“Fergus,” I said, my voice soft. His offer of help, knowing what his father would do to him, brought tears to my eyes. “You don’t have to. I don’t know your father well, but even I know you should care what he’ll do if you’re caught.” I would rather do this alone than subject him to his father’s wrath.
Fergus’ eyebrows rose as his gaze fell on me. “Let’s hope I don’t get caught, then.”
I grabbed his arm, keeping my voice firm. “You’re not leaving me up here while you take all the risk. I’m coming, too. I’ll wear the dress Willow offered and I’ll be able to confirm if it is Mother down there or not.” Fergus had seen her more than once. He could probably confirm it too, but this was about my mother. I wasn’t sitting this out.
Fergus paled and shook his head. “You can’t.”
I threw Willow and Jax a please help me glance. They didn’t want Fergus in trouble with the king any more than I did. Surely there was less chance if I was there, too.
Willow shook her head. “What he said.”
“Sorry, Bria.” Jax pressed his lips together.
I looked between the three of them, trying to figure out why they were so resolute about me staying up here. “What exactly is going on down there tonight?”
Fergus swallowed. “It’s my naming ceremony.” He took in my blank stare, gave a long blink and added, “It’s the last chance for the Unseelie heir to commit to his future queen.”
“A wedding?”
Willow shrugged. “More of a public commitment ceremony. And a chance for Father to gift Fergus with a family heirloom.”
“Pfft.” Fergus shook his head. “He’s giving me a sword. Of all the things I need, it’s not one of those.” That was true. As Xion, he always had a sword strapped to his waist.
Willow sighed. “Play nice, Fergus. Father is doing his best.”
A rough laugh came from Fergus’ lips. “His best? My so-called heirloom isn’t even something from our family. It was given to him by a friend!”
“Well…” Willow’s smile was weak. “It’s better than nothing.”
The ancestry of the sword didn’t interest me, but something else did. “Do you have someone to commit to?” I smiled as I spoke, hoping to hide how much I already disliked her.
Fergus shook his head, letting loose a deep breath. “The search for the woman from the masquerade should have delayed my naming ceremony. Once she was finally found, the king would have granted me a year to get to know her. But…” He shrugged. “Other things happened, and I never got to ask for the extra time.” Other things like both of us spending weeks imprisoned in Seelie.
Willow cleared her throat. Fergus turned to her. “If you have something to say, Will, just say it.”
“Father expects to either meet the woman you’re bonded with tonight or invoke the Choosing.”
Jax climbed to his feet, not looking quite so carefree. “Sorry, Ferg. The king pushed so hard for answers, I had to give him something.”
Willow took a step toward Fergus. “He knows Xion ditched the rest of the Hunt with a girl. He believes Xion brought that girl straight to you. Haven’t you and Jax talked yet?” She looked Jax’s way. “Haven’t you told him that Father’s been questioning you for weeks?”
Fergus shook his head. “There hasn’t exactly been a lot of time, especially since I expected he would be out with the Hunt all night tonight. We were planning to speak in the morning. I had no intention of coming here tonight.”
I was totally lost in this conversation. “What does Jax have to do with this?”
Jax and Willow gave Fergus a pointed glance. Fergus shrugged. “Bria knows about Xion. And about Jax’s ability to look like others. Just say whatever it is you want to say.”
Jax grimaced. “Your father called for Xion several times while you were gone. He was overly suspicious, and I thought he would guess he wasn’t talking to the real Xion Starguard. Or the real Fergus Blackwood, because I pretended to be Fergus as well. So I told him…” Jax looked at the floor and scratched the back of his head.
My heart fell. I knew what Jax had told the king without him saying it. “You told him that Fergus found the woman he bonded with.” And if I went down to that ballroom with him tonight, we were as good as telling the king the two of us would marry.
Jax nodded.
I didn’t want to be mistaken for anyone’s bonded mate. “Why would you do that?”
