Page 44 of Their Chosen

Lennox stared at him almost blankly, while Arryn came to stand next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, immediately easing some of my white-hot anger. Lennox met all our gazes before sighing, his back relaxing and shoulders lowering slightly. “That was exactly my intention. There are many things the Queen has strong feelings about, and this is one of them. She will not be happy if we can't remove your glamor which could mean making an enemy of her. Something we absolutely don't want. Especially if you hope to still return to Earth. One word from her, and she can make sure that never happens for you.”

Well, shit. That was a little bit scary, and I instantly tensed under the new pressure to make sure we succeeded at this.

Lennox's words seemed to have stunned Arryn and Baer as well. Apparently, the Queen's bigoted ideas weren't all that well-known. He gave us a few moments to wrap our minds around that thought before continuing. “So, with that in mind, I suggest we take this seriously, so we don’t make her an enemy. We have introductions to the other Chosen and their Consorts. Master Jude plans to meet us back in our suite afterward to see what he can do to help with the glamor, magic, and the trials. But right now, we are running out of time to get ready.”

His words might have been a little harsh, but I couldn't argue with his points. Without speaking, we all seemed to agree and made our way back to our room quickly and quietly.

We entered the suite, and I immediately went to my room. When I opened the door to go inside, I found Juniper standing there. “Quickly, child, you haven't given us much time to make you presentable,” she chided me, while dragging me into the room. I saw a gown lying out on my bed but ignored it for now. “Where's Larissa?” I asked, my eyes searching for her.

“Since this afternoon is more of an informal occasion, I have instructed her to attend to other needs. I should be able to handle preparing you by myself. If I can't then I am not worthy of my duties,” she said, as she bustled about with way more energy than I ever had.

I watched her, not sure how she wanted me to proceed. Noticing, she paused and met my gaze, her hands going to her more rounded hips, “Hurry up and get undressed. You need to freshen up before we can send you out among the wolves. You'll need your armor fully in place without a doubt.”

I did as she asked. “Armor?”

“Of course, dear. When a woman knows she looks good and looks the part, her confidence rises dramatically. We must have you looking the part of a strong, kind, and wise Chosen. All of which you are, but now we want all the others to see it as well. We must send the message that you are not a fae to be trifled with, even if you've only just discovered that you are one.”

Standing in only my underwear, Juniper turned to stand in front of me. “We've no time for a proper bath, so this will have to do.” She moved her hands in front of her and between us. I jumped a little when I felt a warm, wet breeze caress across all of my exposed skin, chill bumps skittering behind the sensation. Apparently, she had water magic and was using it to clean me.

Once she was done, she handed me a warm, fluffy towel and a silk robe to put on after I had dried myself. She turned away and busied herself by the vanity. I sat down when she gestured for me to do so. She immediately started messing with my hair. “I realize you've had a lot of new things happen recently, but I figured none of your guys have told you much about Court?”

“You would be correct; the subject hasn't really been discussed in detail. All I’ve gathered is that I should be careful, which seems to be the same theme as all the other courts I've ever heard about,” I replied as her fingers continued to twist through my hair as she worked some complicated braid into place.

“That's absolutely the main idea, but here, things work a little differently. You can't possibly learn all the intricacies in so little time, so I would advise saying and doing as little as possible and listening closely to the others. You may have moments of disagreement on those things you see or hear, but it is imperative that you don't let your opinions out. It will only draw more attention to you and make you a bigger target.”

She finished my braid, which wrapped from one side to the other, the tail hanging over my shoulder. It was strong yet feminine in my green locks. She moved in front of me and started on my makeup, continuing her lesson. “I can tell you that your sudden arrival and unknown heritage has already created quite the stir at Court among the other Chosen. No one knows much about you, and that makes them nervous. It keeps them at a distance until they've made their judgments about you and what you're capable of. Which means they’ll all be watching and judging this afternoon. It would be wise not to give them much to go on, remaining mysterious until you've had a chance to learn more.” She finished my makeup and again, I had never felt so attractive and yet, fully myself.

“Now, get dressed and remember that the palace has ears everywhere, so be careful what you say while here. It will be used against you,” she finished, her hands clasped in front of her while she waited for me to dress in the outfit she had chosen for me.

