Chapter 25 Callan
CHAPTER 25
CALLAN
C allan was slumped in his chair on the dais at the front of the ballroom. His chin in his hand and leaning to the side on the armrest, he sighed as he looked out over the preening nobility.
This was his engagement ball. Somehow, his mother had put this together in a matter of days. His betrothal to Tava had been announced four days ago, and here they were.
“Sit up, Callan,” his mother chided, leaning across his father’s empty throne. His sister was seated on her other side, and there was an empty seat for Tava to his right. She would be arriving at any moment.
His eyes slid to his father, who was off to the side conversing with several Lords and nobles from neighboring towns. Mikale and Veda were nearby, whispering amongst themselves, and all Callan had thought about these last few days was how incredibly idiotic this whole thing was. All of them— Mikale, Veda, Lord Tyndell, Tava, Drake, himself— pretending they didn’t know exactly what was going on here. All of them skirting around the issue that this was all about Scarlett and some dark purpose the Maraan Lords seemed to have, that required Veda to be seated on a throne. All of them speaking in riddles and nuances to keep his father oblivious to everything.
“He will be better when Lady Tava arrives,” Eva quipped from their mother’s side, her hands resting in the lap of her rose pink gown, ever the princess in training.
“I should certainly hope so,” Queen Meredith replied curtly, her disapproval of his current mood and behavior clear.
“Of course he will,” Eva said, her smile wide and genuine. “How can a person not smile when they see the one they love?”
Love.
To be a child and still be that na?ve. To believe she will one day marry for love rather than the far more inevitable scenario of being given to a neighboring kingdom or noble household to strengthen alliances or secure deals.
The large entrance doors being opened drew his attention, and before he knew what he was doing, Callan was standing and striding towards the Tyndells, who had just arrived.
“See, Mother,” he heard Eva saying, but he didn’t hear any more of their conversation as he skirted around the various people milling about.
Tava was on her father’s arm. She looked beautiful in a dress of cerulean blue that brought out her ocean blue eyes and that hugged her slim ?gure, cinching at the waist before falling to the ?oor. Her golden hair was pinned half up. The rest had been curled and hung around her shoulders.
He reached for her hand as soon as he stood before them, bringing the back of it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to her skin. “Tava,” he breathed, “you look stunning.”
Tava dipped into a small curtsey, her hand still in his. “Thank you, Callan,” she murmured, her cheeks turning pink. He was certain that was not part of the ruse.
“May I steal her from you, Lord Tyndell?” Callan asked, his eyes still ?xed on Tava.
“It appears you already have,” came the Lord’s gruff response; and that had his gaze snapping to the Lord’s.
“Father,” Tava chided lightly, pulling her hand from Callan’s and laying it on her father’s arm. “He is not stealing me from you.”
He patted her hand, a tight smile forming on his face, his square jaw rigid. “That is how it feels, my dear. I am still adjusting to all of this. It seems to have come about so quickly. Neither your brother nor I knew you were interested in anyone, let alone the Crown Prince.”
“You are unhappy with the arrangement?” Tava asked, her brows arching.
He patted her hand again. “This is not the place,” he said, taking her hand and passing it back to Callan. “Go enjoy yourself. This event is for you and the Crown Prince, after all.”
And the way he said those last words had Callan immediately on edge. His voice had dropped into a smooth growl that had Callan pulling Tava protectively into his side. Drake, who had been standing on Tava’s other side, seemed to have noticed too. His eyes had narrowed slightly on his father as the man began making his way towards the king.
“Do not let her out of your sight tonight,” Drake said, his voice low and full of worry.
“I do not intend to,” Callan answered, his arm sliding around her waist. “She is not Scarlett, Callan,” Drake hissed, having taken the liberty to stop with formalities as soon as he’d learned of this agreement between him and Tava. “She does not have daggers strapped beneath her skirts.”
“Thank the gods for that,” Callan muttered.
“I will be watching too,” Drake said.
