I jerk forward, tasting dirt and blood. The world around me spins and fades as my eyes sink closed. A beautiful girl with blue hair and a wry smile holds out her hand.
And I take it.
My eyes flash open,meeting a canopy of white high above me. I scrub a hand down my sweat-dampened face, my body racked by shivers. Some would say the nightmares are an aftereffect of the stardust, but I would argue they’re a result of life as a servant of the crown. I may not wear white and stand silently in an alcove, but I’m under no illusions as to my purpose in this realm.
To marry a princess, produce Vale heirs, and eventually turn to dust.
The door slams against the wall, rattling the empty whiskey glass on my bedside table and flooding the space with light. Kyff sprints into the room with the force of a monsoon, his hair and the black feathers of his wings fluttering when he leaps onto my bed.
“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” He bounces so hard, it feels like my spine is about to snap.
I manage to catch his flailing leg, and he collapses at my side in a fit of giggles. “It’s a little early for an earthquake, Kyff.” My voice sounds like I smoked a hundred cigars. I didn’t, though.
At least, I don’t think I did.
“Early? Don’t you know it’s almost noon?”
No wonder I’m so hungry. I let go of my baby brother in favor of the bit of leftover cake I convinced Bell to snag from the kitchens last night. The fork is nowhere to be found, so I pick up the slice with my fingers and take a heaping bite.
Kyff watches with his mouth agape. “You really shouldn’t eat cake for breakfast.”
“And you really shouldn’t burst into people’s rooms without knocking.”
“I did knock. Twice.”
“But did I give you permission to enter?” I say around a bite. This cake is delicious. A bit stale, sure, but that doesn’t stop me from stuffing every last bit into my mouth.
His frown deepens, making him look even younger. “No, but it was important. The princess is coming. I saw her guards with my own eyes.”
That’s today?Dammit. That means I only have nineteen days left before that awful woman and I are wed. I wipe my hands on my trousers, wishing there was some way to wipe away the tiredness as easily. Where’d Kyff get all his energy? Can he loan me some? “Thanks for the warning, little lad.”Time to hide.
Forcing myself out of bed, I collect my clothes from the floor next to an empty whiskey bottle. Boris put a stop to my usual excursions, but I found an escape all the same. I draw my shirt over my head and fasten the buttons as quickly as possible while shoving my feet into my boots and snagging my jerkin on the way to the balcony.
Kyff jogs after me. “Where are you going? Don’t you want to meet her?”
“I’m sure she hasn’t changed since the last time I saw her.”
“Please, Senan.” Kyff balls his small hands into fists and stuffs them into his pockets. “The king told me to get you, and if I don’t, he said I’ll have no supper.”
Boris is such an asshole. Kyff has nothing to do with this, and yet our eldest brother wields him like a weapon against me.
I cast a longing glance toward the sky before accepting today’s fate. Tomorrow, I won’t be caught so easily.
Kyff gives me a hesitant smile, but then his frown returns as his gaze sweeps down my wrinkled shirt and trousers. “He also said you need to be clean.”
When I curse, Kyff’s cheeks turn bright pink. Muttering an apology, I drag fresh clothes from the wardrobe and change like a good little pawn. Heaven forbid the princess see a wrinkle, lest the fragile woman faint.
Some of my irritation subsides when Kyff takes my hand, and the bounce in his step lifts my mood a bit more as we head toward the balcony. He is excited by all this nonsense; the least I can do is pretend to be the same and keep my cynicism from ruining his day.
Together, we fly to the main gates, where a crowd of Scathians wait on the balcony as the first winged Pegasus touches down. The thumping of the beast’s hooves only exacerbates the pounding in my skull.
I glamour my wings and follow Kyff through the throng to where Boris waits next to Rhainn. When he sees us, he affords Kyff a rare smile.
My baby brother beams, making all this shite worthwhile.
I take a deep breath as a second Pegasus appears in the sky. And a third. And a fourth.
Why are none of the guards or dignitaries flying themselves? We have a few beasts in the stables but rarely use them. Is this a Nimbiss thing? Gods, I hope not. I don’t want to fly on a smelly animal when I have two perfectly good wings at my back.