AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I drank some more to calm my nerves, but it wasn’t helping. The wine wasn’t half bad, but wasn’t great either. If I was anywhere else, if I could do what I wanted without worrying about what people would say or how they’d interpret it, I’d drink the whole bottle and ask for another, but I was at court. I had to follow my rules of survival, especially since there’d already been two attempts to murder me within minutes of getting here. And the man who had my heart was approximately seventy-two feet away while I was bartering my body for power.
If there ever was a time when I deserved to drink the bottle down, it was now.
But instead, I took one more sip and forced myself to place the cup carefully on the table. My hand wasn’t shaking, but inside, my nerves were shot. “I pretty much expect attacks from assassins wherever I go at court. That’s why I’m finally looking for a husband.” The words didn’t have even a hint of the bitterness that I felt, but I could almost sense Chris straightening at them.
Damned werewolves and their good hearing.
Asheral nodded, but it felt like he was waiting for something. Or maybe he was just as distracted as I was. A strand of his long dark-brown hair fell in front of his face as he leaned toward me. “Apologies for being pushy, but the attack from your guard? That didn’t upset you? I’m trying to get a feel for what life with you would be like.”
“Are you afraid?” I teased him with a small smile and then grabbed the cup again, holding it to my lips.
He leaned away from me and I knew I hadn’t given him what he wanted, but I wasn’t about to tell him that I was terrified. Not because Nex almost killed me, but because Chris being here changed everything.
“No, I’m not afraid of assassins—even from the Lunar Court’s top guards—but isn’t that an exhausting way to live?”
He had to be joking. I put the cup down without drinking. Of course being under constant attack was exhausting, but that’s how the fey lived.
I took a measured breath, forcing myself to stay calm. He wasn’t trying to frustrate me. I had my own issues. “Again, this is my normal. Isn’t it the same for you here?”
“No.” A little half-grin teased one side of his mouth as he looked around the room. “We like our betting, but we don’t test each other the way your court does.”
Wow. That was an incredible lie. My opinion of him was plummeting fast. Maybe the Lunar Court had an extreme aversion to lying, but I didn’t think Gales were that bold-faced. “And that’s why you have a new stepmother every year or so?” I reached for my wine again and took another sip.
The whites of his eyes showed hints of smoke flowing through as he turned back to me, and his shoulders seemed to loosen. “Okay. I guess I see your point.”
There. I was winning him back. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to. If there was smoke in his eyes, then he was one of them. “Anyway, I’d thought if any of my guards tried to assassinate me, it would’ve been Wilken.” I glanced behind me. “He’s the blond there. My brother’s best friend.”
He leaned toward me, and I knew I had him with that. Asheral was as much of a gossip whore as his father. “The brother who just sent an assassin after you?”
“That’s the one.” I tossed a wave to Wilken, but Wilken’s bored expression didn’t change.
Asheral rested back, placing his elbows on the pillows behind him again. “They’re not quite guards if you don’t trust them, are they?”
“You’re right.” I leaned forward, touched my hand to his, and gave him a demure smile.
I caught Van watching me out of the corner of my eye.
See, I told him with a single shrug. I was playing the game. One I’d played so many times before. But it felt different this time. Worse.
I pulled my hand away from Asheral a little too fast, and tried to cover it up by taking another sip of wine. This time a bigger swallow, hoping it’d drown out the guilt.
I set down the wineglass, not loving the bitter acidity in it, and pulled out the locket, holding it in my hand. As if it would make me stronger and able to hold a conversation with this cocky, lying—
I took a breath. Calm. Must keep the facade in place. But the facade was slipping. “As I’m sure you’ve heard, I have some traitors among my guard, but I’m working to weed them out. The wolf did me a favor.”
He crossed his arms, and I wondered if he’d noticed that I’d pulled back. “How many guards do you have?”
It was strange that he asked, but I didn’t have anything to hide. There wasn’t anything he could do to me by knowing how many guards I had. “Currently, twelve.” But I didn’t really think I needed any. It might be easier to just let them go now rather than wait for one of them to stab me in the back.
“You’ve had more than twelve?” He tilted his head to the side, as if he were confused.
Why was he confused? There wasn’t anything off about having a number of guards at court, especially for young royals. “When I was a child, I had thirty. Sometimes nearly twice that. Sometimes less. But I’m not at court much anymore. And even if I was, I don’t need them.”
“No. You don’t. But then you didn’t even bring them the last time you came and you seemed to be doing just fine.”
“Hmm.” I had been, until Ziriel sneaked up behind me. It sti
ll burned that Van had to rescue me that night.
