Page 24 of The Rose in the Shadows

“What?” She drew out the word in a sing-song tease.

“Tonight is not the night for your antics,” he told her authoritatively.

“My antics? Clay, dear, you, of all people, know I only bite when I’m asked to.”

I nearly choked on my champagne as she ran a finger down his arm with a certain air of… familiarity.

Rankor snickered under his breath as I dabbed my mouth with a napkin and Camilla shot me a victorious grin. Quietly, he warned her to be friendly as I turned to sit my empty glass on the tray of a server and worked to control my blush.

“Don’t mind her,” the dark-skinned man told me, taking space next to Clayton. “I wish I had a better excuse, but she can just be a bitch sometimes.”

She scoffed, focusing her green eyes on me. “Perhaps, but I’m a bitch who can control my powers, at least. Can you say the same?”

My stomach dropped, uncomfortable with the reminder of the day on the bridge and my failures since. Camilla grinned and flicked her long hair over her shoulder haughtily.

“Nothing to say?” she teased. “Or can you only speak when the Dragon tells you what to say?”

Iris stepped forward, wrapping her hand through Camilla’s arm. She shot me an apologetic glance as she redirected the woman to a table where Rankor and Lorelai stood.

“Sorry about her,” Clayton apologized on her behalf. “She’s insufferable on most days, but I swear there’s a good person underneath the attitude.”

“I heard that!” She called, though her tone betrayed that she had found no particular offense in the statement.

Turning away from me, Clayton began chatting with the stranger. They prattled on about some sports game or something. Their words were meaningless to me, but the stranger’s voice seemed to echo in my head.

I knew that voice.

“Do I know you?” I blurted out to him, unable to stop myself.

He frowned as if embarrassed and shrugged. “You could say we met that day on the bridge. My name’s Kent; I’m a Siren from House Palaemon. Sirens are gifted with the ability to slow heart rates with our songs. I helped Clay incapacitate you that day.”

He shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to meet my eyes, but what could he possibly have to feel embarrassed or upset about? If the stories I’d been told were true, I had been entirely out of control, and he stopped me. He was positively a hero.

Clayton caught my line of sight and tilted his head at me in a slight shrug and the realization hit me suddenly: this was about politics.

Kent felt embarrassed to have used his powers against a possible Council member—the last Council member of House Hyrax, at that. Under normal circumstances, I suspected the action would be treasonous. Nothing about my arrival to this court had been normal, though.

“Thank you,” I whispered to Kent.

Clayton didn’t even try to hide his surprise at my words, but I continued on nonetheless.

“I’m not ignorant of the significance of that day, nor my actions. Even if I can’t remember them, I take responsibility for what I did. And I’m grateful you helped stop me before I hurt anyone else.”

We were all quiet for a moment before Kent bowed his head at me again and resumed his conversation with Clayton. I kept my eyes on the dancefloor, watching couples swirl effortlessly about, but I still felt the weight of Clayton’s attention on me until Iris shoved a second glass of champagne into my hand and commanded us all to the dance floor.

I joined her reluctantly, hovering by her side and content to watch those around us. For a time, I even watched the Dragon and the Queen, who sat side by side presiding over the party but who didn’t speak a word to each other.

As I finished that glass of champagne, I spoke freely with Lorelai and Kent as they told me stories about their childhood in the palace. By my third, I was dancing across the floor with Rankor and Iris, each laughing and trying to outdo the other. By the fourth glass of champagne, my feet were tingling and my thoughts were in a pleasant fog. Finally, I returned to that table in the back of the room, watching Kent and Rankor pass Lorelai, Camilla, and Iris between them with an ease that could only have come from years of friendship. I smiled from afar at them.

They were all so familiar with one another. More like siblings than friends.

As I watched them, longing blossomed within me. Was it possible Zachariah had fathered other children? And what of my mother? Was she still alive? Was she looking for me? Had I found myself on that bridge after an argument with her or had she encouraged me to make my way to the castle?

“Careful. Someone might see you tonight and suspect you’re actually enjoying yourself,” Clayton told me, sneaking up from behind. He smirked when I jumped slightly in surprise.

“I can admit that tonight wasn’tterrible.”

“Yes, well, Iris can liven up a party all on her own. Put herandRankor in a room together, and staying miserable for too long is impossible.”

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