Had Ashared started an affair with her, knowing exactly when it would end?
The tarry feeling in her chest hardened, almost robbing her of breath. Suddenly, she longed for fresh air and solitude.
By showing your lover that you are jealous of him, you are giving him power over you, her mother’s voice resounded in her head.If your rivals find out about your jealousy, you will expose yourself and your lover to danger. Jealousy is a weakness. Be careful who you show it to.
Pretending to listen to the conversation, Lannahi slowly turned toward the table and reached for one of the pralines that Ashared had encouraged her to try earlier. She bit off half. She focused on the sweet taste, blocking out all thoughts. She sipped the goblet of nectar. The aromatic bitterness washed over her tongue, extinguishing the sweetness and leaving behind an almost heavenly aftertaste. She popped the rest of the praline into her mouth. For a moment she tortured herself with its intense sweetness, postponing the pleasure. Then she took another sip…
“Do you like it, Lannahi?” Ashared asked with a barely perceptible note of amusement in his voice.
She raised her eyes, surprised that he was watching her.
“One should make one with lemon filling,” she said.
The corners of Ashared’s mouth lifted slightly. He glanced at the tray of pralines. “Suggest it to Blann,” he advised. “I’m sure she can convince Eshshar to share the recipe with her.”
Lannahi laughed at the memory of Blann standing over an incapacitated Eshshar before she had time to think about her reaction.
The conversation around her broke off suddenly. Lannahi felt the weight of many eyes on her. She clenched her fingers tighter on her goblet, but before the moment became awkward, Ashared spoke up again.
“Lord,” he said politely. “General.”
Confused, Lannahi followed her gaze to two dark-haired landshapers with thick, curly horns standing behind her. One of them was dressed in a celadon shirt and dark pants, while the other wore a golden-brown uniform. Like most of the landshapers present—and unlike the residents of her palace—they didn’t shy away from jewelry, wearing heavy rings on their fingers and chains around their necks. There was nothing in their appearance that indicated advanced age, but their green eyes had an expression that was a mixture of mature wisdom and boredom characteristic of the older fae.
“Ashared,” the man in the celadon shirt said in greeting, coming closer as Hadad and Nizzar moved aside. “I would say that you surprise everyone as always, but that would be an obscene lie. I, for one, am not surprised at all.”
“Are you suggesting, lord, that I’ve become predictable?” Ashared asked with a slight smile.
“I would answer that only for those who know you.” The man glanced at Ashared’s cousins standing nearby. “But thatcouldbe a lie. Let’s consider that the fault is mine. At my age, few things can surprise me.”
“Sounds like an inconvenience.”
“One gets used to it.” The stranger’s gaze rested on Lannahi. “Although the instinct to seek new experiences never goes away.”
Under his piercing gaze, Lannahi felt like an inexperienced ruler and a naked woman at the same time. For some reason, this moved her more than the reluctance she had so far encountered from the landshapers, and her memory, which had almost prompted her the name she associated with a portrait she’d once seen, refused to cooperate.
Ashared moved marginally closer to her. “Lannahi, this is Lord Sezar, King of Brasspeak, and his General, Ildar. Fairmen, this is Lady Lannahi, Queen of Goldfrost.”
Lannahi’s heart lurched and not only because before her stood some of the most powerful players in the Royal Game. To those standing further away, Ashared’s movement may have resembled shifting his weight from one leg to the other, but those closest to him knew that he had moved deliberately. Without using words, Ashared declared that he was ready to defend her.
He stood in the way of the powerful fae, even though he possessed no abilities other than physical strength.
When Sezar’s gaze moved between them, a cold shiver ran through Lannahi. Depending on how bored the man was, he might have found Ashared’s attitude amusing or challenging. The former could be dismissed as a joke, while the latter could end in a duel. A duel that Ashared would lose.
A duel in which Ashared would be killed.
Chapter 27
“By suggesting that becoming older is equivalent to boredom, you are in danger of spreading a gloomy outlook for the young, lord,” Lannahi said lightly. “If you are seeking new experiences, perhaps you should learn something new. I’m biased and would recommend playing the harp, but if you don’t like music, how about cooking?”
One of the landshapers nearby gasped audibly. Another choked on his food.
General Ildar snorted with laughter.
“That is good advice,” he said when Sezar looked at him with his eyebrow raised. “Just invite painters to immortalize these moments. You will make a fortune from portraits depicting you playing the harp in a kitchen apron.”
Surprised, Lannahi had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. All her tension melted away at the absurd image.
Amusement flashed across the face of the king of Brasspeak, but when he looked at Lannahi, he didn’t smile. “I didn’t say old age is boring,” he noted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Are you trying to insult me by implying that I look old?”
