Holiday Crown

by Nikki Jefford

  Cadmi pulled on my chain, yanking me back to my underwater migraine. “What are you thinking about?” she demanded.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

  She ate up my mockery. Smiled with teeth that looked extra white against her dark skin. “I’m thinking about you and what I’d like to do to you,” she purred.

  Subtle.

  Let her kiss my halfling ass. Figuratively. I didn’t want her glossy bronzed lips anywhere near my actual hindquarters—or front quarters for that matter.

  Then her fingers were brushing over my groin. I caught her wrist and pulled her hand away with a growl.

  “Not here.” Not anywhere.

  Her eyes lit up as though she believed I’d whisk her off to a private room and allow her every liberty she desired. I was tempted to push her away, toss off the crown and chains, and end this whole charade when I noticed a set of piercing brown eyes glaring my way.

  Crispin Maglen, Earl of Ashcraw, scowled two couples over. He stood a good foot from his dance partner, Pervinca Peppercuff, probably because she was wearing a full ball gown packed with layer after layer of swirling green-and-blue tulle. Crispin was tall and lean, draped in a white toga with a blue-and-gold sash. Beneath a gold crown, his silky light brown hair hung loose. Usually, he wore it tied behind his back with a silk ribbon.

  I wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be. I didn’t know what either of them were going for other than to look pompous and pretty together—as usual. I was forced to see them together at the kingdom’s parties. They were practically engaged. Everyone knew it. Their parents had been planning the union from the time the pair hit puberty. I kept waiting for an invitation to the grand Maglen and Peppercuff engagement ball, but announcements had yet to appear.

  Crispin’s sister, Kenzie, danced with a squid nearby, grinning with delight. She was only a year younger than Crispin and me and one of the few friendly nobles in the area. If she weren’t related to Crispin, we could have been friends. Wearing a purple-and-teal mermaid gown, she dressed like she actually understood the concept of an under-the-sea ball. Unlike the Roman emperor Crispin had come as. A sequined starfish barrette shimmered prettily from the side of Kenzie’s wavy red hair. She looked more like a Disney Ariel from the human world than a tailed temptress in Faerie. It was refreshing. Too bad I couldn’t tell her.

  Crispin noticed me looking at his sister and tightened his jaw. I smirked at him before casting a lingering look over Kenzie, knowing how much it would eat him up.

  While I was distracted, Cadmi reached down and grabbed me. Crispin was watching, looking all arrogant and disgusted. I took off my crown and necklace and handed them to the nearest female.

  “Hold these,” I ordered before wrapping my arms around Cadmi’s waist. I lifted the nimble female off the ground and spun her around. Her gasp of delight reached my pointed ears. She knew I was giving in, that I was about to perform and take her with me.

  No one here could outdance me. The hired performers could try to keep up, but I’d had over a decade of ballet lessons and a passion for movement that could never be taught. I owned the stage.

  I lifted Cadmi’s arm and leg into the air. The violins played faster, as though commanded by my impromptu performance. The music flowed through me like a current weaving along a creek bed.

  Everyone around us stopped dancing to watch. I lifted Cadmi again, guiding her movements, bending her to my will. I felt like an artist molding clay. A breathy gasp came from one of the females who had been fighting for a chance at me earlier. When I danced, it was sensual and gritty, not full-on Cirque du Soleil (which was awesome) but definitely not classical.

  I twirled Cadmi in front of me. She was good at keeping up and improvising. When I let go of her, she continued twirling. I took that opportunity to leap into a pointe.

  The crowd clapped. I didn’t want to perform for them. Dancing was my own special escape.

  I should have left when I had the chance. It was too late now. Once I caught Crispin’s attention, there was no walking away.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Crispin

  Lark Elmray was making an absolute spectacle of himself, yet again. Lark. Even his name sounded like a joke.

  Pervinca huffed over the next round of applause. “I thought we were attending a ball, not the theatre.”

