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“No. Not all. I—”
“What are you doing with her, Riis?” A sharp tone cut the Lord of Tongues off, and my eyes snapped up to find Prince Vale racing down the stairs, his face set like stone.
“What are you doing here?” I backed up so quickly I stumbled and nearly hit the ground before Lord Riis caught me.
“Riis!” Prince Vale barked. “Take your hands off of her.”
“She’s weak, my prince.” Lord Riis sounded confused too. Maybe more so than me. “Would you rather I place her on the ground?”
“Of course not.”
Powerful hands took me over. Prince Vale’s hands.
What in the stars?
“What happened to you? I saw you run out of the ballroom and . . . ” The prince trailed off, perhaps for the first time hearing how crazy he sounded. It bordered on territorial.
“Shouldn’t you be with your father and the,” my voice cracked, “vampire?”
“Are you fearful of him?” Prince Vale growled, dark brown eyes blazing. “That would explain what I saw.”
Behind the prince, Lord Riis cleared his throat. “If the lady is amenable, I will leave you in Prince Vale’s hands?”
I found it sweet of him to check. As if Lord Riis had any control over the prince of the realm. But did I mind? The answer came quickly.
No, I didn’t.
Prince Vale had startled me, and I still wasn’t sure why he rushed after me, but now that he had come here, I felt better. Safer.
“Or shall I retrieve Lord Roar?” Lord Riis added when I did not reply.
“No.” I shook my head.
Having Roar come down here, when I was with the prince, would be a disaster. I’d rather the warden not learn anything about what happened.
“I’m feeling a chill,” I said and gave a little shudder. “I wish to return to my chambers for the evening. Would the king mind?”
King Magnus had already blessed my union with Roar. I’d endured hundreds of fae watching my every move. I’d even celebrated. What more could the king want from a common fae when he had a vampire prince to entertain?
“I’ll escort you to your suite and tell him you fell ill,” Prince Vale said confidently.
Lord Riis took a few steps back, clearly assuming he was no longer needed, and that I was fine. “Very well. I will return to the event. Rest well, Lady Neve.” He bowed and left.
Once alone, the prince looked down at me, still in his arms, like a damsel in distress. “Would you like to walk? Can you?”
I nodded.
He set me on my feet, and I did not so much as wobble. I gave the prince a watery smile. “I really can see myself to my chambers.”
“Fates, no you won’t.” Prince Vale shot me a look with determination in his eyes. “I’ll take you and make sure you don’t fall again.”
That look of his told me that I had no way out of this, but I would try nonetheless. “Why do you care? What are you doing down here, Prince Vale?”
He scoffed. “Should I not care? You’re—under my family’s roof. You’re a fae of Winter’s Realm, and you seem terrified.” He paused. “Neve, what happened? Was it the vampire? Or did one of the ladies of the Sacred Eight say something to you out there? Saga told me that a few have been unkind to you. Or was Lord Riis saying something untoward?”
The ladies of the Sacred Eight? Lord Riis? Ha! Compared to a vampire prince, the young ladies of the Sacred Eight were but frost beetles. But I couldn’t tell Prince Vale the truth. I was a common fae from a backwater village in the west, not an escaped blood slave who had killed a vampire.
I swallowed deeply. “They did nothing. The event simply wore me out.”
