Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
FYN
Beautiful wasn’t sufficient enough to describe her. The gown she wore was unlike anything I had ever seen her in. A lace corset hugged her figure closely.
It was as if she had already left me when her eyes found mine.
Maybe I was too chivalrous when she was drunk. I’d never know what she was going to tell me now. It was probably better that way.
Whatever she would have said wasn’t enough to change her mind.
I had barely slept.
All I could think about was the starlight she drank—the answers we still didn’t hold. “You are well?”
“Well enough.” Her words were hardly reassuring.
The slender hall curved until it gave way to an even larger one, crowded with humans that stared at her as we passed.
“They’re ready to receive you in the throne room.” Lord Remus stopped just outside the doors that trailed from ceiling to floor.
He waved to the guards who opened them.
The king clutched the arms of his metal throne, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Ashlyn. Beside the throne stood two princes. One with a woman clinging to his arm and the other staring down Ashlyn.
“Princess Ashlyn of Bailoc.” King Harlan studied her intensely as she curtsied before him. “The stories are true. You look exactly as I remember your mother when I met her long ago.”
Ashlyn’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The unoccupied prince pushed his cloak back as he descended the marble steps. “Welcome to Estlen, Princess Ashlyn.”
My unblinking stare held as he lifted her hand and kissed it. I pressed my hands together behind me as they twitched.
“Thank you for inviting me,” she said.
“We are most grateful that you ensured Princess Ashlyn’s safety on the journey, Lord Chancellor.” Soren emphasized my title as if it was something to them, but his gaze only fixated on Ashlyn. “It will be an honor to get to know you, Princess Ashlyn.”
She stumbled backward.
It took everything within me to not catch her.
Soren grabbed her hand. “Are you alright?”
If she chose this, he would be the one to care for her.
Ashlyn nodded. “Yes, just tired from the journey still. It took many days to get here.”
“Rest if you require it, Your Highness. Tonight we will feast in honor of your arrival,” King Harlan said.
“We look forward to seeing how you both get along,” Prince Kilan said. “Soren, perhaps you and the princess should take a few moments together.”
“Are you well enough for me to show you around?” Every word Soren uttered was polished as if he had practiced it endlessly before her arrival. The cadence of his voice never once dipped.
“Yes, that would be lovely.” She seemed unsure of herself as she said it.
Not a single word she uttered was convincing. No, something seemed wrong.
Ashlyn’s gaze caught mine as she turned to leave.
Her stare was empty.
Her face paled with it.