Chapter 26 A Night of Magic
A NIGHT OF MAGIC
“Did you forget whose court you’re in?”
Kairos yanked him forward, hissing threats. Mine. Something about throat. The word again.
Uther’s smile faltered.
Around us, fae watched with a vague interest, like this was normal. In Skalgard, Vaeris would’ve smiled and ruined Uther quietly over months. Here, they grabbed each other and made their displeasure clear.
Uther muttered an apology. Kairos’s grip tightened, knuckles white against the dark fabric. Then he released him with a shove.
“Piss off.”
Uther grinned. “Try not to draw blood tonight, Kai. It is a party.” He shot me an apologetic look before melting into the crowd.
Muttering under his breath, Kairos reached for Uther’s tankard and drained it. Glowering, he turned to me.
“Enjoying yourself?”
“Trying to.”
“Same,” he grunted. “But I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without some male circling you.”
I huffed. “You’re the one who made him escort me.”
He dragged a hand through his hair and his eyes swept over me.
The irritation didn’t fade, but it heated.
His tunic, stitched from shadows, hugged his broad shoulders.
A red trim gleamed along the collar. His shirt was open, showing skin I shouldn’t want to taste.
My gaze slipped up his throat, lingering on his perfectly shaped lips.
His cheeks flushed. “You’re the most stunning thing in this courtyard.”
“And…that makes you angry?”
“Frustrates me.” He dragged his gaze away. “Every male here is looking at you like you’re theirs to claim, and you don’t even want to be here.”
“Who says I don’t?”
“Don’t play games with me.”
I stepped closer. “It’s the truth. For the first time in my life, I don’t have to wonder if I’ll be hungry tomorrow. I get to wear silk and drink wine that doesn’t taste like vinegar. I can read whatever I want. I don’t want to leave.”
The truth stung—I was going to leave, and he’d probably hate me for it. That hollowed me out. But I had no choice. The deal was killing me and I couldn’t stay, no matter how much I wanted to.
He smiled thinly. “Dance with me.”
I stumbled forward as he wrapped his hand around mine, pulling me toward the bonfire. “Wait, what happened to not wanting me seen?”
“Fuck that.”
His hands dropped to my waist. The drums pounded as he pulled me into motion. He dragged me against his chest, and he led us into the dance.
Fae pivoted and spun. Some leapt over the giant bonfire, their laughter ringing through the night. Kairos twirled me, my dress whispering against his leather, and a wild rhythm floated in the air. I let it take me, sinking into his arms as we revolved through the chaos. I couldn’t stop smiling.
My head felt full of honey. Sweet and slow and heavy. Was it the starfire? The music? Why couldn’t I think properly? His thumb traced circles on my hip, and warmth spread through my chest. The pain from the deal had dulled to a distant ache.
Maybe this was what dying felt like. Not the sharp agony I’d expected, but this gentle fading. Dancing in someone’s arms while everything else fell away. If I was going to die, at least I got this one perfect moment.
The world blurred in a riot of gold and when the musicians began a slower beat, I clung to Kairos. My gown swept over the mossy ground as he guided me.
“You’re a good dancer,” I said.
He grunted. “Surprised?”
“A little.”
He pivoted me into a slow turn. “Who taught you to dance?”
“A barmaid when I was twelve. She took pity on me and showed me the basic steps, and I practiced with Rheya. She’d step on my feet and we’d laugh.”
His grip on my waist tightened.
“She would’ve loved this. She’d have eaten everything on that table, even that velthra.”
“How old is she?” he asked.
“Twenty-one.”
“Young.” His thumb traced circles on my hip. “You raised her, didn’t you?”
“We raised ourselves.” I shrugged. “Our mother died when Rheya was six. Wasting sickness. We ended up in the foundlings hall after that.”
Something shifted in his expression.
“Rheya was impossible. Always skinning her knees, racing through the streets.” I smiled. “I’d run after her, trying to drag her back before she got into real trouble.”
“Did it work?”
“Not really.” I laughed. “Once, we snuck into a merchant’s wedding. She stuffed so many pastries in her pockets that half of them fell out when the guards came.”
“Did they catch you?”
“Yes,” I sighed. “They dragged me to the Square for a whipping, but I cried so hard the guard took pity on me. Halfway through, he stopped and told me to leave.”
Kairos stared at me. “How old were you?”
“Twelve? Thirteen, maybe.”
He smiled sadly. “I wish I could’ve helped you.”
I blinked. “You were bound. You couldn’t.”
“I found ways. The king ordered me to crush rebellions, so I did. But he never specified how quickly. That I couldn’t warn them first. I defied him whenever I could.”
“I…I didn’t know that.”
“Most don’t.” He guided me through another turn. “They just see the monster who burned their cities.”
“You’re not a monster.”
I meant it. When had that changed? When had I stopped seeing him as my captor and started seeing him as… this? Someone who’d defied a king to show mercy, who wished he could’ve saved a child from being whipped. Someone I was starting to trust.
“Tell that to the families in Skalgard.”
His thumb stopped its circles on my hip.
“You must miss it,” he said quietly. “More than you let on.”
My stomach tightened. “I don’t.”
“Everyone misses home, even when it was cruel to them.” His eyes searched mine, sharpening. “What about the people you left behind?”
“I did everything I could for them.”
“There’s no one else?”
My pulse quickened as we stopped dancing. Kairos reached into his tunic, yanking out a folded note. He opened it, and then Vaeris’s delicate script caught the firelight—fuck. He held it gingerly, like it was a sodden rag.
“I wondered why your room smelled like him.”
I jerked back. “You went through my things?”
“He’s my enemy. Of course I did.”
“We had a deal, Kairos. You agreed—no one enters without my permission. Not even you!”
“You wanted privacy so you could hide your schemes.” He flipped the paper over, eyes flicking down the lines. “‘You were never a distraction to me. You were everything.’”
My face burned. “That’s private!”
“‘The only light in a world that’s been dark for so long.’” His hands shook. “He writes to you like a lover.”
“I didn’t write back!”
His eyes met mine, and the pain in them stole my breath. “‘Those nights we spent together were the only times I felt truly alive. I love you, Aelie. I always have.’”
I smacked his chest. “Stop it!”
He laughed bitterly. “Does it hurt hearing it out loud? Knowing he loves you and I—I’m just the bastard who took you.”
He crushed the letter in his fist and a flame ignited in his palm. The paper smoldered, then caught fire. Ash fluttered between us as he let the charred remains fall.
“He loves you,” Kairos snarled quietly. “But he didn’t show up when you were about to die. I did.”
“I know.”
“Do you? You kept his letter.”
“I shoved it in a drawer, Kairos!”
He looked at me like I’d stabbed him.
“I don’t—why does it matter?”
“Why does it matter? You’re keeping love letters from the male who used you. Do you actually believe this nonsense?”
Tears spilled from my eyes. “I used to. Yes.”
He looked sick.
More tears spilled down, and I swiped them away. “How dare you stand there and—read that out loud like—”
His brow furrowed.
My voice cracked. “I loved him! I loved him so much I couldn’t see what he was doing to me.” Tears streamed faster. “I believed every lie, and when I was brought to my execution, he didn’t even show up.”
Kairos rubbed his neck.
“He couldn’t be bothered, and you just made me—made me remember how stupid I was to believe I mattered. How bad it hurt when—”
I couldn’t finish. Another sob tore free, and I hated myself for it. Hated that I was crying in front of him. That he could see exactly what a fool I’d been.
He grimaced. “Fuck.”
I turned and ran.