Tava was smiling brightly as Callan began leading her into the room, Drake staying close to her side. She looked every bit the excited ?ancé. “You need to keep an eye on Mikale and Father, Drake,” she said casually. “They are acting strangely this evening.”
“I can do that while keeping an eye on you as well,” Drake countered.
“How are they acting strangely?” Callan asked. And how would she know? They had just arrived. She hadn’t even spoken to Mikale yet.
“Mikale and Veda are keeping their distance from the others,” Tava replied. “And Father seems to be making a deliberate effort to make it clear they are not seen conversing much. The king’s Inner Circle is almost always together at these types of events.”
Callan looked to the king again, where Lord Tyndell and Lord Lairwood were congregated with him along with a few other Lords. It was odd that Mikale wasn’t with them. He tended to be by his father’s side or at his side. He hadn’t made any effort to even greet Callan this evening.
Callan had just assumed it was because he was still upset about the turn of events with this engagement.
“Do what you must, Drake,” Tava said. Then, looking up at Callan, she added, “We need to dance. People are watching our every move. They are watching our every move.”
Callan plastered a smile on his features, drawing Tava to him when they reached the dance ?oor; other couples quickly moving to give them space. He began leading her through dance steps, and after a few moments, she said, “You are tense tonight.”
“It seems that is my general state of being as of late,” he answered, his eyes darting around the room.
“Ignore them, Callan,” she said softly. “Pretend it is just another ball. Another celebration. Being in front of a crowd has never seemed to bother you before.”
“There was not a constant sense of danger before,” he countered, bringing his eyes back to hers, ?nding them bright with amusement.
“You are the Crown Prince,” she mused. “You have personal guards because there is always potential danger.”
“You are supposedly becoming a princess,” he said. “Maybe you should be given a guard.”
“If I were truly to become one, I would maybe agree with you,” she teased.
“Actually, I think it would be a good idea,” he said, pulling her into him a little more.
Tava scoffed. “I do not need a personal guard. I have Drake.”
“And when Drake is not around?”
“Callan, I do not think it is necessary,” Tava replied, realizing he was serious.
Callan glanced around at the hall again. At the way Veda was watching their every move. At the way Mikale still had not joined his father and the other Lords.
“I think it is quite necessary,” Callan ?nally said. She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head and continued. “It is the least I can do, Tava. You have placed yourself in danger for Windonelle. I can certainly provide you with a measure of protection. Besides, as has already been stated, it would be expected for the soon-to-be-princess to have some sort of guard with her at all times.”
Tava shot him a frank look. “Callan—”
“May we cut in for dances with the happy couple?”
Callan and Tava both turned to ?nd Mikale and Veda standing there expectantly. Where the hell were Sloan and Finn? Why hadn’t they intercepted them?
“You two lovebirds have danced the last three songs together,” Veda said sweetly. “Surely you can bear to be apart for one dance, no?”
Had it really been three dances?
He glanced down at Tava, who gave him a small smile as she said, “Of course. It would be a pleasure.”
She disentangled herself from Callan’s arms where they still held her and placed her hand into Mikale’s outstretched one. Callan’s jaw was tight as he watched Mikale lead her away to the other side of the dance ?oor.
“You clearly are not as smitten with her as you were with your secret lover,” Veda said tauntingly, stepping into him and placing her hand on his shoulder.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Callan gritted out as he took her hand in his and fell into the dance movements by memory alone.
“I mean that when your secret lover would deign to make appearances, your eyes never left her. You certainly never danced with anyone else while she was here,” Veda all but sneered. “Yet here you are, dancing with me instead of the woman you supposedly love.”
“Supposedly? What would you know of love?” he bit back.
“Far more than you would think,” Veda answered. “I have watched many people succumb to the weakness of love.”
“Weakness?” he repeated. “If you ?nd love to be a weakness, I do not think you know anything of it at all.”
“No? You have never found yourself suffering unfairly because of love?” Veda asked, her head tilting to the side.
Callan pressed his tongue to his cheek, his eyes darting to where Tava and Mikale were dancing. She was smiling politely at him, but her posture was stiff and rigid.
