Page 31 of Court of the Fae Princes

And, I swear, the man is as good of an actor as he is hot. There’s just something about him. About how warm his touch is. How cold his disposition is. It’s like he was born to play a role… not be a person, which is almost sad. But at least his words tell me what part I should be playing in this little game of ours.

He wants to keep rolling with this, even if the spell screwed everything up. I can do this. I can roll with this, for now.

“Cassia?” Prince Cobar’s voice draws my gaze as he smiles at me. “I like it.”

“It’s as beautiful as the woman herself,” Prince Forrest says, his thumb brushing over his bottom lip, like he’s reminding me of our kiss.

I tear my gaze from him, my cheeks burning, and my gaze meets Prince Zane’s. He’s studying me, but when he sees that I’ve noticed, he murmurs, “It suits you, my queen.”

My cheeks feel even hotter. What now? Everyone has seen me. They’ll remember me. Is it too late to turn back now? I think it might be, but my mind can’t quite wrap around what will happen from here.

People murmur all around us. It’s almost comical. They’re still trying to find their mate, moving around, touching each other, kissing each other, and yet, they’re trying to keep an eye on us at the same time. I guess it’s not every day all four princes match with one woman, but they seem confused about what’s more important: their mate or me.

It’s your mate. Idiots. Focus on each other, not me.

“The last time a female mate was shared with all the princes, our lands went to war,” I hear someone say, and I tense, looking at Sulien.

He gives a subtle nod, but nothing else. So it’s true? This means even more trouble than I thought! Heck, I should have paid more attention when my grandma was teaching me history, but it was always my least favorite subject. Like, if I don’t care what the fae are doing right now, I certainly don’t care what they did a hundred years ago.

“Does this mean–?” I start to ask Sulien, but he shakes his head.

I guess my questions about the fact that this is really possible, mating with four princes, will have to wait until later. And my many questions about what the hell that life looks like. Right now, we just need to get out of here.

“What court or house is she from?” another person asks.

I stiffen. Did Sulien think of this? What do I say? I should probably pick one of the more mysterious houses, the ones who appear at the Solstices and otherwise avoid the courts, like the House of Death and Sorrow. No one would wonder why they haven’t seen me before tonight, because I wouldn’t have been old enough for the past Solstices, and wouldn’t have come for other social events.

I’m about to start pulling an answer out of my ass when my gaze meets that of Lady Fucking Takara, the bitch who accused me of stealing. She’s wearing an auburn dress, her long hair weaved into an intricate hairdo on top of her delicate head. For a second I don’t think she recognizes me, and then her eyes widen.

Damn it.

“She’s a human maid!” Lady Takara screams, her voice filled with shock and disgust.

No one pays her any attention. They still talk amongst themselves about how all four princes matched with one woman. Which, I guess, isn’t a surprise, given how drunk and distracted most of the fae are.

But she tries again, “She’s just a maid! A human maid, and a thief!” Her voice rises as she tries to get them to listen to her, and this time she seems to get through the cloud of their drunkenness.

Eyes move from her to me, and it grows quieter.

My heartbeat pounds through my chest. This is it. Everyone knows. Now there will be questions, and they’ll figure out that I’m not who I’m pretending to be. The spell will be revealed, and I’ll lose my head.

I bite the inside of my cheek so hard that I taste blood, feeling like a lifetime has passed since Takara’s shout, even though I know it’s probably only been a few seconds.

A man steps in front of her, the huge build of one of the Fall Fae. “Are you a fucking idiot? She wouldn’t be mated with any of them if she was human. Have some respect for your new queen!” For a minute I think he’s going to shove her, but another huge fae grabs him and steers him away from Lady Takara.

“These matches were strong. The matches never happen like that. They must be fated mates,” a masked woman points out.

There’s more murmuring, and I feel even more concerned when they talk about the powerful connection that is fated mates. Mates that are brought into this world to be with one another, body and soul. The kind of mates who can’t live without one another.

I’ve heard about them. They’re rare, but there are several pairs of them, even just in the Summer Court. I had no idea that their bonds looked bigger and brighter than the normal matches. I had no idea that’s what the spell would make people think.

Where the hell did Prince Sulien get this spell?

I look at him, but his face is a mask of indifference. I get the sense he’s putting on a show for the audience, but I need him to do or say something to tell me what to do. It’s like he’s feeding me to wolves and seems to be completely confident that I’ll be fine.

Or he doesn’t care.

My gut flips. The other princes are studying me, and I jerk my gaze away from them. I can still feel the heat of their gazes on me, but I’m worried that they’ll be able to read through my lies like a book.

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