Chapter 36 #3
“She is as charming as Oberon made her sound.” He brought his focus back to me and bowed again, his eyes remaining locked with mine. “Rhyn the Watchful, king of the Winter Court, at your service, little wolven.”
“You are not to call her that.” Kaeleron closed ranks with me, scowling from behind his mask at Rhyn.
“Is Oberon here?” I ignored the odd, dark look Kaeleron gave me for asking that.
Jealousy almost suited him, but I didn’t revel in how protective and possessive he was being, because he had no reason to act that way or feel threatened.
I had no interest in Rhyn, and Oberon was just a friend who needed a piece of my mind given to him.
Those claws softly scraped over my mind again and I shuddered as I swore I felt Kalyn moving closer.
“No,” Kael bit out as his sharp silver gaze scanned the crowd, narrowing behind his black wolf mask. Because of me. Because he knew I could still feel the Nightmare King in my mind.
Rhyn adjusted his white fox mask with deft fingers, leaving a glittering trail of frost on it that matched the bands of jewels stitched on the hem and cuffs of his tunic jacket that were largest and densest at the bottom edges and became smaller and sparser towards his waist and elbows.
“The Forgotten Princes never attend Ereborne balls. Oberon and his brethren prefer to remain away from this city and its ruler.”
“Do you not have somewhere else to be?” Kaeleron glared at him as his gaze did another sweep of the crowd.
Seeking Kalyn.
I edged a step closer to his side, until his familiar power curled around me to ward off the constant chill in my heart. Shadows gently twined around my legs beneath my dress, comforting me in a way no one would see.
“No. I am quite comfortable here. Fallow is dancing and the other members of my court are entertaining themselves without my interference, and I wished to see the delightful creature rumoured to be in the company of the Shadow King.” Rhyn turned his smile back on me and the way he did that reminded me of Lucas.
He smiled so easily. Charmed me, and probably others, so easily. And I hated it.
I turned my cheek to him, needing a moment to prise open those claws in my mind, ones that were getting harder and harder to shake, as if whatever spell Kael had cast upon me wasn’t strong enough to keep out the Nightmare King.
“Saphi,” Vyr said, canting her head to her left as she studied me. “Are you unwell?”
I shook my head and then almost nodded. “I don’t know. A little shaken. Is this spell of yours working?”
Kaeleron turned his scowl on me. “Of course it is. I can drive him out, but I cannot banish the things he placed in your mind. Only you can conquer them. You are strong, Saphira. Push them out. Banish them.”
I wasn’t sure he had entirely evicted Kalyn from my mind, but I tried harder to shut down the invasive thoughts, not wanting them to ruin this night.
I wanted to at least dance before Kaeleron surrendered to that need I could see building inside him—a desire to whisk me away from here, back to the Shadow Court where I would be safe.
I wanted to experience all this ball had to offer, even if it was a little frightening to be surrounded by so many powerful, and potentially malicious, fae.
Several of them openly stared at me as they passed.
Whispering about me.
“I will get us drinks. We could all use one.” Vyr swept past me, close enough to the people who had been staring at me to drive them further away.
They bowed their heads to her, even as the shadows that swept behind her like a veil pushed them deeper into the crowd, leaving a wide gap between my party and the rest of the gathered.
“I do not think I have ever seen Jenavyr so protective of anyone.” Rhyn watched her go, no trace of his easy smile on his face now. “I do not think she will be easily parted from her little wolven friend. Alas… perhaps I will have to break Fallow’s heart.”
Kaeleron grunted. “Fallow has no interest in my sister.”
“On the contrary. The two of them were getting along rather well in Rhynsgard.” Rhyn grinned. “See, he finds her even among a sea of masked beauties.”
I looked in the direction Vyr had gone, finding her standing talking to a male in a white fox mask who matched Rhyn in appearance, his hair as white and eyes as blue as the king’s were.
Neither looked particularly happy to be speaking with each other, which pleased me at least. Maybe there was hope for Vyr and Riordan yet.
“Vyr is rather easy to spot when her temper slips its leash.” Kaeleron waggled his finger at the shadows that still clung to his sister’s shoulders. “It was hardly a difficult feat.”
Rhyn shrugged. “I still say there is something there.”
Kaeleron didn’t look inclined to agree.
The Winter King turned another easy smile on the gathered as he watched them for a moment. Just as I was beginning to relax and gain some ground against the dark thoughts that whispered in my mind, Rhyn spoke.
“This ball came rather unexpectedly… and with such interesting adornments.” He lightly touched his mask, long fingers barely grazing the curves of his fox mask.
Kaeleron grew tense beside me. “It was indeed sudden.”
His silver gaze landed on me.
“So soon after his men departed the Shadow Court too.” Rhyn’s blue eyes shifted to the high king where he now stood alone, watching everyone.
Not watching. Studying. His expression was too critical to be anything else.
“I suspect this ball is to serve as a reminder to me and a warning to my little wolf.” Kaeleron’s words offered me no comfort as another chill skated down my spine and I stared at the high king, that feeling that he was up to something only growing as Kael shifted his gaze to me.