  She sounded moody, as usual, but I didn’t miss the way she toyed with one tight brown curl, twirling it around her finger while Lark spun Cadmi Quickhorn. My upper lip curled. Cadmi was a viper. She’d made my sister cry at my family’s last masquerade ball. Told Kenzie she shouldn’t wear pastel with her skin tone because it made her look like a cadaver. I wanted to boot the bitch out after Kenzie confided in me, but my sister had begged me not to mention it to our father. He’d only say she needed to toughen up.

  The real surprise was seeing Lark with his hands all over his most vicious critic from the old days, before he became some kind of fucking legend around here. Cadmi used to bitch about the “halflings” in residence every time Lark and his family were at the castle.

  Pervinca folded her arms beside me, and I was reminded that she was no better than Cadmi.

  “I don’t know which is worse, having that human fraud acting like she’s a queen or that elf tramp tarnishing royal traditions,” she’d said. Her complaint was always the same: “Greedy elfling. One Fae king wasn’t enough for her. She had to go and seduce two of them. It’s a disgrace.”

  Arms folded tightly, the only time Pervinca eased off her glare was when her eyes followed Lark’s movements. The Elmrays were all beautiful. Lark took after his father (his real father), King Lyklor. They were golden-haired gods with tanned skin and bright blue eyes. Lark kept his blond hair short, but there was a lot of it waving around his head and face, defying gravity. Kind of like the male himself.

  When Cadmi attempted to leap into the air, Pervinca sneered. “She’s slowing him down. Doesn’t she realize how ridiculous she looks?”

  Not ridiculous but nothing like Lark. He did a cartwheel into the crowd, immediately followed by a backflip. Then he was on the ground, a bronzed leg sweeping over the floor as he spun. For a moment (or maybe just a millisecond), Lark’s eyes lit up, and a serene smile played over his lips before winking out as though it was never there.

  When the song ended, applause rang out, and the crowd surged toward Lark like a tide intent on swallowing him up.

  “Breathtaking!”

  “You are beauty magnified, Prince Lark.”

  A female in a netted skirt shoved through the gathering to hand Lark his crown and thick circle of chain links he’d worn around his neck. How many years had it been since he’d started up all this pageantry?

  I still remembered our years of boyhood, a time when Lark would have cringed at this kind of over-the-top attention. He used to keep to himself. He’d seemed to have this hidden charm he reserved for a select few. I liked the way Lark was before: carefree and full of smiles. I liked that he didn’t fit in, that he hadn’t become one of us. A bunch of jaded, pretentious faerie assholes who only knew how to laugh in mockery.

  I thought Lark’s family and his time in the elven and mortal realms would have kept him grounded, but in the end, he’d succumbed. He’d become the golden prince. The darling of Dahlquist. Just another shallow prick. And, yes, that was a deliberate pun given my current surroundings. Not all Fae are lacking in humor, believe it or not.

  Lark tried to befriend me once when we were boys. Right before I fucked it all up.

  “What do I have to do to get him to notice me?” a female quipped from nearby.

  “I told you to come as a mermaid instead of a goldfish, Koko.”

  “But I’m a sexy goldfish.”

  I barely spared a glance for the female in her shiny orange leotard with a short iridescent skirt matching her wrist and ankle bands. I wrinkled my nose, then lifted my arm to Pervinca. “Now that Lark’s commandeered the dance floor, we might as well sample the refreshments.”r />
  Pervinca leaned away from my arm and scowled as though I’d invited her to feast on fish guts. Craning her neck to peer in the direction of the walls, she frowned. “The refreshment tables are deserted.”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “All the action is happening right here, Crispin. Sky, you can be such a bore.”

  My jaw tightened. “Perhaps a handstand is more to your amusement.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Pervinca said with a lofty lift of her nose. Her eyes, however, slid in Lark’s direction and seemed to glow the more she watched the commotion surrounding him.

  “Have it your way,” I said sullenly. “Wait in line for an audience with the halfling prince.” I threw in a sneer, not intended for Lark. He was the easy target when Pervinca was driving me up the fucking wall.

  We weren’t promised to one another. Not yet. But our parents wouldn’t let us put it off much longer.

  I stormed away from Lark’s admiring flock, making my way to Thayer, who had graciously offered to hold on to my trident while I danced with Pervinca.

