I smiled as he pulled away. “Of course or they’ll learn a hard lesson.”
He grinned, flashing his pretty teeth. “No doubt.”
With a wave of his hand, a glass of honey-mead appeared and he handed it to my mother, then one to my father. “Thought you might want a drink.”
“Thanks, brother,” Father said, taking a sip.
I looked at him expectantly. “Where’s mine?”
His eyes drifted to my mother, who said, “One glass, Visteal.”
Rorin handed me the bubbly honey-colored drink. “I better not catch you with another one. I know you and Legacy like to ignore the rules.”
I put a hand to my chest in mock offense. “Never in my life have I broken a rule, Rorin.”
Everyone laughed at that, but my eyes grew wide and I stiffened when I saw Aric making his way toward us. Rorin noticed my reaction and turned around, stilling when he saw what I did. He looked at me then Father. “Why is my son here? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t planned but Visteal invited him and I couldn’t say no without possibly offending Collweya,” Mother said softly. “But you should take advantage of the surprise. You haven’t seen him—”
“In ten years,” Rorin finished. “If Kyria—”
I cleared my throat. “Ekarius gave him permission to be here. Kyria doesn’t even know.”
“Hello, Faustus,” Father said loudly, silencing the rest of us as King Faustus and Aric walked up the three steps to greet us.
Swaying up the last step, Faustus grinned. “I was just telling my grandson what great parties you throw here. And of course he’s interested in a tour of the castle. His mother used to rule Delhoon, after all. It’s a shame she couldn’t come.”
One thing I knew about Faustus was that he usually said borderline inappropriate things and I was never sure if he was trying to get a rise out of us or he just didn’t care.
“She earned her banishment, trust me,” Mother said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Hello, Prince Aric,” Rorin said and it made me sad that he couldn’t even hug him. “I don’t know if you remember me—”
“I do,” Aric said, holding out his hand. “When you and Boaden came to Collweya to earn a dragon.”
They shook hands and Rorin nodded, and I got the impression if he spoke, his voice might break from sadness.
I turned away. I desperately wanted to get out of my royal duty to stand here and greet those who deemed themselves important. I hated the petty games that were played. I hated that Rorin couldn’t say who he was to Aric. I hated that everyone paraded around our castle in fancy clothes, drinking cocktails and yet most of them didn’t know my family or me at all.
Just as Saveena and Enden approached, Aric gave me a quick nod to the left and he and I stepped off to the side. “Bored?” He asked.
“Could you tell?” I said and took a drink of mead. “Have you seen Legacy yet? She looks gorgeous.”
He waved at his aunt and uncle, the Hesstian royals, then looked at me. “As do you. I hardly recognized you in that dress.” His eyes lingered on me longer than usual. Probably more from shock than anything. “But no, I haven’t seen her. She wants to introduce me to her parents, and I’m a little nervous about that.” He tugged at his collar as if to show me how nervous he was.
“They are kind, don’t worry. Nice crown by the way.” It was silver with three peaks in the front and a thin line circling his head.
I wondered if I touched him, casually so he wouldn’t think I was strange or worse—flirting, would I see the rest of the vision? I was dying to know, literally. Normally I hated my curse but in this instance, I needed to see, for his sake or mine.
“Aric, why don’t you take Visteal out for a dance?” Fautus said loudly, tipping his glass of red wine toward dancing couples.
My eyes darted around the crowd for Legacy, then Aric and I awkwardly gazed at one another but he offered me his hand. One dance couldn’t hurt. But before I could place my gloved palm onto his, Zyacus strolled up the steps onto the platform.
“The princess and I will dance,” Zyacus said, taking my hand. Everyone looked at him. His mother gave him a sideways warning glance, and Zyacus’s lips turned up the slightest bit. “Aric has a girlfriend now.” He shrugged. “Jealous type.”
A pixie took my glass and Zyacus and I glided down the steps leaving Aric to be questioned about his new girlfriend. “Legacy is not the jealous type,” I said as we slowly made our way to the dance floor.
“Who said I was talking about her.” And those winter-blue eyes found mine, daring me to ask who else.
I looked away, searching for familiar faces. “Your silver tongue and charm don’t work on me.”
“I haven’t even begun to try, Princess.” A soft melody played, slow and romantic, exactly what I didn’t want. Zyacus pulled me to the center of the couples and put a hand on my waist. His intimate touch warmed my belly and I wanted to run. Then he stepped and I followed. “But I’m glad you think I’m charming.”
I huffed and almost laughed. “I don’t.”
“That dress is marvelous on you,” he said, and I expected him to look down but his eyes were fastened onto mine and I couldn’t withdraw my gaze. “Now I don’t have to imagine so much what lies under that uniform. Glorious curves.”
I pulled my hand back to smack him but he caught it and interlocked our fingers, tugging me closer. “People are watching us. Play nice,” he purred.
Our faces were inches apart when I said, “Don’t patronize me and I will.”
“I tell you that I like your femininity and you think it’s patronizing?”
I dug my nails into his shoulder, hoping they would cut through his perfectly tailored suit. “It’s the way you say it. Like
