Chapter Forty-Four
“I wouldn’t go in there,” Briar says. “The guests just arrived.”
I stand on the threshold of the servants’ entrance into Kassandra’s dining room while my friend pushes a cart of fruits and lettuce and bread by me. I glance at my old cotton dress I changed into after Healing. “I’m in uniform.”
“Kassandra requests that you stay in your room. You’re still Healing, and I can handle a party of three.”
“Depends on who the party is,” I mumble.
Briar arranges three tea sets, saying nothing.
“Does she not want me to know who—” I stop as it dawns.
“Avery, no—”
I swing open the doors with an unexpected rush of strength, my power spooling away faster than I can rein it in.
It hums along the plane of magic, sparking when it comes into contact with three other pooling energies: the twinkling cold of Kassandra’s, the deadly darkness of Dominik’s, and a third I do not recognize, a quiet rumbling.
Dominik lounges in a black tunic at the head of the table, facing my direction. He splits into a slow, lupine grin. His silver hair falls loose around his shoulders.
Someone drums their nails against the wood.
Kassandra sits at the head closest to me, stunning in a powder-blue gown that plunges to her belly button.
One long red fingernail taps against an empty wineglass, while her other hand digs into the armrest. When she faces me, her eyes narrow for a moment.
Idiot, I can see her thinking.
“Mistress,” I say, curtsying.
She turns away, bored. “As you were saying?”
“The king has extended a marriage proposal to our guest. I thought you should like to know, Kass.”
“Congratulations, Lady Rose.”
My breath catches. Seated along one side of the table is the pink-skinned fae who had been panting in my arms in the king’s bed last I had seen her. Had given her two orgasms and shared her with a royal, telling them both what to do. Rose Tunes. Heat rushes up my face.
“Thank you,” Rose says.
Briar rolls the cart into the room, and after moving to her, I reach for the basket of bread. Does Kassandra know I coupled with Rose? Is that why she’s here and my mistress told me not to be? No, it can’t be that. It must have something to do with…
“You and Maxian know each other through the Reign reunions, no?” my mistress asks.
Rose perks up. “Yes, we are—”
“Cousins.”
“Distant.”
Kassandra drums her fingers, watching Rose. “Do the Reign halflings come to the reunions or does that dampen luncheon conversation?”
The breadbasket slips from my grasp, and Briar shoots out a hand to grab it.
“You should listen to the lady,” she mutters.
But I am. I’m listening to Kassandra find another way to gather proof of Maxian’s heritage. I just didn’t realize she’d be so bold. Then again, it’s Kassandra. Then again, I kicked down the king’s door.
“Halflings?” Rose guffaws. “Why would they?”
“Considering how many half siblings must be running around—”
“So you’re accusing our guest and her family of either being a faerie-fucker or a cousin-fucker? Have some decorum, Kass,” Dominik drawls. “Besides, who cares? The late king and queen were first cousins, and they had one lovely son.”
I suppress my shiver. One. Lovely. Son. None of those words are true, are they?
“Careful, now,” my mistress says. “I wouldn’t want you to lose your genius, brother. You have so little to spare.”
So Dominik swore a blood bargain to keep the secret of the second Vandorne child, I understand. Does he know of Maxian’s mother, too? Something tells me that if he did, Illusion would have already pried the throne from Reign.
“Maxian truly is lovely,” Rose tries.
“Is that why your skin is so pink?” Dominik asks, and she gasps. My mistress clicks her tongue.
“He sent me an informal proposal as well. The day after I won the game.”
The plane thrums with a tight, anxious energy. Even the hairs on Briar’s arms rise.
“What a relevant piece of information you failed to mention,” he draws out.
“You were busy dying from the bite of a peach.”
“Kass.”
“What?” she sighs. “As you know, nothing means anything in Amyria without a contract. I was waiting on the formal letter of intent, the contract itself. Then I would’ve come to you and asked which companies you’d like included in the dowry.”
The Illusion heir cocks his head. “Have you received a formal letter, Rose?”
“No, not yet. But…”
So the king promised marriage to two females of two different Houses and has delivered on neither. He told me he wouldn’t marry Kassandra even if it saves the kingdom. Does he feel the same way about Rose Tunes?
