From the small but intricate crown the female wore around her head, I could only assume she was the queen. She was a haughty-looking Fae with glimmering blue skin and long black hair adorned with sparkling sapphires. Her pointed ears were twice as long as anyone I’d met so far and ended in too-sharp points. She wore heavy, dark blue makeup around her eyes and had long lashes that appeared fake, but I had a feeling were not. Two lines of glittery powder ran from the top of her head down to her eyebrows. They continued under her eyes and almost reached her jaw. She was beautiful. There was no denying that, but there was a certain edge about her that immediately put me on my guard.
And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Clearly, Valeriana did, too. Though she’d gone a bit overboard with her reaction. Maybe she was too wild to live among this kind of people.
I glanced toward Jeondar. “I will take her back to our room.”
The king rose from his seat at the head of the table. “Before you leave, allow me to introduce Queen Belasha of the Winter Court.”
The Winter Court? Interesting.
The blue-skinned female twisted her azure-painted mouth and scrutinized me with a raised eyebrow. I didn’t like the way she was looking at me, not one bit, but I remembered my manners for civility’s sake.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.”
“Likewise.” She speared a piece of melon and stuffed it in her mouth, quickly looking bored and as if she’d forgotten I was there.
Jeondar appeared embarrassed. Clearly, this woman was not his mother. The king, however, only smiled, a male besotted by beauty and blinded by love. His smile only grew wider when he noticed Kalyll standing behind him.
“Prince Adanorin,” he exclaimed, respectfully pressing a fist to his chest and bowing.
They exchanged pleasantries while I wondered if it would be impolite to sneak out. The king pulled Kalyll to the table, offering him the seat to his right. He ended up sitting next to Kryn, who leaned in to whisper something in his ear as I tiptoed out of the room, Valeriana practically running ahead of me.
Too late, I remembered I’d left the rose Kalyll gave me behind.
CHAPTER 17
Onceinourchamber,I led Valeriana to the bed and sat her on top of it. “Are you all right?”
She frowned, looking uncertain.
“There was no reason to get scared.”
“Yes, there was.”
“Oh?”
“That female…” She trailed off and hugged thin arms around her torso.
“You mean the queen?”
A quick nod.
I sat next to the girl, my legs dangling off the tall canopy bed. “She looked kind of mean, didn’t she?”
“She looked likeher.”
I turned my head to face the girl. “Her?”
“The female… the female that killed my father.”
I felt a twitch in my chest and wrapped an arm around Valeriana’s back, pulling her close to me. “I’m sorry. That must have been really scary for you.”
“She’s bad.”
I understood she meant the queen because pointing out that the female who killed her father was bad would’ve been redundant.
“Just because they look alike doesn’t mean the queen is like that other female,” I said carefully, hoping my words wouldn’t upset her further.
“You saw her. She has hatred in her eyes, just like the other one did.”