Chapter 35 #2
“You are stunning,” he stated, matter of fact, and I gasped as shadows I hadn’t noticed swirled around me, solidifying and sweeping me towards him as his gaze grew hooded.
Hungry. I collided with his chest, my hands coming up to rest on it and lessen the impact.
And maybe part of me just wanted to touch him, to feel how solid and real he was, and his strength and power as it pulsed around him, sinking deep into my bones.
He would keep me safe. He gazed down at me, a dark sort of light in his eyes, one laced with possession.
“Perhaps I should not bring you with me. You are too beautiful tonight. So filled with light that you are blinding.”
“Have you been drinking?” My nose wrinkled as I frowned up at him, concealing my urge to smile as I teased him back.
He huffed and his shadows tugged me a little closer, until the full length of our bodies touched and I craved the feel of his skin against mine.
“You are beautiful,” he whispered as he gazed down at me, the sincerity in those words robbing me of breath, and all thought of teasing him fled. “Ah, my little wolf believes me this time.”
I stared up at him, into those bewitching silver eyes that were as bright and beguiling as full moons, and felt something in the very pit of my soul, in the depth of my being.
I was afraid.
I was afraid that I wouldn’t be the one who drew attention from others tonight, that I wouldn’t be the subject of wicked, hungry gazes.
It would be him.
And I would have to stand there as unseelie females courted his attention, pushed to the sidelines and overshadowed by their fae beauty and grace, and that Kaeleron would see me for what I was—for what Elanaluvyr had seen in me—nothing more than a common mutt compared with females of his own breed.
“I do not like these shadows that cloud your eyes or this dagger-sharp wrath that laces your scent.” Kaeleron loosened his hold on me and stepped back, putting some space between us that made some reckless and foolish part of me want to seize hold of him and keep him with me, as if I was in danger of losing him right this second.
“I’m not made for balls,” I admitted. “I can’t dance. I can’t be graceful. I’m not even fae. You tell me we’re going to a ball at the court of your high king of all places, and I have no time to prepare and… I’m afraid. I’m afraid of what might be there, and I know that makes me weak and—”
He pressed a solitary finger to my lips, sealing them shut, his gaze fierce as he stared down at me.
“Not weak. Merely sensible. It is just a ball, Saphi. A gathering of courts. No one will expect you to dance. No one will expect you to be anything other than who you are. And you do not need to entertain anyone if you do not wish. You can spend the evening with Vyr, and me.”
“I like the sound of that.” But I wouldn’t be opposed to dancing. There was something sad about the thought of going to a ball and not dancing at least once, even if I did a poor job of it and had to be tutored on the spot, or at least helped by a little magic.
Kaeleron tapped the boxes he held, drawing my attention to the one that now sat on top of the other. When I looked at it, he gracefully lifted the hinged lid, revealing the contents.
A white mask.
A wolf mask.
I frowned at the bejewelled ornate mask that glittered before me, beautifully decorated with what looked like diamonds.
“Turn.”
I obeyed that order, putting my back to Kaeleron, and he lifted the mask before me and carefully affixed it to my face, so it covered me from brow to nose.
“Do not remove it,” he breathed into my ear as his hands fell away from the mask and came to settle on my shoulders. He turned me back to face him and I lifted my hand, brushing my fingers over the smooth cool surface of the mask and then the diamonds.
“Why must I wear a mask?” My mind instantly went to it being because he was ashamed to be seen with me, but I silenced it with a louder voice that firmly stated if he was ashamed of me, he would be leaving me here, in Falkyr, while he went with the Shadow Court party to the ball. “Is it because I’m not unseelie?”
He canted his head, studying me, a flicker of something dark in his eyes. “So unsteady tonight. The little wolf acts as a little lamb again.”
I scowled at him from behind my mask. “I’m not a lamb.”
“There she is.” He smiled slowly. Achingly wickedly. “Banish those doubts that plague you. Bear fangs and tear them apart. Show them how fierce you are with gnashing teeth and flashing eyes.”
“If you’re mocking me,” I started but he shook his head.
“Not at all. I merely prefer this… this fierce little thing who so enjoys putting me and the world in its place.”
He was mocking me.
“So why am I wearing a mask if it’s not because I’m not an unseelie?”
