She laughs. “I don’t think the Scathian nobility is ready for what I have to say. But if you need a bit more time, we could always take the servants’ stairs.”
“That would be brilliant.” I’m not even sure how to get to the solar from here.
Together, we step through the servants’ entrance and into the musty hallway. I grasp my skirts in my fists, lifting them high enough so that I don’t trip as we descend flight after flight of stairs until we reach the corridor that connects the towers. Down more stairs, through another tight hallway, and up another set, and we’re emerging into a room lit by the falling sun, where Senan’s voice pierces the silence. “You owe me.”
“Do not speak of what you don’t know,” a deep voice returns.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Braith whispers in my ear.
“I don’t know,” I mouth back. Together, we tiptoe into the room until we reach a set of high shelves filled with stone sculptures.
When I peer around the shelf, I find my prince speaking to a man who looks about the same age, but broader in the shoulders and not quite as lean. His black hair skims tight at the sides, showing off the rings along the points of his ears. This must be his brother Aeron. Braith peers around the shelf as well, and I hear her harsh intake of breath.
Senan’s hands flex and stretch at his sides as if he wants to strike his own brother. “I know all I need to. You were meant to deny Boris and yet you caved like a deck of fucking cards.”
“That isn’t what happened?—”
My hip accidentally grazes the shelf, and the bloody sculptures start to rattle.
The two princes whirl toward me. Aeron scowls, his lips drawing back with derision. He looks at me with such disdain, I feel like a tiny ant about to be crushed beneath his boot.
His head swings toward Senan. “You’re going to regret this.”
Senan’s eyes darken. “Will you do it or not?”
“She’s here now, isn’t she?” Aeron waves at me as if I’m a Pegasus to be auctioned at market. “I’m hardly going to say no.”
I have no clue what is going on between these two, but whatever it is makes me want to turn and run in the opposite direction.
Senan gestures me forward, and I step into the light. “Lady Wynn Simon, this is my brother Aeron Vale, Prince of Kumulus and now of Stratiss.”
He is using a false name, so Aeron must not know everything. And from the way they were arguing, he clearly isn’t on board with bringing me to dinner.
“I am truly sorry for putting you in this position,” I say, meaning every word. “I don’t mind returning to my rooms.”
Aeron shoots Senan a stern frown, then turns back to me. He doesn’t quite smile, but at least he no longer looks like he wants to commit murder. “Nonsense. I’d rather escort a beautiful woman to dinner than spend the evening chatting with a bunch of preening pricks.” He offers me his arm, and I take it.
“You don’t have to do this,” I say under my breath so that only Aeron can hear. Senan knows how it feels not to have a choice. Aeron should be allowed to refuse if he wants.
Aeron shakes his head, and what sounds like a resigned sigh pushes through his lips. “Senan is right. I do owe him.”
“Lady Wynn Simon,”Aeron says, introducing me to the tenth dignitary of the night. There are so many people stuffed into this dining room, it’s difficult to move without bumping into someone else. Even when I was serving, there hadn’t been thismany. I can only imagine how full the room would be at one of the grand balls.
Or a wedding.
“I assume your wife is back in Stratiss,” the man whose name I’ve already forgotten says to Aeron with a smirk.
When Senan suggested I accompany his brother, he failed to mention that Aeron was married. Not one person I’ve met has batted an eye at the idea of a married man swanning around the dining room with a woman who is not his wife. Like this is an everyday occurrence.
Fae lights dance in golden sconces between wide windows and in candelabras along the longest table I’ve ever seen. Each place is set with delicate porcelain dishes edged in gold. Champagne and white roses spill from ornate centerpieces. Clearly, they are already preparing for the wedding celebrations at the end of next week.
What are we going to do?
Don’t settle for shadows, Allette.
Everyone deserves to be loved in the light.
Braith’s words are a haunting melody playing in my mind.