Chapter 7 Faolan
SEVEN
FAOLAN
There was a definite tension among the group by the time we reached shore.
Nyx and Kol seemed like they hadn’t gotten along the whole voyage and mostly avoided each other, while the prince seemed apathetic to his duties.
He was clearly resigned to his fate, but his mood had darkened significantly since we anchored.
It was almost worse than Kol and Nyx’s general bad moods, and that was saying something.
I didn’t know if this was how royal visits normally went, but I hoped it was not the norm.
How the Duke of the Light Kingdom wouldn’t be offended by the arriving party’s dark cloud was beyond me.
I was concerned that it would be mistaken for a challenge or some level of aggression, and we were walking into a potential problem.
Or maybe this was entirely normal? Maybe it was just expected for no one to be happy about their duty, and it was accepted as how things were.
Either way, I knew we’d be safe with three dragons among us, but I hoped it wouldn’t come to a point where I would need to expose what I was in order to ensure the prince’s safety.
I didn’t plan on returning to the First Kingdom for a good long while, perhaps ever if I could help it, and I wouldn’t want to face the King if we cocked this all up.
I was on high alert when we arrived at the Light Palace, and it seemed like it was not just our group that was in full readiness.
The palace guard was out in full regalia, and what I had to assume was the entire staff were present.
I watched Nyx go from reasonably tense to full-on enraged as we were welcomed.
But it was not the kind of ambush I’d been enlisted to guard against that we were dealing with.
It was an official state greeting. And surely that was just as dangerous?
Hadn’t Nyx said this was supposed to be a secret mission? There were bloody welcome banners out for our arrival. The whole damned kingdom would know this was happening if all the ceremony was anything to go by. No wonder Nyx looked fit to explode.
I watched Zaria try to calm him with a tiny hand on his arm, and probably an entire conversation mind to mind to reel him in.
I’d never experienced that bond, but I’d bet it was handy when you had a hulking dragon to talk down from raging…
and I’d bet it had other advantages too.
I pulled my mind out of such thoughts. It had been too long since I’d had someone under me, and my thoughts were too easily drawn into the gutter.
I turned my attention to the prince. His tension was also clear, though it was not nearly as volcanic as Nyx’s.
I imagined how this must feel for him, being told, this is your bride, be a good princeling and make it work.
I was far too driven by desire to ever be told who I must tie myself to under the Goddess’ eye for life.
Though I’d heard that royals and such who arranged these unions for political reasons simply continued to bed whoever took their fancy, and rumors of the heir suggested he would not be slowed down by something as insignificant as a bride.
This particular prince, however, didn’t seem that way to me.
Maybe I was wrong, but I was usually a good judge of such matters, and the prince had struck me as a decent male for as little of his character as I’d witnessed in the early hours of this morning.
I’d seen enough, though, to suspect he was loyal to his duties as prince over his own happiness, and that was a shame.
I could never understand why we all seemed to be prisoners of something, and why we couldn’t all just make choices for our own happiness.
What was the sense? And if one more fae said it was the Goddess’ plan, I would have to begin to question Her, and that was a slippery slope into blasphemy even I was reluctant to go down publicly.
I kept those thoughts on the inside where they were safe-ish.
Just then, movement at the top of the grand staircase caught the prince’s attention, and he turned to see his bride at the top of the stairs. Well, both the royal brides. Though I could tell they were beautiful from a distance, I was more interested in watching the prince’s reaction.
Prince Alaric tracked their progress as they descended.
He seemed unable to look away, though whether it was that he was drawn to their beauty or through a visceral reaction to the trap they were all being snared in, I couldn’t tell.
There was a part of me that wished I could rescue him from this fate, though I barely knew him.
And the princesses, too—they were all victims of this pointless political maneuver.
One of them was to marry this prince and perhaps live in a loveless, sexless existence.
The other was set to be Queen to the future King, and maybe the same loveless, sexless fate awaited her.
Or worse, maybe things would be expected of her that she was in no way prepared for.
I didn’t know whose fate was worse—I just knew it was sure to be awful either way.
Both females were stiff in posture as they clung to one another and curtseyed deeply to the prince. Greetings were exchanged, and a somewhat heated conversation was had between Nyx and the duke, surely a reprimand for publicizing the visit and endangering the whole endeavor.
But I wasn’t listening.
Because I had stopped watching the prince reacting to meeting his betrothed for the first time and really looked at the two females up close.
I was at the back of the group, my presence not meant to be acknowledged. I was a guard, nothing more. So my view of the princesses-to-be was obscured by the official party in front of me. But then I caught sight of one of them when the prince stepped to the side, and I drank her in.
I didn’t manage to avert my eyes before her gaze met mine.
It was a matter of a moment, but it was all it took.
Even if I looked away then, it was already too late.
A deep-seated pull formed in my chest. It drew me towards something unknown.
I was uncomfortable, and a sweat prickled on my brow.
My gut fought against it, and my entire body screamed to get myself out of there.
That feeling I always listened to was telling me it was time to go, and in that moment, there was nothing I could do that would not cause a scene.
Attention was the last thing I needed, so I forced it down.
I couldn’t give in to any of these feelings, not during this important moment.
I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes away from her.
I looked everywhere else in the room except in her direction.
I was here to protect, so I would be vigilant and survey my surroundings in order to be ready for any threat.
Not that I believed there was any threat in this kingdom greater than her.