  With hair highlighted in various shades of blue, Thayer fit right in with the theme. He wore his fine locks feathered with wispy strands thinning out over his pale collarbones. Black fitted trousers hugged his hips, above which he wore a designer shirt printed with dolphins.

  “Thanks,” I said as he handed me my trident.

  “Try to resist the temptation to stab Lark Elmray with it.” Thayer smirked at the crowd swirling around the golden prince.

  “Or Pervinca,” I muttered.

  Thayer’s violet eyes snapped back to me. I should have kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to give him false hope. I’d ended our tryst months ago. It was pointless. We were both firstborns. Our families expected us to produce heirs. Plus, he wasn’t my type.

  “Let’s grab some drinks and wander the corridor,” Thayer suggested.

  A teal-haired female wearing a seashell bra strode past us to get to Lark. I could no longer see him with the masses crowding in.

  I turned my attention back to Thayer. “I told you it’s over.”

  Thayer shrugged, and I didn’t even think it was for show. “If you change your mind . . .” He left it at that before sauntering off toward the quartet.

  I needed a drink—something that wasn’t decorated with dolphins.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Lark

  Cadmi clung to me as the crowd thickened.

  I pushed her away. I’d spotted a bigger fish.

  Crispin had stormed off, and Pervinca started eyeing me up and down with a look that suggested she’d like to lick the gold shimmer off my arms.

  Interesting.

  I did a quick search for Crispin, taking note of his place at the refreshment tables with his back to me, a trident in one hand and a bubbling drink in the other.

  I could feel the grin eating up my face with each step I took toward Pervinca.

  Once she saw I was heading to her, she pretended not to notice. She lifted her slender wrist and ran her fingers over a sapphire bracelet.

  “Hello, Pervinca,” I said in a low, deep voice.

  “Prince Lark,” she said, feigning boredom.

  “Dance with me.” It was a command, not a question.

  Pervinca’s eyes glittered in outrage while her lips twitched in excitement. “I prefer to keep my feet on solid ground.”

  “You enjoy it standing,” I said in a suggestive tone.

  Pervinca’s cheeks pinkened, and her eyes expanded. The look morphed into fury that practically radiated off her cheeks. “You are a rake. Boorish spawn. Vulgar. Crass.”

  My shoulders shook with laughter.

  “What?” Pervinca demanded.

  “At least you’re not smooching my ass.”

  “I would never stoop that low.”

  “What if I was the one . . . to stoop?” I asked huskily. I let my eyes slide down the front of her gown. Let her draw her own conclusions as to my intent.

  Pervinca moistened her lips with her tongue and looked from side to side before lifting her chin. “You shouldn’t speak to me that way.”

  “I’m the prince of Dahlquist. This is my castle. I can speak any way I like.”

  She made little huffy noises, probably to cover up her excitement at this little game we were playing. Pervinca and Crispin always looked so stiff and miserable when they stood together at these functions—your typical Fae couple. My family was an anomaly, one built on love and trust. It was sad how all these Fae nobles looked down on one of the best things worth living for.

  “You’re looking a bit feverish, Miss Peppercuff. Allow me to escort you to the gardens, where we can cool off or warm up, depending on the mood,” I whispered beside her ear. “I promise to be the perfect gentleman, unless you tell me otherwise.”

  She took note of my word choice. A Fae promise was powerful.

  I held my arm out to her. She wrinkled her nose. I’d known she’d be a hard one to hook. I kept a mental list of faeries who needed punishing. I’d crossed off two. Ruined one engagement and the reputation of a pretentious female whose parents were super old school. I hadn’t actually done anything so much as staged things and let wagging tongues take over from there. Loopholes were all the rage among a race who couldn’t lie. It could start with “I saw,” or “It looked like,” or “I thought I heard,” or even “I bet they” dot, dot, dot—fill in the blank.

  The irony wasn’t lost on me that I was still a virgin. Dance wasn’t my only specialty. I was quite the actor as well.

