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“Makes sense to me,” I said, happy things were moving forward. I hadn’t had much time to see their interactions in person, but liked the idea of the flirtatious, loquacious Darla with the efficient, taciturn Oren. Opposites attract and all.
I had to keep my mind open for who we’d see at the gathering. Kai had mentioned several times his parents treated his sister differently, and I didn’t know if that extended to her having a much smaller social circle than one would expect of a royal child. Maybe we’d luck out and there’d be a reasonable number of people there, like ten, or maybe fifteen at a stretch.
Nope.
As soon as the doors opened, I knew there were way more than fifteen people in attendance. A good number of them I didn’t recognize at all, meaning I was in for way more socialization than anyone could reasonably expect of me.
I looked around to spot familiar faces and was surprised to see Princess Amelia herself already pressed to the side of an elemental man, his arm draped across her shoulders. It still wasn’t her human husband and, once again, I marveled that she was just soblatantabout it. At her own sister’s party, too.
But the one face I was looking for wasn’t there. No matter which way I swiveled my head, I didn’t see Kai at all.
Surely he wasn’t skipping. To be honest, just seeing his face was one of the largest reasons I’d been so amenable to even coming in the first place.
Our answer came when Oren spotted us and headed our way.
“I am supposed to tell you, although our captain is delayed, he will be here soon. He wanted to make sure neither of you were worried.”
“Thank you,” Darla said, and I could feel her build herself up as she took a step forward, away from my side. “Perhaps you could show me around this shindig before he arrives? That way Ayla here can go into the farthest corner and pretend to be a wall decoration.”
“You know me so well,” I said drily.
While Oren looked uncertain at the idea, he nodded. “I’d be happy to,” he said, offering his arm in the same way he did when he escorted her from my room back at the fort.
I watched them go and smiled. It was probably cheesy, but the two of them made my heart so warm and fuzzy. I hoped it worked out for them.
Goodness knew we could use all the positive outcomes we could get.
Chapter 16
Ayla
“What are you doing over here in the corner? Pretending to be one of the statues the decorators obsess over?”
I tore my attention away from my thumbnail, which I was ardently chewing, to see the young Princess Seraphina looking at me with a sweet expression.
“Am I doing a good job?” I said flatly, putting charm and kindness into my tone but falling a bit short. As fun as it might seem to be bubbly, that was just never going to come naturally to me.
“Well, I know plenty of people who’d say you look like a work of art, so I’d say so.”
I didn’t expect such a compliment and blinked. Clearly, she took after her brother in plenty of ways, and once more, I was struck with confusion over why her parents treated her any differently than her siblings.
“That’s nice of you to say, Princess, but you don’t have to butter me up. I’m already here.”
“If by here you mean hiding away from everyone.” To my surprise, she let out a sigh and settled down next to me on the small couch I was on as if we were old friends. “Not that I can blame you.”
It wasn’t exactly difficult to recognize she was upset about something. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, yes, of course. I’m a princess in the richest city in the world at a party full of people who are here just to see me.”
I could hear the slightest tinge of bitterness in her voice. Something was up.
“Seraphina, you don’t have to put up a false front with me. I don’t know if you picked it up or not, but I’m not exactly hip or happening with this whole court scene.”
The princess looked like she was considering my words, but I heard a couple of ladies whispering as they passed us. They weren’t shifters, or at least I guessed they weren’t, as they didn’t realize whispering in a room full of us was utterly useless.
“This was certainly a quaint experience.”
“I’m surprised they let her have such a gathering at all. You would think the king and queen wouldn’t want to advertise her... lack of ability.”