“Faerie, my sister’s cup is empty and so is mine,” Dominik barks.
Briar starts. “We have tea, coffee, sparkling—”
“Wine.”
“Avery, I would like my glass filled first,” Kassandra cuts in, her eyes glinting with fury.
Briar and I share a look, then swap the bread and the decanter. As I approach, my mistress slides her cup to the opposite side of the place setting, out of my reach.
“Go on.” She motions. “Pour.”
My eyes flick between the two fae females. Rose has yet to notice me, her face turned toward Dominik in a strained smile. I lean over Kassandra to service her. With the distance between us closed, Kassandra hisses, low and cutting, “When Briar gives you an order, you listen.”
I tilt my head, taking in her kohl-lined eyes and berry lips. “Yes, my lady.”
“After you pour the wine, you’ll be dismissed for the night. Foolish creature.”
“Yes, my lady.”
She narrows her eyes. “I mean it, Avery. This is not one of those times where I want you to…” Her eyes drop to my mouth, and she glances away, drawing the glass to her lips and swallowing.
To what? To disobey?
“I’m parched,” Rose whines.
Kassandra nods in dismissal, and I circle down the table to Rose. Dominik’s inky eyes trail across my neck, to where my scar is hidden beneath my clothes. Rose’s attention returns to her food, which Briar plates and presents. While she’s distracted, I pour wine into her cup.
“I believe you two know each other,” the lord announces. “Intimately.”
I stiffen, the wine sloshing over the rim.
“Ugh, clumsy faerie!” Rose snaps, glaring up at me. Her face falls, deepening to a maroon shade. “Oh! Oh, it’s…you.”
“How did you two meet, again?” Dominik asks.
“The House of Reign, my lord,” I say, drawing back. I need to leave.
“What are—” Rose clears her throat, voice dropping. “What are you doing here?”
“She’s my Crest attendant,” Kassandra answers flatly.
“Yes, Avery—why are you no longer in House Reign?” the Illusion heir drawls.
“I, well—”
“Rose, how does Maxian fare in his week of grieving?” my mistress asks. “Is it not the anniversary of his mother’s death tonight? Or was that yesterday?”
My heart pounds.
“I believe it’s tomorrow, but he’s unavailable for the whole week, as you know—”
“You’d think the future queen could break him from his stupor,” Dominik mutters.
“No contract, no crown,” Kassandra says, looking to Rose. “It’s a declaration not of your character but rather of his indecision.”
“I do not think him indecisive in this matter.”
“No?”
“I have frequented his bed lately. Have you?”
I tense up again, almost dropping a plate of fruit. Rose has opened the door, one that Dominik now waltzes through with a smile on his face.
“If that truly mattered, then Avery would be the next queen,” he says.
All eyes in the room fall to me—Dominik with his smug expression, Rose and Briar with looks of horror, and Kassandra…My stoic mistress does not even purse her lips or flare her nostrils. Instead, she takes a sip of wine, glancing at her brother.
“ ‘Avery’ does mean ‘queen’ in the old Illusion tongue,” she says.
Rose chokes, bringing a napkin to her lips. “Pardon,” she whispers. “I feel I may have overstayed my welcome.”
“You all have.”
“You.” Dominik points to Briar. “Escort Lady Rose to her chambers.”
A beat of silence. Kassandra picks at her nails, yet I spot the nervous fluttering in the hollow of her throat.
“Go on,” she says to Briar, and then to me: “We’ll have the dessert now, please.”
My heart sinks at the resignation. She’s not just giving in to Dominik—she’s trying to clear the room so that the threat does not strike anywhere but her.
“My lady—”
“Return with our dessert and depart immediately. That is an order, and if you disobey, I shall release you from my waiting staff.”
I nod and restrain every muscle in my body to walk slowly—so slowly—toward the servants’ exit. As I swing it open, I steal one last look at the siblings who sit on either end of the opulent table, the plane brimming with unspent energy. When Dominik meets my eye, he grins.
The moment the door closes, I sprint to the kitchens.