She smiled. “Yes, though he is far more powerful than I am. I can heat hair and hold a fireball. He could cover thefortress in fire if he wanted.”
My brows shot up.Cover the fortress in fire?
She dropped another warm lock of hair on the back of my neck. “It’s a tricky kind of magic. Sometimes, when I get upset or angry, it rushes to my fingertips, and it takes all my self control to keep it inside. And yet, it’s such a small amount.”
She chuckled as she picked up another bit of hair. “When I was younger, and still learning to control it, I lost a few fireballs and put some holes in walls. I can’t even imagine the restraint the king has. I’ve never seen him lose control of anything more than a little smoke.”
I, too, had seen smoke rise off him when he was angry. But he hadn’t been in control of himself when he killed my mother.
Or had he? He didn’t say he consumed her with flames. He said he tricked her into holding a talisman that absorbed all her magic. Hesaidhe did not intend to hurt her.
I pushed the thoughts away. I did not want to give the king any space in my mind right now. I was going to go enjoy a concert with friends, dressed up like a princess.
“Done,” Malinda said, smiling into the mirror at me. “Fit for a princess, if I do say so myself.”
Yes, I looked more like a princess than any I’d seen in books or imagined in my head.
Right on cue, Koan knocked on the door. Malinda bobbed another curtsy and opened it for him.
He thanked her and turned to me. “Callista, I am honored to escort you this evening.” He bowed and offered me an elbow.
I took his arm, and my thoughts flashed to Alastor. Had he moved to the human town like I told him to? Was he making friends? I should find a way to tell him about Motab.
We stepped into the hallway, and Koan tipped his head conspiratorially at me. “I should warn you, every lady in the theater will be jealous of you tonight.”
That pulled me out of my thoughts. “Why?” I poked him. “Are you that popular?”
He winked. “Truthfully, my family is one of the oldest noble families in the kingdom. If the curse ever lifts, I will inherit a ridiculously sized fortune. I’ve had ladies throwing themselves at me for years.” He patted my hand. “Don’t worry, I know you don’t see me like that. But you have one other honor that nobody has ever had in our entire history that I’m aware of.”
“And what’s that?”
“We have a concert of some kind at the start of every month. The king has never—in all fourteen years since he took the throne—invited anyone to sit with him, let alone to take the best seat in the theater.”
That was curious. “So why did he give it to you?”
Koan laughed. “You’re missing the point. He didn’t give it to me. He gave it toyou.”
My heart sped up. “Surely not.”
Koan sobered, but his smile didn’t leave his face. “I’m sure of it. He told Jolter and I that we could take it if we could convince you to join us. If you weren’t coming, we would be in the main seating with everyone else.”
“But why?” He hated fae, hated my family, hated me. Why offer such a singular honor? And why include Koan and Jolter, whom he clearly considered delinquent miscreants?
“I was hoping you could tell me. I haven’t been able to figure it out.” Koan slowed down just enough to look at me as he answered, but then carried on to the indoorcourtyard where eight tunnels met. This time, we turned into the corridor with a lily carved into the stone above it.
I couldn’t think of an answer for Koan. His question would probably plague me for the rest of my life, but I decided to change the subject for tonight. “Where’s Jolter? I expected him to come with you.”
“Ah.” A twinkle lit Koan’s eye. “He’s escorting a date. Her name is Molanna—I think you’ll like her.”
I raised a brow, and he kept talking. “I was thorough in my interrogation—she thinks Jolter is sweet, even if the curse never falls and he remains a derelict vagabond for the next ten thousand years. Also, she thinks both humans and fae are as worthy of respect and kindness as elves, so I decided that letting her sit with us would be acceptable.”
I smiled. It was getting easier every time. Leaving my room was a good idea.
The theater probably held three hundred seats, but we didn’t walk into the main room. We entered through a small hallway that led to a balcony on the second floor with a walking path around the entire perimeter of the theater’s seating area. We followed the path to a bridge that crossed like a second floor above the main seating. In the middle of the bridge, with the most perfect view of the stage, was a box that held four chairs.
Jolter and—I assumed—Molanna stood up from chairs to welcome me. Jolter actually pulled me into a hug. “Callista, I’m so glad you came. After we saw you earlier, I was afraid you might change your mind.”
I hugged him back, but then pulled out of it and eyed his date. I didn’t want her to assume I was some kind of competition. “I’m glad I came too.”
