After Torin’s speech, a servant appeared at our table with plates of salmon, rice, and a wildflower salad.
The salmon was perfectly cooked, with a light glaze. I took a tiny bite. As I ate, someone filled my glass with a zesty white wine. Sauvignon blanc, maybe?
Gods, this was amazing. Had the cooks enchanted the food?
King Torin moved through the room, taking time to speak with each of the princesses and some of the common fae. He approached our table just as I finished the last bit of salmon.
“Did you enjoy your meal?”
“Yes, it was delicious.” With a shock, I realized I’d managed to eat the whole plate. That never usually happened when I was heartbroken. “I didn’t have any dinner last night, and I guess I was starving.”
Torin leaned in and whispered, “Yes, as I recall, most of your dinner was on your shirt.”
And with that little comment, he was already moving on to Princess Alice’s table.
My empty plate was replaced with a fresh blueberry tart topped with whipped cream. The footmen filled delicate porcelain cups with tea and coffee.
As I was putting the last forkful of tart into my mouth, Aeron leaned closer to speak to us. “The king has retired for the night. I’m supposed to take you two lasses to your rooms. No idea where I’m supposed to put you, though. Torin never quite mentioned that.”
“We don’t have a room, Aeron?” Shalini’s eyes were wide.
His dark blond hair hung before his eyes. “I’ll need to speak to the king. Give me a moment, please.”
He hurried off, and I stared as his broad form disappeared through the doorway.
Shalini leaned in, whispering, “Maybe Aeron will let us stay with him.”
I took a sip of my coffee and watched as the other women filed out of the room. A number of them stared at me as they passed, and I caught hints of their whispers. Drunk…insane…ranting lunatic.
Moria cut me a sharp look as she passed, saying loudly enough for everyone to hear, “How lucky for you that the king was willing to entertain a sluttish tavern wench.”
Her friends burst out laughing, and they crossed out of the hall.
Maybe that explained the sense of unwelcomeness that seemed to hang over this whole castle like a dark miasma.
But those women hadn’t paid a bit of attention to me before. Perhaps Torin’s whisper in my ear had raised their hackles. A sign of favoritism.
I held the coffee cup to my lips and slid my gaze to Shalini. “Awkward.”
“Ignore them,” she murmured. “They know you’re competition. And there’s nothing wrong with being a sluttish tavern wench, anyway. Some of my best friends are tavern wenches.”
I snorted.
At last, we were alone in the ballroom, and the lights dimmed.
Shalini looked to me. “So, we just wait here?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what else to do.” A dark thought slid through my mind, making my muscles tense. “Do you think Andrew watched that viral video of me? God, do you think his parents saw it?”
“I don’t think about Andrew at all, and neither should you.”
Aeron returned to the dining room once more, carrying a lantern and looking pleased with himself. “Guess who sorted something out for you two, then?”
Shalini sipped her wine. “Was it you, Aeron?”
I rose from the table. “Thank you for looking after us.”
”My pleasure,” he said, his amber eyes on Shalini as he spoke.
He led us through the doors and into a gloomy hall. Dark forms seemed to loom in the shadows. I slowed to survey the taxidermied heads of animals—a stag with great horns, a giant bear’s head, and an enormous reptile with sharp teeth, which caught my eye. “What is that?”
Aeron paused, squinting into the darkness. “Oh, that?” His tone was nonchalant. “Just a dragon. They’re extinct now.”
I gaped at it. Just a dragon.
Aeron’s lantern cast warm light over the green scales. A plaque under the beast read, Forest Dragon, slaughtered by King Seoirse.
The light danced over more trophies, a massive boar and a creature that resembled a lion. Shalini gasped, and I turned to see her standing by what appeared to be a grotesque human head.
“Watch it, there. Back up a bit.” Aeron grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her away.
“I didn’t touch it,” she said hurriedly.
I moved closer, my lip curling with distaste. The head was wrinkly and gray, his hair long and white. But most disturbing of all, his eyes had been sewn shut.
A shiver danced up my spine.
“What is this?” I asked.
He stared at it, his jaw set tight. “That’s the Erlking. Killed by Torin’s father.”
In the light of the lantern, the shadows writhed over the gruesome display.
“So he was a king?” Shalini asked.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “No, not a real king. The Erlking was a fae, but one who’d gone feral—like a demon or a wild beast. He lived deep in the forest.” He met my gaze, his expression haunted. “Once, the forests were littered with the bodies of those he’d killed. A mass grave of fae, their bodies strewn among the oaks.”
I shuddered, wanting to get away from this thing.
“When King Torin’s father brought the Erlking home,” Aeron went on, “they left it to dry in the sun until it was completely mummified.”
Aeron led us through shadowy corridors, their dark stone walls hung with weapons and armor. On the top floor, he began to slow, and my gaze roamed over magnificent portraits of fae in regal clothing and furs. The portraits seemed to go on forever.
“Is this the royal family?” I asked. “Why are there so many of them?”
Aeron stopped walking and gestured at the paintings. “These are King Torin’s relatives. His lineage extends nearly five hundred generations, all of it carefully chronicled. Painting in the fae realm developed long before it did in the human world, so you can see realistic images going back thousands of years.”
