Did humans celebrate midsummer anymore?
Was there even a right answer?
Could she phone a friend? Her human friends had thought she’d gone on vacation to some remote destination without email. There was nowhere more remote than Annwyn. Email? Jeez, they didn’t even have phones.
“Certainly…er…” She glanced across the table and made the mistake of looking directly at Verden. While all fairies were beautiful, he was different. He’d gotten changed for dinner, yet his clothes still weren’t as flashy as anyone else’s at the table. The green of his waistcoat seemed to shift as he moved, the ties on his shirt cuffs were still undone, and yet there was a restrained power about him that she would have noticed regardless of what he was wearing. He didn’t need fancy clothes to attract attention. He blinked, breaking the moment, and she remembered to breathe.
“Midsummer isn’t really celebrated.” She glanced around and saw that wasn’t the answer they were looking for. “However, because it falls during school break, there are lots of beach parties.”
“Beach parties.” Felan gave a small nod like he knew exactly what she was talking about. Aside from Felan, the other fairies were looking rather blank. She raised an eyebrow. Wow, they really needed to get out more.
“Sand, surf, bonfires. Or music festivals. Last year there was a beer festival.”
“So what are you suggesting? We cavort like drunken humans on a pile of sand?” The Queen laughed as if it was the most ludicrous idea she’d ever heard; a few others joined her.
The Queen was a bitch, like those popular girls at high school who picked on others and thought it was fun. Verden’s warning about staying away wouldn’t be hard to follow.
Verden placed his cup down and leaned forward a fraction, drawing the Queen’s attention away from Taryn. “Don’t we usually drink and cavort at midsummer anyway?”
“That is the point of the party,” the King agreed.
The Queen gave Verden and the King a glare that would have frozen water. “I have always preferred Lughnasa.”
“That’s because it’s battle and blood.” Felan signaled to a shadow servant and food was placed on the table. “Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, but I’m sure my mother will do what she wants anyway when it comes to choosing this year’s theme.”
Taryn tilted her head but kept her mouth shut. The less she said the better, as whatever she said was sure to be used against her later. With her eyes on her wooden plate, she ate as delicately as she could manage and sipped at what was in her cup. It was nonalcoholic and all she really wanted was a glass of wine or a beer—anything to take the edge off would have been nice. If she’d been human, one sip or one bite of the food would’ve been enough to bind her to Annwyn.
Conversation ebbed around her and no one seemed to mind that she was quiet. When she lifted her gaze, she was being watched. From across the table, Verden’s gaze met hers. He didn’t say anything and he didn’t smile, but for a moment she thought she saw a shimmer of heat in his eyes. Then he carried on his discussion as if she weren’t there. So much for even having one friend at Court. Had she imagined the attraction and his attention?
No, he had definitely been interested. Or he’d been faking the whole time and was now laughing on the inside at her expense.
Which one was the real Verden? The one who’d taken the time to talk to her or this one whose face was a mask and who easily ate and drank with Lords and Ladies that outranked her parents?
The King leaned toward her and rested his elbow on the table. “How is your mother?”
Was it too soon to ask him? Probably. Maybe this was the test to see how pushy she was. Verden had warned her to be subtle and so had her mother. That advice she had to trust. It would be better to touch the edges than ask and be shot down. And if she never got another chance to sit with the King? She’d have to make one. She had to make sure she got invited back to his table. She angled her body slightly, as if she had no interest in anyone but the King. If Verden could ignore her, she could ignore him just as well. “Well, sire.”
His gaze cut through her as he watched her more closely than required. In his light blue eyes, she saw the bleakest winter. His age was showing for anyone who dared to look. She wanted to back away before she got caught in the storm, but she couldn’t. She’d have to plunge in and survive to get what her parents needed.
The King tilted his head a fraction. “She doesn’t mind living in the mortal world?”
What answer did he want? Or was he just seeking any information? Of course her mother would rather be here—though Taryn had yet to figure out the attraction of Court—but would telling the King how her mother and father longed to come home help their cause? Besides, it was her mother’s choice to live in the human world. It was her father who was truly stuck. “She has my father to keep her company.”
“You mean your father has her to keep him company.” He tapped the table as if he were annoyed with her answer. “She followed him into exile, yet here you are fairy, not changeling.”
He knew her lineage. Fairies took the name of the fairy parent, as it made it easy to keep track of family trees. She didn’t know who her human sire had been and it didn’t matter.
Taryn lifted her chin and met his icy gaze. “As you said, she isn’t in exile, so she came back to Annwyn to give birth.”
His lips twitched. “Your mother was always a smart woman. Smart enough to be on my Council once. Do you take after her?”
Taryn tried to hide her surprise as quickly as possible. Her mother had been on the Council? Yet she’d still chosen to leave with Taryn’s father over her service to the King. No wonder getting a pardon for her father had been a long time coming. Her heart sank as Taryn realized just what she had to achieve. Her mother had wounded the King’s pride. How was she ever going to convince him that her father should be allowed to return?
“People say I look like her.” Maybe if the King still held a candle for her mother, it would be enough to eventually return both her parents to Court.
“You do. It’s the eyes I think.” He looked at her for longer than was really necessary. “Any more siblings I should know about?”
“No, sire. Raising a fairy child in the mortal world is hard work apparently. Though I know my mother would like another when they are allowed to return.” She held her breath, wondering if she’d pressed too far.
“Your mother is always welcome in Annwyn.” The King lifted her hand and kissed it.
Taryn resisted the urge to pull away; instead, she kept her attention on the King, her heart beating fast out of fear not desire. Just how far would she play this game to get the pardon? She was vaguely aware of other people at the table watching. What were they thinking?
She swallowed. She had to make it clear that without her husband, Arlea would never return. If the King didn’t grant the pardon, she’d lose both her parents. “She would never leave her heart behind.”
For a moment neither of them moved. Then the King laughed and released her hand. “You are more like her than you know.”
Was that a good thing? She was beginning to wonder just what her mother had done to get on the Council. She knew fairies traded sex for favors, but hearing about it and being caught in it were two different things. Maybe she was too human to play fairy games.
The Queen stood and clapped her hands. “I grow tired of talking. A dance!”
Obediently, several of the diners at the table got up. Verden remained seated, his gaze carefully on the people attending the dinner. Everyone except her. She might as well have been invisible.
“Cards.” The King held out his hand and a shadow placed a deck there.