PARTII
MISRULE
18
FROM AFAR
Ryther
"I see congratulations are in order," the goblin who heads the court of stone grunts, eyes on my marks.
"Likewise. I hear you're now on the council, Tenith."
His court is mighty in its own right, but on the seelie shores, the main powers are to the north and south: the bright court and the court of wings. They always claimed the two major seats. The third used to belong to the court of gold, because their value is in their trade and wealth. But for Darina's pronouncement, stone would never have had a chance, even if bone had managed to usurp gold's seat.
"That was clever of your little queen," he admits with a dry laugh. "And I'm grateful."
"You ought to tell her so.” My mouth quirks. “She's very fond of praise."
"Hm." He's noncommittal as he inclines his head and joins the line of folk waiting for an introduction.
Loch is handling them, saying a word about each lord as he gives her their name and titles.
I hate that it's him at her side, but it's necessary. Tenith's reaction is shared by many. The seelie don't like this bond of ours. The unseelie like it a little too much.
Spotting Rachel as she gets bored and leaves the relative safety of the dais, I wait until they're a distance away, close to one of the refreshment tables, and approach Caenan, who has remained with her.
The moral’s stacking up bread and cured meats and cheese on a plate, cutting up pieces, and making lewd noises as she eat it all. "I'm starved! I haven't eaten in ages."
I'm sure that's true for her. Mortals do need constant sustenance.
I ignore her and lower my voice."Any sign of him?"
I am not surprised to see Caenan shake his head. I've been scanning the crowd for Junis myself.
"I wish he had been stupid enough to show his face," Caenan says with a regretful sigh.
"That was always unlikely. He didn't get to his position by being careless. And Valdred?"
I mislike the absence of our seelie ally. What could possibly be more important than being here at Darina's very first revel, to show his support?
Caenan tilts his chin, and I turn.
The blond prince is close to one of the many entrances, clad in red and gold as usual, though his doublet is richer than any I've seen him wear in the past, the golden leaves shining with diamonds.
He chats with a few of his peers as he makes his way to the dais, and walks directly to Darina, bypassing the line.
So, he got Loch’s notes, it seems, as he’s behaving as planned.
He bows low, and she greets him with her brightest grin.
I tell myself it's a good thing that Valdred can join Loch by Darina's side, smiling at her, joking, teasing familiarly. Her biase toward the unseelie courts will be assumed because of our bond; showing an outright affinity to the bone prince is one of the many ways she'll have to prove otherwise.
I am not jealous. This is strategy.Mystrategy, to boot.
I amnotjealous.
I try to form the words out loud, just to prove they’re true.
