust you.” The words were hard to say, but they were true. Maeve had been right to warn me away from him, but here I was, in the arms of an enemy for whom I felt way too many things. Things like not wanting to leave his embrace and the world tilting while he held me in his arms.
“No, the worst thing you can do is try to save someone from dying.” He tsked as he twirled me around and tugged me closer to him.
The world spun, and I was certain it wasn’t from the twirl. I had to get my legs securely under me, both literally and figuratively. “I won’t apologize for that. And why do you care?”
“For one, your sister and the king consort are telling everyone that the Winter royal family owes you.” The humor vanished from his face, his jaw clenching. “Which is not true, by the way. Nolan and Ginevra weren’t betrothed, but they were close and might have gotten there once my brother was ready to have an heir.”
“I didn’t tell them to say anything like that, and that’s not why I helped her.” I needed to shut up, but I couldn’t. For some reason, I wanted to tell him all my secrets. But even I wasn’t that foolish. “She was scared, and I … That’s a horrible way to die.”
Now he was the one who paused, and glancing around, I noticed he’d guided me into a corner where flowers surrounded us and darkness shrouded us as if we were in the shadows. Between him and the scent of the flowers, something inside me eased, even though all I should’ve sensed was danger.
“Death is inevitable, especially in the Comortas.” He tilted his head, examining every inch of my face. “That still doesn’t matter to you, does it? What’s going to happen when someone attacks you? Will you stand there and let them?” His voice rose in what sounded like anger.