“Wow.” I studied a painting of a man wearing black fur and a bronze circlet crown with a twisting golden torque around his neck.
“Would be amazing to see your ancestors like that, wouldn’t it?” he said.
“Or even my birth parents,” I muttered.
Aeron led us another hundred yards until we reached a large doorway—one of oak, carved with flowers. A brass doorknob shaped like a rose jutted from the door. He twisted the knob and gently pushed it open to a breathtaking gothic room, one in the shape of an octagon.
Shalini grinned. “Oh, my God, this is amazing.”
A vaulted ceiling arched above us like that of a Gothic cathedral. Stone carvings of roses adorned some of the peaks. Towering windows with pointed arches rose twenty feet high, flanked by crimson velvet drapes. Tapestries hung on some of the walls—forest scenes and mossy stone ruins. Two doors stood between the tapestries.
A four-poster bed awaited in one corner, opposite a fireplace with velvety chairs and a sofa. Crystal decanters and glasses sat on a mahogany table, and books with faded spines were tucked into alcoves around the room. An embroidered rug had been spread over the flagstone floor.
Aeron quickly crossed to one of the other doors, beckoning me to follow. “In here is the bath.” He pushed open the door to a stone room with a clawfoot tub. A star-kissed sky shone through a window, and a mirror hung on another wall.
I turned to see Shalini flop onto the bed. “Oh, my God, Ava. This mattress is divine.”
Aeron crossed to the next door. “Well, you can sleep where you want, but we have an advisor’s quarters here.”
He pushed open the door to a room that looked like a small library, with books and a dresser lining two of the walls, and a fireplace on the third. A bed rested next to tall windows that gave a view of the stars, and a black fur blanket covered it.
“Oh, my God, Ava!” shouted Shalini from the bed. “This place is amazing.”
I turned back to see her making herself comfortable with a book in her hands.
Aeron looked around the room uneasily. “This room isn’t normally used anymore, but…” His voice trailed off.
“Why?” I asked.
He frowned at me. “Bit nosy, aren’t you?” He cleared his throat. “Listen, if you win this, please forget I said that.”
Shalini tapped the bed next to her. “Come sit next to me, Ava. This is the most comfortable bed I’ve ever sat on.”
As I plopped down beside her, Aeron gave us a dazzling smile. “You’ll find clothes in the drawers and wardrobes.” He inhaled deeply. “The curios—” He seemed to stop himself and cleared his throat. “The human news crews in Faerie have insisted on some human technology as part of our deal. We have recently outfitted brand new electrical charging stations for your human telephones, and the…” He trailed off. “Whatever it is that makes the telephones get the videos and images through the air.”
“Cell phone reception and internet,” I said. “Thanks!”
I did not add that Madame Sioba had dissolved my freaking phone.
Then again, whatever kept me from obsessively checking for messages from Andrew was probably a good thing.
Aeron smiled, his cheeks dimpling. “Since you ladies seem to have made yourselves comfortable, I will see myself out.”
As the footman crossed the room, I called after him, “Thanks Aeron. I really appreciate all your help this evening.”
“Oh, no problem.” Aeron met Shalini’s gaze. “As I said, the pleasure was all mine.” His deep, velvety tone made the word “pleasure” sound positively filthy.
As soon as Aeron left the room, I nudged her. “He likes you.”
“We’ll see.”
A knock sounded at the door, echoing in the large, stony space. “See? He came back for you.”
The knock was louder now, impatient.
“Coming!” I called.
I pulled the door open to find Torin leaning against the door frame, his ice-blue eyes focused on me. “You did well.”
“I didn’t do anything.” I frowned. “Oh, you mean I didn’t cause another spectacle. What are you doing here?” I asked. “It’s quite late.”
“It is important that we talk before tomorrow.” He crossed into the room. “Will you be prepared to run a race in the morning? You do run regularly, right?”
On the bed, Shalini had pulled out her phone to watch an old season of Hitched and Stitched.
“I think I’ll do all right,” I said. “But I don’t have any running gear. Madam Sioba burned it all. I’ll need new running shoes. Size seven, Nike preferably. And a shirt and shorts, both size small.”
He nodded. “Fine. I’ll come by early to show you the course and bring you the gear. Though the other fae will be dressed more traditionally in bare feet and animal skins.”
“Sounds like I’ll have an advantage then.”
“You are fast, Ava. It’s why I chose a race to start. Usually, it’s a traditional fae dance or musical instrument, but I thought you’d have the advantage at running.”
I cocked my head. “How do you know I’m fast?”
“I was testing you earlier when we moved through the castle. You kept up with me well.”
I stared at him. “But you were walking the whole time. How is it impressive that I could run at your walking speed?”
He shrugged. “I’m the king, Ava. You must expect me to be naturally superior in most things.”
I blinked at him. “Do you really not hear how you sound?”
I actually thought the corner of his mouth quirked up a little bit with amusement. “Good night, Ms. Jones.”
He turned, and the door shut behind him.