“All will be masked.” He twisted and reached into the coach, and straightened to reveal his own mask as he donned it, nimbly tying it at the back of his head, the dark ribbon blending into his half-ponytail.
A black wolf.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, we won’t stand out at all now, will we?”
It struck me that I didn’t want to stand out.
For the first time in my life, I wanted to blend into the background, unseen by all even as I studied them and devoured the somewhat frightening experience of attending a formal ball filled with the most powerful unseelie in all of Lucia.
A ball where I knew I would feel like prey to the vicious, wicked predators that would surround me.
Not a wolf, but a lamb to the slaughter.
But there was a not-so-secret part of me that liked the sight of Kaeleron in his wolf mask, revelled in watching him as he made the empty box disappear from his hands, leaving only my other gift behind.
Maybe I could make it through this ball without every female pawing at him.
“The clothing is designed to conceal our identities.” He gestured to my gown and his attire, and I noticed for the first time that nothing about it marked him as from the Shadow Court.
Only the brand that warmed against my chest marked me as from his court.
“The high king prefers us all to be as one tonight.” His tone turned sombre but his lips remained fixed in a smile that had a melancholy air to it the more I looked at it and him. “We are to be simply unseelie. No court politics. No feuds. Nothing to divide us.”
“It sounds like he wants to make you all something you’re not.” When those words left my lips, his eyes narrowed, gaining a thoughtful edge to them, and then he slowly dipped his head.
“Perhaps so. He has a way of doing that.”
“Are the masks designed to conceal our identities too?” I touched mine.
He shook his head, and something like nerves laced his gaze before he shut it down. “The masks are the requested attire I told you about.”
My fingers stilled against my mask. “The reason you think this ball has something to do with me is because he wanted you all to wear masks?”
“Not just masks.” His eyes darkened as they held mine. “Animal masks.”
Animal masks.
A shiver bolted down my spine and tingles swept over my limbs.
The high king had set up a ball just days after his men had returned to Ereborne, having witnessed how the king of the Shadow Court had spent half his days away from his kingdom despite a war raging in the neighbouring Forgotten Wastes, and he had requested everyone wear animal masks.
“Well, I can certainly see how you might think this ball has something to do with me.” My voice wobbled, betraying my rising nerves as my mind raced, trying to come up with the reason the unseelie high king might want me to visit Ereborne.
“Perhaps I should not take you.”
My gaze snapped up to his and I blinked, my blood rushing in my ears as I heard other words. “You don’t want to take me. Because you’re ashamed to be seen with me.”
“Good goddess, no,” he growled. “Never. I just…” He went to scrub a hand over his hair and snarled when his hand met with his mask, knocking it askew.
“I could never be ashamed of you, Saphira. It is just… I do not know his motivations and I do not want to place you in danger. I am sure he is up to something, and the only things that come to me are bad things… terrible things. This is a test, or a show of power. Neither of these things can end well for us.”
My brows slowly lowered in a frown with each word he bit out, with every degree his expression darkened and the smell of fear and frustration tainted his winter storm scent.
“If you’re that worried, I don’t have to go.” I tried to hide the bitter disappointment that welled inside me as I felt the dress beneath my fingers, a dress made for a beautiful ball and for dancing with the fae I loved.
He blew out his breath. “But I need you there.”
I shook my head, a smile curling my lips. “Then I’ll go with you.”
I reached out and laid my hand on his arm, and held back my frown when I felt it trembling.
It wasn’t like Kael to be so shaken. It shook me a little too, making me want to tell him that I would rather stay at Falkyr, but I silenced that scared part of me and stood my ground against my fears.
Kaeleron would be there. He would keep me safe.
And he needed me there.
I could see it in his eyes as they met mine, so desperate and wild.
“I need you by my side tonight, little wolf.” His shadows snaked around my waist, pulling me closer to him as his gaze seared me.
I lifted my free hand and cupped his cheek, stroking it softly, keeping his gaze on mine. “I can handle this. Whatever happens. I’m stronger than you think, Kael. I can handle it.”
“I know you are strong.” His silver eyes searched mine. “But I do not want you anywhere near the high king. I just want you to be safe.”
I appreciated that. “I can do this. But if you’re that worried, I can stay—”