“I like that crown more than your gold one,” Bindy said and bit into a roll.
I liked them both but this one glittered and my other was simpler. “Is this all to appease these new benefactors? Do we not have enough funding for this academy?”
“It would seem we lost some benefactors after the attack last year. If you hadn’t noticed, we have about two hundred fewer students now. Many chose to attend their closest academy.”
“And the new Headmaster?”
“King Enden released Jace from the duty and a few others were put up for a vote and Elvbane was the chosen candidate.”
I stood in front of the mirror and adjusted my crown. “Do you know him?”
Bindy shook her head. “No. He is from Filda and you know I don’t like the cold.”
My guardian always said she’d follow me anywhere except the north. Though I knew she’d follow me there too even if reluctant.
When the two of us walked into the dining hall the tables had been removed and everyone stood in small groups. I smiled as the different kingdoms all mixed together rather than separated. The mural painted on the wall showed three dragons in our kingdom’s colors: one red, one blue and finally green. They flew together in a beautiful sunset sky, among puffy clouds. It made me long for the wind whipping in my hair on a smooth dragon ride.
Cats sauntered about. Several sat on stools among groups of people, no doubt trying to get some good gossip. Even the pixies had been recruited for this gathering. They flew above us carrying full glasses of the patron’s preferred drink. Most often students did the serving at parties but since it was the first day and many of the people here were wealthy benefactors, the pixies had apparently been bribed.
“Greetings Princess Visteal,” a smooth male voice said. When I turned to see who’d spoken, a tall, slender, blond man with soft brown eyes stood before me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but he looked so familiar. Something ominous clawed at the back of my mind.
When my silence had apparently gone on too long, Bindy cleared her throat. “Hello, I’m her highness’s attendant and guardian.”
“Hello,” I said, still inspecting the man. I didn’t care if he thought I was rude. It took me a moment but I realized he looked like the Fae man who’d taken the scepter. That or I was just paranoid now. With the way I acted toward Zyacus earlier and him reminding me of Senica, I leaned more toward paranoid.
The man’s attention drifted to Bindy briefly, then turned back to me, “You fought brilliantly against the trolls and that hideous creature at the end.” Something in his speech made me pin him as a possible outsider. He spoke my language perfectly but the word choice, the cadence—different.
“Thank you.”
“I must say, and I hope you approve of my saying so, but you’re incredibly beautiful, your highness. Also highly skilled as you proved today, and rumor has it you have a unique gift.” His eyes seemed to be inspecting my face as much as I had his.
My palms went clammy. I hadn’t had any visions of death in months. And how could he possibly know of this? “Who are you? I didn’t catch your name.” A small scar cut across his chin and the light spattering of freckles put me slightly at ease. The Fae do not have imperfections or at least that’s what the merfolk claimed. They are supposed to be beautiful. Even if the Night Prince was strange looking he was… lovely in a cruel, twisted way.
He stooped into a shallow bow, bending from the hips. “Pardon me, I am Firo Hazelvale, from Sanlaiya.”
The Hazelvales were one of the wealthiest families in the kingdom, living in the large city in the south of Delhoon. Fear-o, I thought, sounding the name out in my head. I’d never heard it before. It surprised me that I hadn’t met him at one of the royal festivals given his family name.
“After watching you and the princes, I decided to add funding to this academy. Although I hoped to have some friends and I come to spectate on occasion.” His eyes fluttered about the room. “It’s interesting to me watching all three kingdoms work together when we were enemies for the span of nearly a thousand years.”
“So far we’ve gotten along rather well.”
“Aside from the fight you caused last year, of course,” he purred. “I heard the students nearly tore this room apart in a brawl.”
I lifted my chin slightly. “I didn’t cause it but I did punish the girl who started it. And it surely wasn’t so dramatic as tearing this room apart, Firo.”
He chuckled. “Too bad.”
“You would see us at odds?”
He turned and looked me square in the eyes. “Peace is the enemy of the warrior. History will remember Queen Daelyn and King Boaden for their prowess, will you be remembered?”
I blinked several times, taken aback by his comment. “A leader can be remembered and honored for keeping the peace and bringing prosperity to the people. I hope that is my mother’s legacy, not how many she killed in battle to obtain it.” I said these words but at the same time... I might never get to prove myself in a battle, and that was what I trained for my entire life. The vampire attack would be forgotten in years to come except perhaps to students who would read about it one day. People in my kingdom had already moved on. They talked more about Zyacus and I courting than the attack.
Firo lifted his glass. “To peace then.”
Since I didn’t have a glass to raise, I simply nodded. When I walked away from him, a strange sense of unease came over me. I shouldn’t let his comment get to me. I didn’t want to kill. I didn’t want
