Chapter 42
"I can still smell the horse on you," Sando whispered as we danced.
"Fuck off," I whispered back, and he clicked his tongue.
"Such filthy language, Princess. What do you think the prince will think of that? He's been staring at us the entire time."
"His eyes can fall out, as far as I'm concerned, and everyone is staring, brother."
For a moment, as the dance required, we changed partners, and I danced with a higher-ranking lord, but soon, with another repetition of the harp's melody, we returned to our conversation. "Not everyone is staring like that," he said with a smirk.
"No."
Quite a few men were watching me dance with similar expressions. Two of those gazes felt sincere, but only one mattered to me. And it definitely didn't belong to the prince.
"Why did Faran order that our knights had to stay away from us?" I asked, and he pressed his lips together before looking away.
"You know the answer yourself, Isolde," he replied.
"Brother, Faran's ego is not my problem. How did you allow him to order everyone around?" We changed partners again, and I put on another false smile while waiting for his answer.
"I didn't know until Meera told me a little while ago." I exhaled through my nose, but there was nothing else I could say.
During the final part of the dance, we were close enough that I could see everything over his shoulder, and my eyes found Faran flirting with several ladies.
"This is my day, and my knight is going to be beside me, brother. I'll make sure of it."
I felt him reluctantly shake his head beneath my fingers.
"Just be careful, please. I meant what I said earlier." The dance ended with those words, and applause once again echoed through the ballroom.
Royals really did love to applaud.
I curtsied to Sando, and he bowed to me, just as every other pair did to their partner. I then headed first toward Father, who, the moment he saw me, broke off an entire conversation with several high-ranking lords and turned toward me.
"Is it to your liking, my beautiful Isolde?" He hugged me tightly before kissing my forehead. "I hope you're happy with everything."
"It is splendid indeed, Father." He smiled before taking my hand and leading me toward the lords. I didn't recognize a single one of them, but I stood with them for several minutes while they talked about me, the ball, and their young, handsome sons who were looking for wives to settle down with.
The moment they began speaking about that, I excused myself, saying that I was looking for my brother.
But I never said which brother.
After a bow from them and a small nod toward the King, I moved through the crowd of people who smiled at me or tried to stop me and speak with me.
In the distance, I saw Faran sitting with another group of ladies, only this time they were different women.
From the dresses and poorer jewelry, I could tell they were probably lower-born ladies brought by the lords in hopes that one of them might catch someone's eye.
That wasn't the problem, and I didn't mind that they were there.
What bothered me was that Faran was now speaking to them, flirting with them, twisting their thick hair around his fingers.
I didn't blame them. Of course, marrying a prince, even one like him, would probably have been the best opportunity they could ever receive.
They just didn't know what kind of man they were hoping to share a bed with.
I managed to push my way a little farther through the crowd, all the way to the right side of him, and as I passed the last group of people, something bright and large caught my eye.
Lys. Twenty feet away from me, following every step I took in parallel. His gaze remained on me, but he still respected the King's order and didn't come any closer.
My Lys. My knight. My shadow.
Faran didn't hear me approach from behind and stop directly behind him. His attention had been captured by a beautiful lady who was doing everything she could to keep him in that spot. One of her legs was draped across his lap, her bare pale thigh shimmering beneath the dimmed lights.
"What do you think you're doing?" I whispered into his ear. He straightened immediately.
"Sister!" he exclaimed happily. "I didn't hear you coming, darling sister."
The woman on his lap tried to pull her leg back, but he grabbed the flesh of her thigh so tightly that she flinched.
Still, she didn't say a word. The other woman, the one he had been paying less attention to, managed to slip out of her chair, bow, and leave.
"Do you really think you can dictate who comes near me? At my ball?!" The girl still tried to free herself, but he only tightened his grip on her leg, hard enough that I could see the bruise forming beneath his fingers.
"Sister, I'm only protecting you two. I have to protect your honor."
"Our honor?" I hissed. "Do you think that means our royal knights are immoral toward us? That they don't fulfill their oaths? Do you think that we, the princesses—"
"Everyone wants to fuck a princess, Isolde." He turned toward me with such a smile that the words made my skin crawl. The poor girl on his lap had given up trying to escape and had gone rigid.
"Maybe everyone does, but they can't, Faran. And you, who fucks everything that moves, have no right to speak about morality. Especially when the lady sitting on your lap will be wearing your bruises tonight."
I whispered it quietly enough not to draw the attention of the entire ballroom, but loudly enough for both of them to hear.
He hadn't even noticed that the table around him was completely empty. He never does. No one, absolutely no one except these two unfortunate women, wanted to sit by his side. Not even gold could pull them to sit by his rot.
Finally, with a groan, he shoved the girl's leg from his lap, and she stood. With trembling lips and tears in her eyes, she somehow managed to say our titles before fleeing.
"How are you not ashamed of yourself, especially in front of all these people?" I asked him. He clenched the fist resting in his lap.
"Watch your language, Isolde." He turned toward me again, those dead, cold eyes looking across my face. If I had been without Sando and Father protecting my back, I would have been afraid of the man staring at me.
"Women, Isolde, are easy and stupid. They need a good guide through life. Like that horse you were given earlier. You break her first, and then she follows without even needing reins." I clenched my jaw as he gestured toward the musicians.
"And now, Isolde, the prince is waiting for your dance."
He said it with a smirk as he raised his glass toward his lips.
I nodded at him, but before his lips could touch the glass, I snatched it from his hand and threw the wine behind him.
He clenched his rotten teeth and faced the ballroom before him.
I took a step backward, lifted the skirt of my dress, and turned toward the prince in white waiting for me in the middle of the ballroom.
All while my eyes wandered towards the knight with a small shell on his armor.