Chapter 4 #3
“Hello.” I offered my hand to him too, hoping he wouldn’t draw his blade and slice it off.
He just stared me down, cold and calculating, radiating malice that had my wolf side mentally baring fangs at him for being a monumental dick.
I shrugged it off.
Sylvan lifted two of the cut crystal long-stemmed glasses of sparkling straw-coloured wine a servant offered up on a gold tray and handed one to me.
Meiryn’s steady gaze watched Lorien as he snatched his own glass and strode to the far edge of the dais, where he plastered on a genteel smile as several fae females gathered near him, paying each of the fawning highborn ladies equal attention.
“He’s a little bitter about being replaced.” Meiryn stepped up beside me and took a glass for herself.
Replaced?
It dawned on me that he must have been the heir presumptive before Sylvan had found me and that I had usurped him.
No wonder he hated me.
Oh, this was going to go swimmingly. I sipped my drink, using the alcohol to steady my nerves as I kept a watchful eye on Lorien, studying him as he smirked and smiled for all his adoring fans.
I had expected many things as I had stepped into the Summer Court.
Danger of being discovered as an ally of the Shadow Court.
The potential that Sylvan was wrong and not a drop of fae blood ran in my veins.
That I might not be able to save Danica, and might fail to discover what had happened to Kaeleron’s brother.
But I hadn’t counted on having half-siblings.
And I certainly hadn’t counted on being responsible for shoving one of them down a rung in the ladder, pushing him off his perch and replacing him as heir.
“Believe me when I say I had no idea I was replacing anyone. I didn’t know I had a half-sister and half-brother here.” I plastered on a smile of my own, one that became genuine as I glanced at Meiryn where she toyed with the stem of her glass, her gaze on me now.
Those words had felt strange to say.
A half-sister.
A half-brother.
I still wasn’t convinced the fallen Summer King had been my father, but if he really had sired me, I now had half-siblings. Just yesterday, my only family had been my cousin. Now, I suddenly had the sister and brother I had often dreamed of having as a pup.
Well, I potentially had a sister who might measure up to that dream.
The brother, however.
I curled a lip at Lorien as he brushed the backs of his fingers down the cheek of a female with dark blonde hair and leaned in to whisper something in her ear that had her blushing.
His lascivious grin reeked of entitlement as he eased back, and only widened as she nodded.
I figured he had made a proposition to her, and she had been stupid enough to take him up on it, was willing to sully herself in some ridiculous attempt to gain power for the older male and female who watched her closely from across the room.
A male and female who looked as pleased as Lorien did.
Meiryn made a low noise of disgust in her throat. “Ugh, how willing they are to whore out their own daughter. One would think Sylvan hadn’t just announced you as heir and Lorien was still closest to the throne and the crown.”
I smiled and it faltered as something dark within me whispered at me not to trust her.
I couldn’t trust anyone here. I couldn’t let my guard down.
Lorien clearly wasn’t one for wearing masks and hiding his opinion of others, but that didn’t mean Meiryn was genuine.
I looked at her, holding my smile in place by sheer force of will, wearing my mask of gentleness and kindness so she wouldn’t suspect the dark path of my thoughts.
A mask she could be wearing too, hiding her true intentions towards me.
I shored up my defences as I sipped the wine, the subtle fruitiness of it pleasing to my palate.
It wasn’t as bold as the red wine Kaeleron always had with dinner, and nowhere near as strong as the paint stripper he lost himself in when he was in a mood.
It was light and refreshing, with only a hint of its strength.
And it was gone.
I peered at my empty glass.
A darker haired male plucked two glasses from a passing servant and approached me, his smile broad and warm as he offered one to me and the other to Meiryn.
A servant was quick to come to us, holding out her tray so we could set our empty glasses down.
I did my best to smile and listen to the male as he spoke of his family, his wealth, and his power within the court.
Meiryn dutifully nodded along with him, adding a few remarks about his beautiful home, which was apparently one of the grandest among the ring of highborn homes that encircled the castle beyond the spacious gardens that surrounded it.
Another male with a female approached us, introducing her as his betrothed, wishing me good fortune and something else the universal translator spell didn’t work on.
Ancient fae. Meiryn said something back to them in the same tongue, only making me more curious about her.
She had rough hands—ones that had seen hard work—but she spoke the old language.
I made a mental note to ask her about both once we were more acquainted.
I made it through another two hours of males and females constantly streaming past me, whenever one was done introducing themselves or lauding themselves, another replacing them, fuelled by another three glasses of sparkling wine.
Relief swept through me when I went to greet the next person, only to find no one waiting.