Dance, Marionette #3
“The ball will begin with dinner. Guests will be seated at tables surrounding the dance floor, and the royals and the court will dine together at the royal table. Once dinner concludes, the dancing will begin, and it is then customary for the heads of noble houses to greet the king. You will remain silent during the greetings unless spoken to directly. If any fae asks you to dance from that point forward, you will oblige, and you will once again speak only when spoken to. I don’t think you need me to tell you what’s at stake should you offend any fae. ”
“No, Your Majesty.” I bowed my head.
As soon as this ball was over, I needed to figure out an escape for Nella and me. I wasn’t interested in adding “Royal Puppet, Her Mortalness Naci Corren” to the queen’s list of roles.
So I slept fitfully that night, stressing over dinner with the king almost as much as the ball itself.
The queen didn’t come after lunch on the last day before the ball. Despite myself, I started practicing the dance steps as best as I could in the small cell, stubbing my toe more than once on a raised edge of the stone floor.
Far later than usual, she came and took me to the bathing chamber to bathe and dress for dinner with the king.
I thought back to getting ready for dinner with all the royals, except that it was Nella who had helped brush and braid my hair, not the mute maidens.
The thought made me miss her so much. It had been nearly a week since I last saw her.
Once I was dressed in the familiar simple green gown, the queen took me to the same dining room, and I took a deep breath. I could do this. Tonight, the focus was on pleasing the king. Tomorrow, the focus would be on the ball.
The next day? I would start planning our escape.
We entered, and the king stood from his spot at the head of the table, looking as imposing as always, the demon behind his eyes front and center. His presence alone set my heart racing.
“I’m here. Just take a deep breath. Talk to me if you get angry.”
“Thanks, Noxie, but this time I need to concentrate. We’ll talk later.”
The queen and I approached our places at the table and stood, waiting for the king to be seated. I made sure not to speak or make eye contact with him.
When he sat, we sat. I folded my hands lightly in my lap and sat up straight, as if I had a board attached to my back. The queen kept shooting me glances, but so far, I had been perfect. My racing heart was settling down.
She began telling him everything I had been working on this past week, preparing as I felt his hot, scrutinous stare on me.
I still wondered what his vey form could be.
What animals did fire Veythryn usually transform into?
If Varyn were right, it would be some animal that complemented the heat.
I couldn’t think of anything, since dragons were extinct.
The first course came, and neither the king nor the queen had spoken to me yet, so I stayed quiet, and I did not look at the servants. Maybe I would actually get through this dinner without incident.
“How do you feel dining with the king and queen as a mortal? You should be honored,” the king finally said, clearly addressing me. I should have known he wouldn’t let me off so easily.
My blood pounded in my ears, the fiery beast in my chest letting me know it was ready for action should it be needed.
I still didn’t understand the thing, but I knew it was there, lying in wait for something. At times, I wondered what would happen if I let it take over when I could feel its fiery grip on my heart and mind, as if it were directing my actions, heightening and sharpening my anger.
In the months since I’d left Briarstead, it had become a stronger presence.
I looked up from my plate to the queen, meeting her stare. When I did, that strange prickling spread across my scalp again, the way it had when walking out on the grounds with her. The beast in my chest seemed to go right back to sleep, settling my heart rate once more.
It was odd how fast I went from angry to not angry at all, like I had just somehow forgotten how to care that the king had just tried to rile me up. It was odd, but probably for the best.
The queen broke my stare, so I turned to the king and calmly said, “I am truly honored, Your Majesty, to be dining with royalty. Your generosity is most appreciated.” That was so overkill.
The king seemed pleased, if a bit surprised, at my behavior. The tingling on my scalp stopped. What was that? Was it magic?
“Dear, I still need to review the dinner seating arrangements with her so she knows who is who.”
“It’s easy enough your mortal mind should be able to grasp,” he said to me in response to his wife.
I just ignored the comment. The servants had cleared the plates, so I was nearly done with this exhausting experience.
“Royals and you on one side, my court on the other. I sit in the center with the queen to my right and the prince to my left. You will be seated beside Varyn.”
My heart stopped, and I couldn’t breathe. “I’m next to…Prince Varyn?” I asked. I had questioned the king, which was against rule twenty-something of the queen’s, but I didn’t care.
Malvina shot me a glare.
Caedryn just smiled an evil grin. He knew it would hurt me, and he enjoyed that. “Why, yes, you’re his honored guest. You’ll dine next to him, you’ll dance with him, you’ll fuck him again if he so pleases.”
Again…he knew it had happened. This was all the confirmation I needed that Varyn had used me. I felt dirty and cheap. Stupid.
My blood turned to ice.