Valerius didn’t often make use of his abilities. Knowing exactly what people thought made life incredibly dull. Besides, he’d come to see it as an invasion, a weapon one only used against enemies.

As dozens of seelie poured into the court of night, he didn’t hesitate, willfully breaching the minds of every single one of them and seeing what lay underneath.

He had good reasons to be suspicious. For one, only a third of the party he’d seen pass through his lands had made it to the court, mostly nobles and private guards. They’d left their soldiers somewhere along the way. Valerius could conjecture a million motives, and none of them were remotely friendly.

He was completely unapologetic about figuring out where they’d conveniently stowed their missing soldiers, as well as the intentions behind the king’s presence. It made no sense whatsoever, especially with no warning.

The problem was the seelie had been ready for him. Among the thirty-four high fae who entered the throne hall with every flourish characteristic of their kind, wearing tons of gold, complicated hairdos, and too much perfume, thirty had their minds completely bared. None of them had done anything even remotely interesting in their entire existence, long as it may have been.

The last four were another story. The king, his two guards, and his advisor were completely blocked; he couldn’t even get a peep out of their minds. No shields were that strong, not even his mother’s. This wasn’t their power. They were using some sort of artifacts to keep him out.

Vale swore under his breath. He couldn’t do a thing. Or rather, he wouldn’t do a thing, because pushing against the barriers was akin to raping his way through their minds. It wouldn’t go unnoticed. They’d scream in excruciating pain. And doing that to the king of the realm of sunlight would have been a clear act of war.

Valerius swore under his breath. He was stuck, unable to act. He was standing next to his mother, and they were flanked by her head of staff and first advisor. Then there was Devi, to whom he wasn’t paying attention. Openly, in any case. With the eyes of the entire court on him, it wouldn’t do to leave right now, but something had to be done.

An alternative came to mind, and his eyes searched through the crowd until he found Kallan in the second row of fae standing before them. He held Kallan’s eyes for a beat until his second understood what he needed. It was almost physically painful for him, Vale could tell, but Kallan dropped his mental shield, allowing Vale to get in.

“They’re up to something. Only the king and his three closest subordinates know what,” Vale informed him.

“What do you need?”

“Get one of the guards they posted outside the city.”

Kallan made his way out of the hall entirely unnoticed, as the eyes of the court were on the uninvited guests.

Finally the seelie reached the queen and her party.

The king was a handsome high fae who hadn’t yet seen his first century, Vale could tell. Devin’s aura held no weight. One look and he categorized the boy as a puppet in someone else’s game. Probably his father’s. His subjects knelt before Shea in deference. Devin inclined his head, as was the way of sovereigns.

Shea was doing her thing—giving him her trademark stare that made grown men squirm and avert their eyes.

At long last, she returned the greeting.

“Devin of the house of Farel.” Her voice was cold. “An unexpected honor.”

In short, she meant “Why didn’t you fucking ask me permission before stepping in my fucking kingdom, fucking prick?” The little king seemed to get that. Vale saw him swallow and glance toward his advisor. After a beat, the male regrouped.

“Your Majesty,” he replied pleasantly, with all outward signs of respect, “I was enthroned not a fortnight ago, and my first thought went to your court. For centuries now, our great nations have been on friendly terms because of the pleasant rapport between yourself and my father. When we received your invitation to attend the winter solstice, my advisors and I saw it as an opportunity to rekindle this relationship now that my reign has started."

So, the boy isn’t entirely brainless. Good for him.

Truth was, said invitation was nothing more than a formality; some seelie went to the Unseelie Court for the winter solstice, and some unseelie went to the Seelie Court for the summer solstice. Devin knew he'd messed up, but he was turning it into the innocent gesture of friendship of an inexperienced new ruler. Well played. Vale would even have believed it, if Devin hadn’t gone to great lengths in order to keep his mind so carefully closed off. There was more to this.

“We're glad to have you,” Shea assured him before introducing her escorts. “You may not recall my son, Valerius. The last time you met, you were—”

“Ten years of age and very impressed to be standing in front of the legend known as the dark prince,” Devin said with a chuckle.

Strangely, the laughter reached his eyes. He advanced to shake Vale's hand, all the while saying, “You did not disappoint. I asked you if you could truly torture people just with your mind, and you made my music teacher scream in agony for a brief instant.”

“Did I?” Vale replied with an indifferent shrug. “Well, that definitely sounds like something I'd do. In my defense, I'm generally drunk during any visit to the court of sunlight. You guys can definitely brew ale.”

In truth, he recalled the incident just fine. The musician had some inappropriate thoughts toward most of the boys he taught. Vale had made quite certain that he never acted on his sick inclination. One acute dose of pain served along with one compulsion. If he ever thought of harming a child, he'd feel that pain again.

This was exactly the sort of thing Vale never would admit to, lest he be mistaken for an honorable person.

“No hard feelings,” Devin said. “I never liked Sir Trunchin much.”

Vale reluctantly, and cautiously, decided that he didn't have any clear alarm bell ringing against the little king. He reserved judgment, but his first impression was that of a male intending to do his best for his nation. Vale could be reading him wrong, or Devin could be led astray. Young and out of his depth, the king probably heavily relied on his advisors.

“Solerus Dane, my head of staff. Loralei Night, my first advisor. Drake Night, my consort. And Devira Rivers, my ward,” Shea introduced.

As they were presented, Devin shook hands with a polite, “How do you do,” as was the way. Everything was quite uneventful, at least until the king arrived in front of Devi Rivers.

Valerius saw the young male freeze. Then Devin’s eyes widened.

Vale knew that look.

“Rivers. Of course.” The king shook his mind out of the funk. “I knew your mother. You look almost exactly like her, but for the hair and eyes.”

Vale wasn't the only one watching closely; the entire court of night and every seelie guest were fixed on them.

“Loxy said she liked my name. I see she made good use of it,” Devin added.

The young king seemed at a loss for words then, and Devi appeared uncomfortable as fuck. It was painful to watch the confident female who'd told Vale to fuck off seem so lost right then.

Instinctively, without any conscious volition, Vale moved, finding himself standing right behind her.

Fuck.

As an afterthought, he reminded himself that his mother had asked that he protect her when he could. He was doing nothing more than his duty. This would have been logical reasoning, had he considered it before he found himself hovering over the girl protectively. Devi lifted her gaze to Vale, and as their eyes held, she breathed out, regaining some of her composure.

His mind eased. This wasn’t about his mother at all. He’d seen a female in need of help, and he’d responded. There was nothing more to it.

“Sorry, yes,” she said, finding her voice. “My mother once told me she named me after a boy. I found the thought quite upsetting as a child.”

Devin laughed good-humoredly, extending his hand. Devi looked at it like it was a venomous snake. Almost imperceptibly, she stepped backward until she was close to Vale, nearly leaning on him. Vale wasn't sure she was even conscious of the movement. Everything she did seemed to scream “save me.”

So he did just that.

As Devi hesitantly raised her hand to shake the king’s, Vale circled her waist with his arm, silently, but clearly, making one statement.

Mine.

Vale could almost feel his mother smile. Dammit.

Could he plead insanity? But if he was truthful, he knew exactly what he was doing. His mother had said the seelie would want to recruit or eliminate the female, and for what it was worth, neither option was acceptable to Vale.

Devi was a lady of the unseelie realm, a jewel adorning the crown he would inherit someday.

No one was poaching her. No one.