Jax ran a hand across his face, a snap in his voice. “I was trying to find a way to get you and Fergus out of Seelie while dealing with the king’s demands, while pretending to be Fergus and Xion. I just needed him off my back for a few days to give me time to think.”
Willow scooted around the table to stand beside Jax. “He was planning to come back to Unseelie today to tell the king that Ferg was in the Seelie prison. But he didn’t come.” She stared at Fergus, then at me. “And since you’re here instead, I assume he rescued you. So perhaps a little gratitude is in order.”
“Jax didn’t rescue us. Bria got us out of there.” Fergus flashed a tight smile at his sister. “She’s the only reason I’m standing here right now. Saved my life twice in one day.”
Willow leaned forward, her hands clenched into fists, and hissed, “She’s also Seelie.” She didn’t look at me, but she also didn’t hide the disgust on her face. Disgust over something beyond my control.
The same disgust I’d seen all my life from almost everyone I met. Everyone but Fergus and Jax. “Maybe I am Seelie. But unlike the rest of the world, I don’t choose my friends because of the things they can give me. I choose them because of who they are. Your brother and I are friends. Seelie or not, I chose to save his life. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. And I believe he’d do the same for me.”
Willow took a step back, shaking her head. She looked at her brother. “Is that true?”
Fergus nodded. I wasn’t sure if she was asking if we were friends or if he would save my life. But since he’d already saved me once, perhaps that was a given.
She turned her attention to Jax. “You’re okay spending time with a Seelie?”
“Fergus would be dead if it weren’t for Bria.” Jax shook his head. “So, yeah. I’m okay with Bria sticking around.” He looked directly at Willow. “I mean it, Will. You wouldn’t have a brother now without her.”
“Okay.” Willow strolled over to stare out the window. After a few moments, she drew in a deep breath. When she turned back to us, her face softened. “If you trust her, then I do, too.” She smiled at me, friendlier than before. “Now, how are we going to help your mother escape?”
I wanted to make sure I understood the problem. “If I go down to that ceremony tonight on Fergus’ arm, we are telling the Court that we intend to marry?
All three of them nodded.
Fergus said, “You don’t need to come with me. I can get your mother out.”
Jax raised an eyebrow. “The king really wants to talk to you. I’m not sure how you think you will extract the lost queen from under his nose without speaking with him. Without telling him you do not have someone to name as your partner tonight.”
Willow’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Fergus. “If Bria says she doesn’t want to sit up here and wait while you search for her mother, then you should listen. You’d never leave me behind if I wanted to go with you.”
Fergus spoke carefully. “Because I know you won’t leave me alone until I give in.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Willow was quicker, stealing the words from my mouth. “I don’t think she will either.”
She was right. I wouldn’t. “What time will the king expect this public commitment to happen?”
Jax shrugged. “Who knows with the king?”
Fergus’ smile was tight. “Any time he wants it to happen.”
Okay, so once we were down in the ballroom, we’d have to work on getting Mother out fast, before the ceremony began. “If I can’t go with Fergus
tonight, then perhaps I should go as Jax’s partner. I’ll confirm the woman with the king is my mother, then we’ll smuggle her out of there when—”
“When she goes to the bathroom!” Willow pointed at me, her voice rising in excitement.
Fergus nodded. “That might actually work. And if all else fails, Willow can distract Father while Jax and I drag the lost queen out of there.
I wasn’t sure if it was a sound plan, but it was a plan. And I didn’t have to do it alone, for which I was undeniably grateful.
Willow turned to Fergus. “You’ll wear Father’s anger if you pull this off, big brother.”
“I know,” said Fergus. “But every lash of his magic if he captures me will be worth it.”
Willow’s dress fit me perfectly and she somehow piled most of my hair into an elegant twist on top of my head, while keeping enough down to cover my ears, humming as she worked. We were in her chamber, just the two of us. I opened my mouth a few times to ask why she pretended we’d never met, but every time, I lost my nerve and bit down on the words I wanted to say. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure any of this was a good idea. “Won’t everyone be able to tell I’m Seelie?”