“That is what I thought,” Veda said when he did not reply. “ Love makes people do uncharacteristic things.”
“Or maybe it just draws out the best parts of a person,” Callan countered.
“Is that what she did for you?”
“I did not realize we were discussing her so openly now,” Callan ground out.
“Would you rather discuss this sham of a relationship you have with Lady Tava?” Veda asked with a cruel tilt of her lips.
“I will remind you that I am the Crown Prince, and she is to be my wife, Lady Veda. You will give her the same respect you give me. Although that currently is none, so I will insist you give her more respect than you are giving me,” Callan said, his voice filled with dangerous softness.
Veda’s dark eyes widened slightly at his ?erce tone, but before she could reply, Tava was at his side. “I am so sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping to get some air,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. “Callan?”
“Of course,” he replied, immediately releasing Veda and taking Tava’s hand in his.
“It is funny,” Veda said, stepping away from them. “He always sought to keep them from this life of royalty, despite what he is. Despite what they are. Yet they are ?nding their way to thrones anyway.”
Callan didn’t say anything in reply as he led Tava to a side exit reserved for the royal family. Finn was already there, pushing the door open for them.
“Where have you two been?” Callan hissed under his breath when he walked past him.
“We tried to intercept them,” Finn answered, the door clicking shut behind him. “They are crafty.”
“I want you guarding Tava from now on,” Callan said, spinning around and pointing his ?nger at him. “Sloan can stay with me.”
“Cal,” Finn sighed, his ?ngers running along his brows. “Let’s talk to your father. We will get someone to guard Lady Tava. He won’t be happy if you go down to one guard.”
“I do not give a fuck what he wants,” Callan spat. “He is already getting everything he wants at this point. Do not ?ght me on this, Finn.”
“All right,” Finn said, sounding resigned. “Do you want me to come with you, or stay here and guard this door?”
“Just … stay here,” Callan said, turning his back on him and leading Tava down to another door that would lead to a hall.
“Where are we going, Callan?” Tava asked softly beside him when they’d entered the hallway.
“You said you needed some air,” he replied, glancing down at her brie?y.
“I did, but it was because I could tell you needed a moment,” she answered.
He pushed open a door and gestured for her to go through. “Are you always this sel?ess?” he asked, stepping in after her. He’d led her to a small conservatory with several large windows. It was far too cold to actually go out and get some air, but he thought this to be the best alternative for her.
“What?” she asked, glancing over at him from where she’d stopped before one of the windows.
“You interrupted my dance with Veda because you saw I needed a moment. You agreed to this scheme for the people of this kingdom. You did much for Scarlett after … everything,” he answered, coming to her side. “All incredibly sel?ess things.”
“Or it is simply kindness,” she said with a shrug.
“Kindness and sel?essness could be considered semantics, you know.”
Tava laughed softly. “I suppose they could be.”
A comfortable silence fell between them, and she ran her ?ngers along the leaves of a large fern.
“Veda does not believe us,” he ?nally sighed, running his hand along his jaw.
“I never expected them to,” Tava answered.
“Do you not ?nd this somewhat ridiculous?”
She smiled serenely up at him. “You will need to be a little more speci?c.”
“All of this,” he said, his arm sweeping out in an encompassing gesture. “The fact that we are pretending to be in a relationship to appease my father. And for what? To keep him from learning of Mikale and Veda and your father? Why are we all speaking in riddles and acting as though we all do not know exactly what the other is hiding and seeking?”
Tava’s head tilted slightly to the side as she studied him. She’d picked a small purple ?ower and was twirling the stem of it between her ?ngers. “You wish to ?ght back?”
“What? No,” Callan started.
“Hmm,” Tava mused, bringing the ?ower to her nose and snif?ng. “It sounds to me like you want to.”
Her ocean blue eyes were watching him curiously, waiting for his next words. And he realized she was right. He did want to strike back at them, at someone , for forcing them into this. For coming after his people. For coming after him.
“What if I did? Want to ?ght back?” he asked slowly.
Her lips tilted up a little more. “I would say you are the Crown Prince. Who is going to stop you?”