It was a soft linen blouse, which fit loosely around me in a dark maroon color and was paired with soft, black leather pants and boots. It was strong and yet still very feminine and sexy. She had hit the mark with this armor, and I smiled at the finished product.

“Thank you, Juniper. For the advice and for the kick ass outfit. I may not feel ready to face them, but now that I look the part, I can't help but feel more confident. I'm not sure what I would do without you,” I told her, trying to convey my gratitude for her help and tutelage. I wasn't lying about my thanks for her styling because if it had been up to me, I'd show up in yoga pants and a tank top. Comfort all the way to compensate for such an uncomfortable situation.

“It has been my pleasure, dear. Now, you better hurry and make your entrance. I look forward to watching you shake everything up.” She smiled broadly at me.

I smiled back, not replying, just turning and walking out the door with my shoulders back and head held high, ready to take on anything that came my way.

Chapter Twenty One: Callum

I shut the door softly, leaving the Queen's room while she proceeded to get ready for the introductions that would be taking place shortly. I walked back to the tiny closet that had been assigned as my room, needing to shower and wash away the feeling of disgust from my skin. Even though she hadn't touched me today, just having her eyes trailing across my body that was always on display for her, was enough to make my skin crawl. I needed to wash that sensation away.

My anger rose quickly at my situation and my helplessness to do anything about it. I was always so angry these days, and I couldn't find much to hold on to as I locked everything away so as not to make things worse. All I had right now was an ever-fading hope that I'd find a moment or way to restore my family's name. For that, I needed to be here at Court, keeping the bitch close.

While I absolutely hated every single second of being here with her, I could see that she was slowly lowering her guard around me. I could see that with the added tensions of the trials, my moment would come soon. She was feeling the pressure, especially with the arrival of the unknown fae girl who was a complete mystery. And that drove her nuts. I took pleasure from seeing the tiny cracks in the Queen's facade and was grateful for her appearance.

The one thing I didn’t like was the fact that I was the new fae's consort, which had been confirmed by the pain I had experienced last night while trying to sleep. Even though I hadn't been at the ceremony, I had known exactly what the pain meant when it had struck, and I hated that I’d been chosen. It was just another set of shackles binding me unwillingly to someone, when all I wanted was to free myself and my people. Once I’d been bound, I found myself unable to go back to sleep.

I paced in my room, wondering how I would manage my already insurmountable tasks with these new chains and responsibilities. Most fae men would be honored and would have rushed to their Chosen's side, but I was hesitant, mostly because I knew so little about this girl. Finally, I’d decided I needed to see her, to find out as much as I could before I made myself known to her. That was if I found her worthy.

So, I’d sneaked into her room to see what I could find and had been completely startled when she’d called me out, wielding a knife. Then, the minx had the gall to throw a vase at me, breaking it across my back and cutting me in the process. Looking back at the incident, I was rather impressed by her fighting spirit and resourcefulness, not throwing her knife and leaving herself unprotected. I had to admit that a part of me was rather proud of her, but I still knew next to nothing about her. Which was what the whole court had been talking about according to the servants.

I had managed to build a small network of spies among the servants who always saw and heard everything because they were often so overlooked and ignored, treated as nothing more than belongings, not much more than slaves to the whims of the court. I’d also been quite surprised that while the new girl was all that anyone could talk about. No one really knew anything about her, including Juniper and Larissa, her maids. The name Rhowyn was on everyone’s lips.

Which was why the Queen had been too preoccupied to touch me today despite having requested my presence. She had raved at her Consorts, demanding that one of them find out who she was and how big of a threat she might be. Apparently, whatever big plans she had going on right now were at risk. By the time she’d calmed down, it had been time for her to get ready for the meeting with all the Chosen, and she’d dismissed me.

After entering my room, I stripped down and jumped into a scalding hot shower to wash the crawling sensation away, the one I got with every interaction with the Queen. Today had been a good day for me, but the feeling still lingered. Shame and disgust for lowering myself to this followed me everywhere, and it was the only thing I couldn’t wash away. To protect my people from her wrath, I’d been a distraction to keep her from punishing them like she had my parents.

Stepping out, I dried myself quickly and got dressed, moving to sit heavily on my bed. The weight of my responsibilities pressed down, and I lowered my head into both of my hands knowing I needed to do something soon about this whole consort thing. What weighed the heaviest was not really knowing how this would affect my strategies.

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