Every morning on the Eos holiday, Cyrene’s parents would wake her up bright and early just as the sun was rising on the horizon. She would dress in her best golden gown and run downstairs to wait for the presents from her family. She and her siblings—Reeve, Aralyn, and Elea—would feast on her mother’s sweet cakes and marvel at the ribbons and gowns and chocolates that her parents gave them as blessings from the Creator on her day.

After the morning meal, they would bundle up in their warmest clothing and find a place on the streets to await the court with Rhea and the rest of the Gramm family. The court would parade through the city with the King, Queen, and Consort at the end of a column of Affiliates and High Order.

The mountains would loom overhead with their snow-topped peaks. And, if they were lucky, snow would hit the streets for the first day of the season. They would be exempt from lessons for the day. While a large group of Second and Third Class children of age were brought to Nit Decus castle for their Presenting ceremony, the city dwellers would play in the snow, and an annual snowball fight would break out in the streets.

Once Cyrene had reached a certain age, she was forbidden from the fights, but by then, she could join the festival in the city where everyone wore white ribbons in their hair and danced in the various banquet halls.

At night, her family would sit around the hearth and remember all the things they were thankful for on this day for the Creator. They would go to bed, full of love and chocolate and blessings. Rhea would sneak into their house through the second-story window and snuggle with Cyrene and her sister, Elea, giggling at cold toes and their adventures from the evening.

This Eos holiday, there would be no snow.

No mountains.

No family.

No Rhea.

Cyrene never thought she would miss the cold. Colder temperatures wouldn’t hit Eleysia for at least a couple of weeks, and even then, it would be nothing like home.

The door to her room opened, and Cyrene jumped. “Oh, it’s just you,” she said, when she saw Maelia’s face in the doorway.

Maelia toed the door closed behind her. “Happy holiday to you, too,” she said.

Cyrene sat up in bed and pulled the covers back. “Come sit with me.”

Maelia smiled brightly and dashed into Cyrene’s bed. For a minute, she could almost imagine Maelia as a kid with her Captains of the Guard parents easing up on her on this one day.

“This is my first year away,” Cyrene whispered.

“Mine, too.”

“I thought I would be in the parade in Byern. People would look up to me as I walked through the city. I’d been dreaming about it since I was a girl.”

“I’m glad I’m not in a parade,” Maelia admitted. “I just wish I were standing on top of the perimeter wall in Levin with my parents. It was the one day of the year when I was permitted to see the world from so high up.”

“I bet that was freezing,” Cyrene said.

Levin was even farther north than Byern, and they always had bitterly cold winters.

“You don’t notice the cold after a while.”

A knock sounded from the door. Both girls started and then giggled at the interruption.

Cyrene called, “Come in!”

The door opened, and there stood Dean, looking ever the part of the Eleysian Prince. He smiled when he found them in bed together. “Am I interrupting?”

Cyrene laughed. “No, we were just reminiscing about Byern.”

“And the snow,” Maelia said.

Dean shuddered. “The snow? Why would you miss the snow?”

“It’s home,” they said in unison.

“I see. Well, I came to bring you an Eos present, Cyrene. Maelia, I know that Darmian was asking around about you,” Dean said.

Cyrene’s eyes widened. “You and Darmian?”

“Don’t get any of your ideas. I’m sure it’s just…business,” Maelia said, already getting out of bed.

“‘Business,’” Cyrene said, making finger quotes.

Maelia rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her.

“Present?” Cyrene asked.

She got out of bed and stepped into her dressing robe. She didn’t feel comfortable dressed just in her night shift around Dean even though she sometimes thought the Eleysian clothing bared more than her Byern shift.

Dean walked around the enormous four-poster bed and casually took a seat on the down comforter. If someone had found out about that happening in Byern, the entire court would be talking about it. But he seemed so comfortable and confident in the space that she took the seat next to him.

He offered her a small box. She arched an eyebrow and then tore into it. She removed a bag from within and was delighted to find decadent Eleysian chocolate.

She popped one into her mouth and moaned. “Creator, this is delicious.”

“I did say I would ply you with them.”

