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When the second round soared, my lord sank his arrow into the ring next to the center one. His third, once again, landed perfectly.
I exhaled and studied the others’ targets. I’d been so focused on Roar while he shot that my attention had not strayed. Only one other fae had come close to matching the Warden of the West’s skill—Prince Vale, of course. He, like Roar, sank two bullseyes.
Still, my heart thudded hard until the dwarf judges made their call. They chose three more archers to go on to be finalists: Prince Vale, Warden Roar, and a female dwarf whose name I could not hear from our box.
“Were you worried?” Sayyida asked.
“What?” I jerked a little when she spoke.
“The whole time your shoulders were tense. Were you worried?”
“Oh, yes. I want my fiancé to do well.”
“I said he favors the bow, but that was putting it mildly. Really, he’s one of the most skilled archers in the kingdom.” Sayyida threw a lazy wave. “There was no doubt he’d be in the finals.”
“Do they go straight into the last round?” I asked.
“They’ll need to rearrange a bit. But yes, they—”
The door to the Virtoris box opened, and everyone turned. A rush followed in which everyone, save for me, stood. My ears told me that even those in the Riis box had gotten to their feet. A person of importance had entered, and as I took the male in, I knew who.
I swallowed and rose to stand and face the other Aaberg prince, Crown Prince Rhistel. He and his brother were not identical, Rhistel being paler as if he rarely saw the sun and more lithely built. Still, he looked so much like Prince Vale that I had no question about the heir’s identity. And even if I had a single doubt, his blue tunic with an ivory bear over the right breast would have eliminated those questions.
“Wondrous day for a tourney, isn’t it?” Prince Rhistel’s voice came out smooth and strong.
Lady Virtoris sashayed forward. “Prince Rhistel. What brings you to my family box?”
“My lord father wishes to speak with Lady Neve.” The heir to the throne looked past the Head of House Virtoris to me.
His eyes glinted dark brown, bottomless and full of cunning. I shrank back, sensing if anyone could discover the secret I hid, it might be this fae.
But as the prince held out a long-fingered hand. I blinked, noting that it was gloved and not in fabric I would have thought was well suited to winter. The fabric appeared thin, almost see-through and shimmered like moonlight. I’d never seen such a material.
“Lady Neve, please join me?” the prince asked, ripping me from my questions.
Knowing it would do no good to say no, I nodded and walked toward him. Once close enough, I curtsied, breathing in the distinct scents of parchment and wine as I rose. The prince smelled as though he’d been drinking in a library. “And my lady-in-waiting?”
“We have a spot for her.” He smiled, perhaps thinking that it would soften me toward him.
But the curl of his lips had the opposite effect, spiking my heart rate ever higher, and as I took the heir’s offered hand, I steeled myself for the performance of a lifetime.
Chapter 25
Prince Rhistel didn’t speak as we left the Virtoris box, nor as we descended the stairs connecting the noble houses’ personal boxes. Only when we reached the first floor, the royal floor, did he finally turn. “I had wondered what you’d look like.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“When Warden Roar met with my father, I wondered what commoner would be dazzling enough to convince a fae of a great house to give up a valuable alliance. More than that, really, what female would be valuable enough to irritate a king’s plans?” His eyes dipped to my feet and dragged back upward, lingering on my breasts too long for my liking.
I shuddered. Stars, I wanted to tell him to keep his lecherous eyes to himself, but Roar and I needed to please the royal family, to remain engaged—until a time came to undo this charade in the privacy of Roar’s castle.
So, instead of slapping the prince across the face as I yearned to do, I held back and waited until his eyes once again met mine. They were the same dark brown as his brother’s but with no intriguing spark, only coldness. Winter’s heir, indeed.
“I see the appeal now.” His lips pulled up into a sly grin.
I didn’t reply, which only made Crown Prince Rhistel smile harder. “Tell me, what does your family do?”
“Mother is long gone from this world and Father, too, recently journeyed to the afterworld. He was a fisherfae.”