Willow fussed with my makeup. “They will if they look closely.” She turned her head so we were both staring into the mirror, preening her blonde hair a moment before speaking. “Your face is a little rounder here.” She touched her cheeks. “And here.” She touched her chin. “And your ears should be smaller than ours at the tips. But that one’s not an issue.” Her long and pointed ears were displayed proudly over her updo, while mine were safely hidden behind my hair.
I swallowed. “Not reassuring.” Nerves made my heart pitter-patter inside my chest. Maybe I’d see Mother tonight. Maybe I’d help her escape. Or maybe I’d finish the evening in a different prison cell to the one I’d just escaped from.
She grinned, her smile mischievous. “It is. No one will take that much notice. No one thinks my brother is stupid enough to invite an enemy into our home.” She pointed to a full-length mirror. “You look good, right?”
I stood and turned side to side in the mirror. I looked nothing like me. Nothing like the me I recalled seeing in the broken mirror in our cottage in Holbeck, anyway. I was thinner than I’d ever been—too thin, Mother would say. I hadn’t exactly had three meals a day since coming to Faery. The blue dress pinched in at my waist, making it appear even smaller than it had grown. With my brown hair piled up on my head and threaded with tiny blue flowers, the face that stared back seemed older, my eyes wiser. But those things could have marked me as any girl from across the border in Iadrun. It was what Willow had done with my makeup that had me staring in open-mouthed disbelief. With liquids, powders and brushes of all shapes and sizes, she’d accentuated my high cheekbones and full lips. The result was that—if I ignored my hidden ears—I was staring back at the face of a fae girl from Seelie. And that girl didn’t repulse me. She actually looked pretty good, even if I wasn’t used to seeing this part of my heritage. “Thank you, Willow. I couldn’t have done this myself.”
She beamed.
There was a knock at the door and before Willow could answer, Fergus poked his head around the edge. “Are you almost—” His eyes caught on me and he pushed the door slowly open, Jax walking in behind him. Fergus’ eyes wandered across my face, down my body and back up, while his mouth hung open in surprise. Everywhere his eyes lingered, my body tingled, almost as if he were touching me with more than just a glance. “You look … wow. Bria, you look exquisite. I wish it were you on my arm as I head into the ballroom.”
My breath caught and my heart somersaulted. No one had ever called me exquisite before. “You do, too.” My cheeks reddened. Exquisite wasn’t the right way to compliment a guy. Still, he looked good. His black hair was plaited down the center of his scalp and his eyes sparkled with anticipation. I would have liked to walk into the ballroom with him, too. Not because he was the Prince. But because I felt like everything would work out how it should if he were near.
Except, tonight it wouldn’t. Walking into the ballroom with Fergus was as good as announcing our relationship to the entire Kingdom of Unseelie. A relationship that didn’t exist. Better that I go in on Jax’s arm. Through the same entrance as the other guests who didn’t have rooms in the castle.
Fergus’ lips twitched. “I’m humbled I meet your approval, lady. I do aim to look exquisite each day as I leave my chamber.”
Oh, so that was how we were playing it? Some light banter to keep the nerves at bay? I could do that. “Ah, well. You shouldn’t feel too disappointed.”
His eyebrows rose, the smile he was trying to keep away, growing. “Disappointed? What reason do I have to feel such a thing?”
I shrugged, trying hard to keep my smile away. “That you only manage it once a year, of course. At least it gives you something to strive for each day.” Stars, what a lie. Fergus was the best looking fae in the entire kingdom. Everyone knew it.
Jax clapped Fergus on the back and Willow laughed loudly. Fergus opened his mouth in mock shock. He placed his hand on his chest. “I’m a prince, remember. I believe the rules of prince-friendship state that you must always tell the prince how good he looks, at any point of the day.”
I walked over and took Jax’s arm, ready to leave Willow’s chamber. Looking back over my shoulder, I said, “I believe I just did.”