“The high king does so enjoy manipulating others, ensuring they are always under his control, and he keeps us all in line so easily… since anyone who defies him ends up dead. An example to the rest of us.” Rhyn sounded so calm and casual as he uttered those words that had a heavy feeling settling inside my chest.
I should have stayed away. I should have listened when Kaeleron had changed his mind about bringing me here.
Some part of me had felt he was being overdramatic, on edge because he didn’t like the thought of me surrounded by so many other males or variables that were beyond his control.
But now, as I looked at him, I could see that fear ran deep in his veins.
“This is why you didn’t want to bring me.” I closely watched every fae that surrounded me, suddenly feeling as if they were all a danger to me, that this ball really had been orchestrated with me in mind and neither of us knew why or what the high king had planned.
He nodded, but it was Rhyn who spoke.
“I had a feeling this might happen as soon as the high king learned of her presence in your court.”
I glanced between him and Kaeleron. “I’m just a wolf. I’m nothing special. I’m certainly nothing worth throwing a ball over just to see if you would bring me.”
And in bringing me, he had done exactly what his high king had wanted, revealing things that could be used against him. I was a weakness. A weakness this high king and the other rulers around me might want to use against him.
“You shouldn’t have brought me,” I whispered.
His look was solemn as his gaze met mine. “You still believe I had a choice.”
I stared at him. Blinked.
“The purpose of this ball was clear the moment the invitations were issued. The high king all but demanded your presence,” Rhyn said, his tone as grave as Kaeleron’s expression.
“Because he wanted people to wear animal masks to a masquerade ball?” I turned on him, the panic lacing my voice despite my efforts to control my emotions making me sound bordering on hysterical. “You’re both reading into things.”
Kaeleron and Rhyn exchanged a look that said they weren’t, and then Kael’s gaze lowered to meet mine again.
“You shouldn’t have brought me,” I whispered again.
The corners of his lips curled into the faintest of smiles, one that was all regret and apology. “Even I have no autonomy at times, my little wolf, and this is something all kings must live with. Elduin demands obedience, and all we kings can do is give it.”
I shook my head, a weak denial and one I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to put out there. My wolf side snarled in the direction of the high king and I stared across the sea of people to him, a flicker of despair igniting in the depths of my heart as Kaeleron’s words echoed in my mind.
But he was strong.
One of the strongest fae in all the courts.
Elduin’s head slowly swivelled towards me.
But he was stronger.
A more rabid wolf.
An alpha.
“Saphira,” Kaeleron started as his hand brushed my arm, fingers lightly grazing my bare skin, and I dragged my gaze from the high king. “Perhaps you need some air and we could talk a little more about the high king—”
“It would appear you have somewhere else you need to be.” Rhyn cut him off.
Claws punctured my mind.
I turned with a snarl on Kalyn where he stood behind me, flashing my fangs in warning as I backed a step towards Kaeleron. Shadows wrapped around me, blending with the inky black of my dress, and Kaeleron echoed my growl as his hands came down on my upper arms.
The Nightmare King’s eyes flashed with amusement as he grinned at me, baring his own set of fangs, and that amusement only grew as his focus slid to Kaeleron where he loomed behind me.
“The high king requests your presence,” Kalyn drawled.
Kaeleron’s fingers tightened against my arms. “I must speak with her first.”
Kalyn lowered his gaze to me. The malice in that look chilled my blood and had me backing up against Kaeleron’s front, but it was the flicker of victory as it lifted to Kaeleron again that set my icy blood on fire.
He had been speaking with the high king.
And now he was here, relaying a request made by that high king.
One I felt sure he was behind.
Bastard.
I leashed the urge to launch at him and rip into him, deeply aware that it would end in my death, and Kaeleron’s too, because he would intervene, and fighting Kalyn would no doubt anger the high king. A high king no one could displease without losing their head.
Kaeleron had no choice but to go to speak with the high king. He couldn’t disobey him. Maybe the high king would speak with all kings tonight. Maybe I was reading into things. But that cold, knowing smile on Kalyn’s face told me it was more than that.
Was this an attempt to separate us and leave me vulnerable again?
I feared that it was and turned to Kaeleron, who snared my wrist and started towards the exit onto the garden.
Only Kalyn appeared before him in a swirl of night and stilted thorny vines of darkness. “The high king shall not be kept waiting.”
Kael’s hand flexed around my wrist as a war erupted in his eyes. He stood there for long seconds, glaring at the Nightmare King, unwilling to release me.
But then his hand fell from my arm and his shadows pulled me away from him, back towards Rhyn.
Kaeleron straightened to his full height, his voice sharp and hard enough to cut glass as he stared down Kalyn.
“If you touch her mind—if you try to twist her thoughts—I will use my shadows to twist, distort and break your body until you beg for death.”
“Promises. Promises.” Kalyn smiled slowly, like a predator who had just found his prey and a weakness he could exploit to bring him down.
Or he knew something Kaeleron didn’t.
I frowned at Kaeleron’s back as he stormed through the crowd, shadows swirling outwards from his shoulders like a great black cloak. The fae parted as he approached, clearing a wide path for him that revealed the raised dais and the high king seated upon his golden throne.
And a beautiful, unmasked female.