CHAPTER 5
Lynne
I SAT IN THE library with my legs thrown over the side of a chair. I was so immersed in my book that I didn’t realize anyone had come in until a pair of hands covered my eyes.
A wide grin spread across my face as I giggled. “Gab!”
“How did you know it was me?” my best friend, Erydesa, also known as Gab, dropped her hands.
Shaking my head, I dropped my legs and closed my book. “Because you are the only one immature enough to do such a thing.”
Ignoring my comment, she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of my seat. “Come on. I know you’ve been in here longer than is healthy. You need to get some fresh air.”
I snorted but let her lead me out of the library and down the hallway and out into the gardens. I had no doubt that she had something up her sleeve. Erydesa rarely did anything for anyone’s good but her own.
“Did you hear? The UnSeelie Prince arrived today.” She wasted no time saying as she walked arm and arm with me along a path in the garden.
“I had heard such news.” More than one person had told me today that the UnSeelie Prince had arrived. Some were delighted to let me know, others more in a cautionary tone. Of course, most of those came from the servants. The High Fae wouldn’t be caught dead showing me their worry.
In fact, the very servant that was assigned to attend to his royal pain in the butt, Gerald, had come to me just before Erydesa had. The quiet Fae had explained everything that had happened with the prince. Including, how he had asked about me. What Gerald had told the prince about me was flattering and not at all true, but I could just imagine what the prince must think of me now. The thought actually made me smile.
Gab chuckled beside me. “Don’t sound so excited about it. Someone will start to think you care about your betrothed.”
“Hardly.” I snorted, playing with the ends of my pale blonde hair. “Everyone knows that this is a marriage of convenience. Nothing more.”
“Sure it is, but have you seen him yet? Don’t you want to know what he looks like?” Smiling at me, Gab trailed a hand along the metal fence lining the garden path.
I quirked a brow at my friend’s mischievous grin. “Why would I want to do that? I’m supposed to marry him whether or not I approve of his appearance.”
“Well, I would want to know whose bed I’ll be warming for the rest of eternity.” Gab stopped in her tracks, pulling me with her. “And as you are my best friend and confidant, I did a little reconnaissance on your behalf.”
“Of course you did.” I rolled my eyes. The younger Fae always needed to know what was going on with everyone in the palace. It was for her own pleasure and hardly a selfless act in the name of friendship.
Gab sniffed. “Well, if you’re going to be like that, I don’t think I’m going to tell you what I found out.” She stuck her nose in the air, pretending to be cross.
“Yes, you will. You can’t help yourself.” I dropped her arm and continued down the path, my attention half on the surrounding flowers.
Having never left the palace, I’d seen them all hundreds of times over. I’d never even seen all of the Seelie Court, but I was supposed to marry a complete stranger, and live with him all for the sake of solidifying our defenses against some shadow creature?
The hope of leaving the palace was the only reason I even considered the sham of a marriage, to begin with. If it gave me the chance to be free, to see new places, and to finally walk through the halls of my own home without the fear of who would lose their heads next. I didn’t need to know what my husband looked like. I’d marry him all the same. Though, I’d be damned if I made it easy for him.
“Oh all right, you’ve talked me into it.” Gab gave an exaggerated sigh and hurried to catch up with me. “You know all you had to do was ask.”
“But I didn’t ask.”
Gab ignored me and continued babbling, “So, I went down to the guest wing where they keep all the important people. Not that UnSeelie royalty is all that important, but anyway, I got stopped by one of his brute guards–”
As she told her story, I could feel the excitement as it radiated off her in waves. She always got this way when she had some juicy tidbit that she wanted to share. It was nearly impossible for her to keep a secret.
“–And then I said, I have as much right to be here as anyone.” She scoffed. “Can you believe that? He actually thought I was a servant! Me! The thought of me cleaning.” She shuddered.
“Maybe he didn’t know.” I shrugged my shoulders, pretending to show interest in her distress.
“Ha! Do I look like a lower Fae? No. Look at these cheekbones.” She gestured toward her face. “Fae have killed to be as pretty as me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Gab, that was one time, and they didn’t die. They only ended up scarred.”
“She might as well have died. I would have committed suicide if I had to go the rest of my life disfigured like that.” Gab made a face at the thought.
“Not everyone cares about appearances.” I offered and then tried to change the subject. “I thought you were going to tell me what he looks like, not his guard.”
“I’m getting there.” She waved me off. “So, I got past the nasty guard and into the prince’s sitting room, and low and behold there he was lounging on the couch like some half-breed. Really now, does he have no decorum? It is no surprise he wouldn’t think twice about letting his guard down where anyone could walk in on him.”
“He was in his private rooms, though. No one should have been able to walk in on him,” I pointed out, not really believing much of what she said. Erydesa had a way of adding on to her stories to make them seem more than they were.
“But I did, so anyone else could have as well. I’m just saying, he should be a little more mindful of where he is, even if he is a guest. He is still UnSeelie. He could have–” Gab stopped mid-sentence catching sight of something in the garden. “Oh pooh, I was just getting to the good part.”
I followed her gaze to land on a dark-haired Fae sitting on a bench with a book in his hand. With his attention focused on his book, my eyes trailed down his exquisite form. All thoughts of not caring about looks were smothered by a sudden undeniable need. When he glanced up from his book, my breath caught in my throat.
Eyes the color of the glittering night sky locked onto mine. The fierceness in his gaze froze me in place. There was anger there, but also a hollowed emptiness. I knew at that moment I’d go through with the engagement. Not because I craved freedom or because he made my insides melt, but to make sure those beautiful eyes never gazed at me with such loneliness again.