Jax and I climbed down the staircase I’d used to come into Fergus’ chamber. With my hand on his arm, we strolled up the path as if we had not a care in the world, behind a large group who were talking in excited tones. At the ballroom entrance, Jax handed over an invitation while my heart pounded inside my chest. Mother was on the other side of the huge arched doors, and I hadn’t seen her in weeks. All that stood between us now, was the footman in his long-tailed blue jacket, holding Jax’s invitation.
I needn’t have worried. The footman cast a quick eye over the card Jax gave him before opening the double doors and letting us inside.
Jax nodded and waved to people as we walked in, everything about him looking comfortable in the ballroom of the Unseelie King.
Whereas, I felt the least comfortable I’d ever been. I cast my eyes around the room. “It looks different from last time I was here.” One long side of the room had last time looked down via a mezzanine onto a second ballroom below. Tonight, the mezzanine was gone, replaced by a living wall of plants. The other long wall had a marble staircase winding down from above.
“The king likes to change things up. He glamours the ballroom differently for each event he holds.”
“But not the ceiling?” The ceiling was glass, as it had been last time, so clear it was as if there was none there at all. Almost like we were standing outdoors.
Jax smiled. “Never the ceiling.” He pointed to the staircase, just as Fergus and Willow appeared at the top.
The ballroom was full of people, but few noticed the prince and princess. They were too busy dancing, or drinking, or talking.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t take my eyes off them. Willow had added a silver tiara covered in jewels to her hair, while Fergus wore a gold circlet on his head. He looked every bit the regal prince. He found me in the crowd and smiled. My stomach quivered. He was everything I’d been terrified of all my life, a powerful fae who would rule this kingdom one day. I couldn't believe he was the same person I’d talked to about more things than I’d shared with almost anyone else in my life.
He stopped on the top step, said something in Willow’s ear, and drew in a breath.
As they made their way down, a voice from the bottom of the stairs called, “Presenting Crown Prince Fergus and Princess Willow.”
Almost as one, every guest went silent, looked up the stairs and dropped into a deep curtsey or bow.
Jax pulled on my arm as he bowed, casting a narrowed-eyed stare that told me I’d better do the same. I did as expected, catching Fergus’ eye as I rose. His lips twitched, and he glance
d away. I knew exactly why he was smiling. I’d told him he’d never get another curtsey out of me. Well, he could be certain that was the final one.
Jax and I made our way toward the staircase where the moment he reached the bottom step, Fergus was detained by three men clapping him on the back. Willow ducked around them, taking my arm and pulling me away. “It’s better if he doesn’t have to introduce you to anyone. He’ll find us soon.” By us, Willow meant me and her. Jax had already inserted himself into the circle surrounding Fergus.
“Who are they?” The men talking to Fergus were much older than him, probably closer to the king’s age. Fergus laughed as one of them joked about something, yet he seemed ill at ease.
Willow rolled her eyes. “The high lords from the Winter, Autumn and Shadow Courts.” The Unseelie courts that fell under the king’s rule. “They don’t even like Ferg and think he’s too soft to be king, but they’ll be pushing to have him name one of their daughters as his future queen tonight.”
I frowned. “But isn’t the point of tonight for Fergus to announce the person he’s already chosen?”
Willow shrugged. “It is. But they’ll keep trying to convince him their daughter is the one for him right until the day he finally walks down the aisle.”
I glanced at Fergus again, deep in conversation with people who only wanted to talk to him because they expected it to help their cause. It made me angry. “Don’t they understand that the person they see isn’t the person he is?”
Willow watched me for a long moment. “Most people don’t understand that about him. Most people don’t understand that about anyone.” She took a last glance at Fergus then pulled me toward the edge of the dance floor.
My heart raced to the same beat as the music from the orchestra. The dance floor was busy with people dancing closely with their partners and none of the pre-determined moves that had been on show last time. I couldn’t focus on anything. Not until I’d found Mother. And so far, I’d had no luck.
Kingdom of Yesterday's Lies (Royals of Faery Book 1) Page 23