“And you?”
“What of me?”
“Do you wish to ?ght back? Against what your father is pushing? Against what they are trying to do to the children of the Black Syndicate?”
Tava stepped towards him and reached up, tucking the ?ower along a pocket of his tunic. “I have fought back every day since you left for the Fire Court, Callan,” she replied, her voice quiet and ?erce. “I snuck out of my house in the dead of night to meet with Death’s Shadow. I paid for food and clothing to be left in prearranged places and made sure they found their way to those who needed them. I passed information I heard in passing to Scarlett, to Sorin, to Cassius. All of it to ?ght back. All of it to ?ght for those who deserve something better than what they were dealt in life.”
She looked up at him, her ?ngers resting against his chest where they had smoothed fabric down around the ?ower stem. “I have sat among the highest of our society and those that society wishes didn’t exist. They all deserve to be fought for, Callan. We deserve rulers who care for us as mortals. Not magical beings whose ?rst priority will always be their own.”
“So sel?ess,” he murmured.
Then she pushed up on her toes, her lips pressing to his. He was so surprised, he didn’t move at ?rst, but as her small ?sts clenched the front of his tunic, he found his own arms coming up and pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. She tasted like pure sunlight, and it was so stark and different from the last person he’d kissed. It was almost a shock to his senses, and it was one he didn’t entirely mind. Entirely unexpected, but something he found himself welcoming.
The door banged open, and it had Tava jumping in his arms as they both spun towards the door. Her lips popped open in shock, and then she was burying her face in his chest, her cheeks ?aring bright red, as his eyes landed on Veda Lairwood. Her mouth was hanging open in shock, and her dark eyes were alight with rage.
“Veda,” Callan ground out, his hold on Tava tightening. Where the hell were Sloan and Finn? “Can we help you with something?”
“I—” She cleared her throat, her hands smoothing down her pale green dress.
“We will return to the grand hall in a moment,” Callan said darkly, a clear dismissal.
“Of course,” Veda said tightly, turning on her heel, the door snicking shut behind her.
Tava pulled back from his chest, a sly smile on her lips.
“You knew she would come looking for us?” Callan asked, realization dawning.
“Call it a hunch,” she said with a wink, taking a step back.
“You were waiting for her?” He didn’t know if he should feel sheepish for reading into that kiss or impressed by her cleverness that never ceased to amaze him.
“I was,” Tava said, reaching to smooth his tunic once more. “I hope I did not overstep with my actions.”
“You didn’t,” he answered quickly.
She cleared her throat slightly as she stepped back again. “Are you ready to go back?”
“Not particularly,” he muttered, and Tava laughed under her breath as he took her hand and began leading her from the conservatory and back to the grand hall.
“You are failing to see the opportunity that has been presented to us,” she said.
“What opportunity?”
“Events like this are notorious for the highest in society showing off in public. They speak of things, Callan. They boast of deals made, affairs had, knowledge they shouldn’t know,” she said with an air of knowing. “You can learn very interesting things if you simply place yourself in the right place at the right time.”
“You know,” Callan mused, pulling open the door to the side room and ushering her through, “you truly are quite the cunning little fox.”
She huffed a breath of laughter. “I am nothing special.”
“I think we will need to disagree on that,” he replied as they stepped through the adjacent door and back into the ballroom. “So what do you suggest we do, little fox?”
Tava elbowed him in the ribs with another breath of laughter. “Let’s go greet people. Mingle. It will admittedly be harder to blend into the background when I am standing beside the prince though,” she said, her hand going to her throat and ?ddling with her amulet.
“Where do you want to start?”
“We need to be positioned in places where we can hear multiple conversations at once,” Tava answered, her eyes scanning the room. “You are the important one here. You keep them engaged in conversation, and I will see what else I can hear around us.”
“So eavesdropping is indeed something you have made a habit,” he teased, leaning down to speak in her ear so she could hear him over the din of the hall.
“Always be listening, Callan,” she replied, a wry smile pulling at the corner of her lips. “You never know what you will hear.”