Cyrene laughed. “Feel free.”

“But I have one more thing,” he said. He removed a tiny box from his pockets and opened it for her.

She stared at the contents within and went still. It was the most beautiful string of milky-white pearls she had ever seen. When she couldn’t find the words to respond, Dean removed them from the box and held them out for her to see.

“Dean,” she whispered, “they’re beautiful.”

“A family heirloom.”

“I can’t,” she breathed. “It’s your birthday and you’re giving me gifts.”

“Ah, but you’re going to the ball with me. That’s gift enough. And trust me, the pearls will look much better on you when you wear them tonight than sitting in a box,” he told her. “Allow me.”

She shifted her back to his chest until they were nearly touching. She could feel the heat radiating off of him. It took everything in her not to lean back toward him and let his warmth seep into her. She pulled her long dark tresses to one side. He placed the pearls around her neck, and then he clasped the necklace into place. His fingers trailed along her neckline, and she shivered.

“There,” he whispered, his breath hot on her shoulder. “Perfect.”

“Thank you.” She touched a hand to the pearls and faced him. “They’re amazing.”

Dean laced their fingers together. That one small gesture disarmed her. It was so simple yet meant so much. His thumb stroked her hand while the other hand came up to cup her cheek. Her breathing hitched as her eyes landed on his lips.

Dean smiled sweetly, and she could feel the tension blooming between them. She could distinctly remember the feel of his lips on her cheek all those weeks ago, and he hadn’t made a move since then. This was the closest they had been since he had asked to court her.

He must think her Byern modesty precluded kissing. Just when she thought that she was going to have to show him that it didn’t, he pulled back and stood.

“I have duties the rest of the afternoon, but I wanted to see you before I left.” He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her, his eyes boring into her all the while. “Until tonight.”

Then, he turned and left her room.

Cyrene flopped back onto the bed and let loose an exasperated sigh. What have I gotten myself into?

Cyrene stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was to meet Dean at the entrance to the ball any minute now. She touched the pearls at her neck once more. They meant something. She knew they did. Maybe everything. And none of the trepidation that she had first felt with him lingered within her.

She hadn’t found Matilde and Vera, but her magic hadn’t acted up either. Dean’s presence seemed to have a calming effect on her. Something that she noted happily.

But it did sour her mood that she had fled home and everything she loved for a mission that she couldn’t possibly accomplish. Even if she had found Dean in the process.

Cyrene felt a slight tug in her stomach as a someone approached her room from down the hallway, and a smile tugged at her features.

“You’re here!” Cyrene said when the door opened. Cyrene didn’t have to turn around to know it was Avoca who stood behind her.

“Happy Eos, Cyrene,” Avoca said with a small smile. “We’re all in position for the party.”

“Good. Let’s hope we fare better at this ball.”

Avoca nodded. “I think we will.”

Cyrene stepped down from the pedestal in front of the mirror and motioned for Avoca to follow her out of the room. They walked through the corridors on the way to the Eos ball. “Are you going to tell me what’s happening with Ahlvie and Ceis’f?”

Avoca’s smile froze. “Nothing is happening with either of them.”

“And Dean didn’t give me a family heirloom to wear to the party,” Cyrene said sarcastically.

“He’s openly courting you, Cyrene. You know he wants to be with you.”

“And Ahlvie and Ceis’f feel the same with you. Have you decided what you will do?” Cyrene reached for her hand.

“No. I can’t be with Ceis’f, and I will outlive Ahlvie,” she whispered. Avoca squeezed her hand, as if that was the end of the discussion, and then melted away.

Cyrene could feel a slight tug on their bond and wished her good luck.

Cyrene couldn’t worry more about Avoca’s issues, for she was approaching the rather large royal Ellison family. She took a deep breath and then proceeded down the hallway to meet Dean.

Everyone was milling around and chatting before they were to be announced to the holiday ball. Nearly all the daughters were married, and they had brought their husbands and children to the ceremony. Brigette didn’t have a date, but Cyrene noted with displeasure that Alise was on Robard’s arm. Therese and Tifani both had dates whom Cyrene didn’t recognize.

