“Our Unseelie Prince Lonan will be paired with…” Delin plucked the second name out of the air and stared down at it.
The other fae seemed to lean in with bated breath, but Lonan himself couldn’t look less bothered. He lounged back against a slender, peeling birch tree, flipping a bone coloured dagger with a finely carved black handle end over end. My eyes glazed over as I watched, the smooth, fluid motions strangely hypnotic.
I faintly registered Delin snorting. I was too distracted to hear what he said, but Lonan’s fingers suddenly fumbled the dagger. It stabbed into the ground just inches from his boot.
My head jerked up to find them all staring at me, most faces twisted with spiteful glee. Caom was looking at me with wide, dismayed eyes.
Unease creeping up the back of my neck, I glanced around. “What?”
Although I already knew.
Delin had a faintly mocking smile on his lips. “You are paired with our prince. Fortune favours you this day, halfling.”
A confusing swirl of emotions unsettled my gut. Of course I was. For a moment, I wondered if the Carlin had somehow made sure I would be. Caom had said the pairs were picked at random, but what were the odds that I get paired up with her son—the one tasked with spying on me?
“Oh?” I risked a glance at Lonan. His cold, indifferent mask was still firmly in place. “Why’s that?”
“A favour from a son of the Carlin? A very rare gift.” Delin smirked at the fae beside him. “That is, if you can best him.”
Well, that wasn’t going to fucking happen. I said nothing. I didn’t move to Lonan’s side like the others had after being paired up, and he didn’t move either.
My fingers twisted in my shirt nervously as we waited for the rest of the Folk to be paired up. What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to try andbestLonan? I didn’t even know the rules of this game. Before last night, I might have thought he’d try to help by at least explaining them to me, giving me a fair chance, but now I didn’t think he’d help at all. Notreallyhelp. Maybe try and trick me. Manipulate me.
So why was I still breathless with anticipation over interacting with him again?
When the last of the Folk were matched, Lonan stalked over, ignoring all the others as they gawked at us.
“Let’s get this over with.”
He parted his lips, and with long elegant fingers… reached into his mouth.
I made a face. “What are you—”
Before I could finish, he pulled something out from under his tongue as his other hand tugged a thin chain from his pocket. As he threaded the thing onto the chain, I finally caught a glimpse of it. A tiny black feather, wrought from metal or blackened bone.
“What is that?” I glanced around and noticed the other pairs had necklaces too, but the pendants didn’t look the same as Lonan’s.
“My favour.” His voice was flat and cold, but at least he’d answered me.
“And you… kept it in your mouth so you were ready?”
I saw the muscle twitch in his cheek. “Folk keep their favours under their tongues.”
He held up his hand, the chain dangling between two long fingers. My eyes snagged and held on that tiny black feather.
“This is a vow from me. A promise.”
Faster than I could track, he snatched the chain up into his fist, hiding that pendant. “Within reason.”
I remained silent as he fastened the chain round his neck. The feather nestled into the hollow of his pale throat. Once more I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Almost like I could… Like something was emanating from it, luring me in. A power that called to me. A power that rooted itself in words. In oaths and vows and promises.
A dark, soothing voice was whispering from somewhere as I stared at the pendant. Like a mosquito buzzing in my ear, but one I didn’t want to shoo away. I couldn’t hear the words, but I could feel them winding round me lovingly. Sliding over my skin. They were right there, whispering from the back of my mind. They were just out of reach—just like that tiny black feather.
The words… I wanted them. I wanted all of them. They were so close, but there was something blocking them, like some thin veil I needed to pierce, some barrier I needed to get through. But I could do it. I just needed to reach out and—
“Mortal!”
The sharply barked word snapped me out of my trance with a jerk. Blinking in the sudden bright sunlight dappling through the trees, I automatically took a step back and looked around. I tried to appear as though I hadn’t just fallen into some strange, hypnotic daze even as the slowly returning sounds of the other fae were making me want to wince. Everything was too loud and bright all of a sudden.