Page 27 of Vale of Dreams

“I…” My throat is dry. “I used my powers on the guards at the front gate. I made them think I had an invitation.”

He leans closer, and my gaze dips down to his full, sensual lips for just a moment.

“Good,” he whispers. “Let the real Nia out. You are more powerful than a typical telepath. You have mind control powers. A primal power. You don’t look like a threat, but someone would be stupid to underestimate you. Tell me, am I right about that?”

There’s a haunting quality to his voice that shivers over my skin.

“My magic is weak. I can hardly make anyone do anything. I have to touch people to use it. And it fades quickly—otherwise, I would’ve used mind control to make Lumos bring me a bag of gold.”

“Where are you from, Nia?”

“From a farm on Lauron.”

Lauron is a small Brocéliande village, about forty miles from Auberon’s fortress. It’s tiny enough that I feel confident that Talan doesn’t know the people there. More importantly, Cadoc’s brother lives there, and Cadoc’s memories of his recent visit are still fresh in my mind.

Talan still has me pinned against the wall. “Really?” he says. “I hunted in the area once. There was a feast in the evening in the town square. I remember they served a roasted wild boar. But I don’t recall seeing you. I daresay I would have remembered your face.”

During Cadoc’s visit, his brother recounted the dinner with the prince endlessly. “I was there, of course. But you might be misremembering that day. The feast was in the afternoon. And we didn’t serve boar—we cooked the stag that you hunted down. I picked the herbs to season it from my family’s garden. I just don’t like being the center of attention, that’s all. Are you happy now? Can I go?”

He stares at me for a long while. I’m acutely aware of his touch, the heat from his hands radiating through the fabric of my dress and warming my throat. Then he nods and releases his grip on me.

That was a test, and I passed. He believes me.

“How come no one has heard about this until now?” he says. “A Fey with a primal power? Surely the king would have taken interest.”

“Attention from powerful people isn’t necessarily a good thing for a commoner like me.”

“Interesting. And you think the king might do something to you if he found out about your powers?” His deep, rich voice vibrates through my ribs.

“Perhaps. And who knows about his advisors?”

“Quite true. Or his bloodthirsty son.” He steps back. “Well, Nia, I have good news and bad news.”

I exhale slowly. “Yes?”

“The bad news? I’m afraid you won’t see Lumos tonight. He has another woman over that he promised money to. Or rather, he’s bent over another woman that he promised money to.”

My jaw drops in feigned horror. “Is that what he wanted from me?”

“But the good news is, I can pay your rent.” He flashes me a smile, and his face transforms in a way I hadn’t quite anticipated—so shockingly beautiful and disarming, I nearly forget what a monster he is. “As a prince, I would be more than happy to pay the rent of my chief mistress. My mâitresse-en-titre, my official courtesan. You.”

I stare at him. “What are you talking about?”

His eyes flash. “It’s quite simple. I’m in need of a mistress. And here you are.”

As I stare up at his looming form, the realization sinks in. Cadoc was right. Talan is completely unhinged.

“I’m not going to be your mistress. You’ve got to be joking.”

“It seems like fate, Nia. You’ve broken into our castle at a perfect time because I was really enjoying myself in the human realm, in my Château des Rêves, and then I was ordered back here. My father demands that I marry Countess Arwenna de Bosclair of Val Sans Retour. Her family is rich, and the coffers in our treasury are empty since he invaded France. We are flat broke. Apparently, the countess is the answer to all his problems, but I don’t want to marry her.”

“Why not?”

He narrows his eyes. “Tell me, do I seem like the marrying type to you? I don’t want to live in this bleak castle. I belong in the Château des Rêves, enjoying myself with whomever I want. But if I publicly introduce a new mistress, it will humiliate the countess enough to delay the wedding plans. Really, it’s an old tradition here in Corbinelle, and my father himself has gone through many mâitresses-en-titre. Most of them ended up dead.” He shrugs. “A new mistress will be enough scandal to throw the wedding into question. Her family will not want their daughter to marry while I’m so publicly entangled with a glorified whore, especially one from such meager provenance. And here you show up, the answer to all my problems.”

I stare at him, breathing hard. Gods, he’s truly an asshole. But this isn’t the whole story. “You’re leaving something out. There are any number of people who could be your glorified whore. Why me?”

His dark eyes grow half-lidded, bored. He looks down, toying with one of the rings on his fingers. “What a wonderful gift. A farm girl no one here really knows, possessing a power that no one would suspect. A power that I could very much use to my advantage.” He looks up again, and his gaze sharpens on me. “I suspect you know little of court life, but a favored mâitresse-en-titre can wield a considerable amount of influence. Not that you would actually wield influence, but you will wield my influence over others, and that is very appealing to me, indeed. It’s also surely a better life than scrambling for half-rotten potatoes in the dirt, yes?”

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