  I’d meant to sneak away with Cadmi. She was high on the list. But Pervinca was even higher, and I wasn’t one to ignore an opportunity. She wasn’t number one, but if I played things right, I might strike a chord that echoed all the way to the top. That’s where the name Crispin Maglen, Earl of Ashcraw, resided all high and mighty. He’d always be at the top. Somehow, I knew there was no taking him down. Not unless I fell with him.

  “Fine,” Pervinca said pertly. “It’s getting overcrowded in here. How many invitations did your aunt send out? She ought to be more selective. I hardly recognize half the cretins flouncing around the ballroom. A party starts to feel less exclusive the more civilians you allow in, you know.”

  I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. How could Crispin stand her? Probably why he was drinking.

  I needed to get Miss Prissy Pants out of the ballroom before he noticed and stopped us. Some busybody could report seeing us leave together a little later. I wished I could see his face when he got slapped with that juicy broadcast.

  “Let’s not tarry,” I said, ushering Pervinca along. But Pervinca wasn’t one to be rushed. No, she had to sweep out of the ballroom like a damn Disney princess.

  Maybe I didn’t need to mess with Crispin. Pervinca Peppercuff was probably punishment enough. A lifetime of misery. My heart dropped as a well of sorrow opened inside my chest. I felt as though I might trip and fall into it, then drown in the endless waters below.

  I lifted my chin. Resolute. No. I should definitely mess with him. He needed to suffer, at least a little, for ripping my heart in half before I even realized I had a heart for the breaking.

  Pervinca prattled on beside me the entire walk to the private courtyard. It was dark when we stepped outside. If I’d known I would snag Pervinca Peppercuff, I would have lit the lanterns ahead of time. Instead, I called fire into my palm. As the fire lit, so too did Pervinca’s eyes. Her lips parted.

  “It’s true, then. You have elemental powers.”

  “Among other qualities,” I said.

  I moved around the courtyard, lighting each lantern with my fingertips. Firelight glowed over the stone benches, fountains, and trim shrubbery. I walked over to the stone statue Uncle Liri had commissioned in my likeness. It was life-size and nude. I leaned one arm against it and asked, “What do you think?”

  Pervinca’s layers of tulle swished with her when she walked over, stopping in front of the statue. She looked it up
and down, openly staring at the generous carving of the genitals.

  “If you wish to compare, I’d be happy to oblige,” I offered. I hooked one thumb under the band of my Speedo and snapped it against my hip bone.

  Pervinca took her eyes off the statue and narrowed them at me. “I can see quite enough as it is,” she said pertly. “I’m not one of your naïve conquests, Prince Lark. I know all about your game of luring ladies to private quarters then attempting to seduce them.”

  Smirking, I let go of the statue and folded my arms just below the gold chain. “Then why did you come here with me?”

  Pervinca pushed several curls over her shoulder and lifted her nose. Just when I thought she couldn’t act more superior, she stretched that particular appendage to new heights. “Curiosity,” she informed me. “I wanted to see you in action. I must say I thought you’d be more charming.”

  “If you wanted charming, you’d be toasting flutes of bubbling wine with your bore of a boyfriend, the earl.” I showed my teeth when I smiled.

  Pervinca pursed her lips.

  “You have your entire life to live a boring, proper existence, Pervinca. Don’t you want to live a little for one night?” I lifted my chin, higher than her nose. “Don’t you want to be ravished by a prince?”

  She shivered slightly. It wasn’t cold out. Dahlquist was rarely cold.

  Pressing my luck, I moved one hand to my heart and looked at her in earnest. “I promise I won’t tell a soul, upon my honor.”

  “Upon your promise,” Pervinca corrected. She grinned. “If I were to grant you such favors, it would have nothing to do with your supposed honor.”

  I shrugged. “Is that a yes?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  Sky, she was aggravating, but she wasn’t storming away, either.

  It was fitting to do this here in the castle courtyard. I still remembered the day Crispin had wandered in while his parents spoke to my fathers in the throne room about boring matters of the realm. I’d been twelve at the time. My brothers were still children, off in the nursery. I had a basketball from the human world that I was bouncing around the courtyard, practicing my dribbling and spinning the ball on the tip of my finger.