Dean intercepted Cyrene before she had made it all the way to the ground. “You’re stunning,” he murmured. He drew her into him for a heated embrace. He fingered the pearls around her neck. “They go perfectly with the gown.”

She smiled and stared up into his handsome face, basking in his affection. She had chosen an ice-blue gown, so light that it was almost the color of snow. She had almost chosen Byern gold but decided at the last minute that it might not seem proper. She still proudly displayed her Affiliate pin. She couldn’t hide who she was, but she didn’t have to flaunt it. And Dean didn’t care either way.

“We’ll be first,” Dean said, shuffling them to the front of the line.

Cyrene saw there were a few well-placed stares at the necklace around her throat, but Dean didn’t stop to let anyone ask any questions.

“First?” she squeaked.

“We go in reverse birth order.”

“I see.”

Dean loosely wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her toward him. “I’ll be right here the whole time.”

They approached the double doors to a large ballroom, and an announcer hit a solid cane to the ground twice to gain the crowd’s attention.

“Prince Dean Ellison of Eleysia, accompanied tonight by Affiliate Cyrene Strohm of Byern,” the man cried for everyone to hear.

Cyrene’s mouth went dry, and she froze. She couldn’t go out there. Everyone in attendance would judge her for being an Affiliate. They would all hate her for it. She had never backed down from anything, but with the new knowledge that the world despised the one thing she had always wanted in life—to become an Affiliate—she was wary of what that meant for her future.

“I can’t,” she whispered to Dean in panic.

He smiled down at her, as if nothing was amiss. “You can.”

“No.”

“I want to show you to the world, Cyrene,” he breathed. “Show the world you are mine.”

“Dean…”

“And nothing will change that.”

She opened her mouth to protest but found that she couldn’t. How can I fear this moment when I didn’t even stop to consider what to do in the face of a Braj in Aurum?

Cyrene looped her hand into the crook of his elbow and then nodded. They walked into the ballroom, and applause broke out. As she walked with Dean down the stairs, Cyrene couldn’t tell if people were happy to see her or not, but she tried not to care. Dean had just called her his. That was all that was important.

The room was decorated completely in white. All the tables had expensive white silk cloths that draped to the floor. The glasses were white frosted. White flowers of every variety were artfully arranged into centerpieces, so the entire room was perfumed with the fragrant scent. Servants were dressed in sheer white frocks and carrying trays of clouded drinks. The whole room looked blanketed in snow, and the familiarity of it lulled her.

They walked to the center of the room where space had been left open for the royal family. Introductions followed for all of his sisters. Therese and Tifani along with their dates were next. Then, Alise and Robard made it into the room. Robard shot Dean a dirty look, and Alise looked pleased with herself. She smiled brightly at Cyrene and waved like they were old friends. She was a dangerous one for sure.

The rest of his sisters filtered into the room.

Just when it was time for Brigette, the announcer cleared his throat, and a page ran toward him. He looked down at the piece of paper he had been given and nodded.

“Her Royal Majesty, Queen Cassia Ellison, the Matron Bride of the Sea, and the King Regent Tomas Ellison,” the man declared.

Cyrene looked up at Dean in surprise. “Where is Brigette?”

The whispers throughout the room proved that everyone else had noticed her absence as well. Brigette had been there when Cyrene and Dean were outside of the ballroom, and now, she was missing.

“I don’t know,” Dean said. He looked worried.

“Should we go check on her?”

He shook his head. “It would be best not to draw any more attention,” he whispered as his parents made it to the circle.

The Queen raised her hands, gesturing to the musicians to begin playing. But then, just as the first chord struck in the room, the announcer dropped his cane again.

Everyone swiveled back to the entrance to see what the commotion was. Someone was to be announced after the Queen and King? That simply wasn’t proper.

The announcer cleared his throat, and when he read the new piece of paper, his eyes enlarged to twice their size. It was noticeable, even from where Cyrene was standing.

“Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Brigette Ellison, the Maiden Bride of the Sea, and”—the announcer looked up at the crowd in shock and bewilderment—“Master Basille Selby.”