Page 101 of Shade of Ruin

Dresses made of chain mail, just as flowing and beautiful as my own. Just silver instead of red, and shining instead of burning. The males are all wearing some sort of armor rather than tails. Not full suits, but articulating steel breastplates. Clothes that have been interwoven with steel and obviously could withstand a blow from a sword. Or a magical attack.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that tonight was when the war would begin. It certainly looks like we’re walking into a trap with this many people covered in steel. But Cole would recognize that, and he’s not worried.

“Prince Cole,” a voice says from behind us. Deep and reverberating, it unnerves me. Cole immediately tenses and whirls around. The flames around him sputter, and I can tell that he’s having to force the court smile onto his face. “King Gethin,” Cole growls, barely hiding the sneer behind the smile.

King Gethin, the leader of the House of Steel. Rhion’s father. The one person who King Casimir is afraid of. He’s exactly what I’d expected. A man that’s as sharp as any blade. Where Rhion is a mountain of a man, Gethin is made of steel. Every inch of his face is cold, rigid, and unyielding.

He has sharp brows with thin black eyebrows to match the short cropped hair on the top of his head. Wearing a silver military coat with brass buttons, he looks like he could walk out of this room and command legions.

If Casimir is fire, Gethin is ice.

“I see that you’ve failed your father again. Just as you did thirty years ago. You couldn’t kill Queen Brenna, and now you can’t even marry a full-blooded Immortal. Did your dear father leave more scars on you for that disgrace?”

Cole’s smile widens. “Absolutely. I’m a pitiful shadow of what I once was. Now would be the perfect time for you to duel me. No time like the present, and if you act now, I’ll even agree to duel youandRhion at the same time.”

Gethin pauses for a moment, and then smiles widely, just as much a trained smile as Cole’s. “Why would I want to ruin the Midsummer festivities with a duel? I couldn’t bear to see King Casimir in mourning on actual Midsummer. Especially this one.”

I can’t help but stand completely stock still. There’s nothing else I can do because any word I say is probably going to be an insult or an accidental faux pas, and in a room like this, that could have serious repercussions.

Then I realize just how strained the tensions are when Cole’s smile fades and becomes as feral as any wolf’s grin could be. Full of teeth and just as deadly.

King Gethin doesn’t seem bothered by him at all, though. “Now, go somewhere else. There are people here that I’d actually enjoy talking to.”

Cole gives him the shortest bow possible and pulls me away. “I hate him more than any person in the world,” he growls in my ear.

I don’t know how to react to that. I’d thought that Cole had hated his father, but even walking into a room where he expected to be tortured, he hadn’t radiated the same animosity. There’s no doubt Cole would have jumped at the chance to duel him, but to duel Gethin and Rhion? That sounds like a decision that would get Cole killed.

Then again, if it were that obviously in Gethin’s favor, he would have accepted the challenge right then. There’s no doubt that they both want each other dead.

Cole simmers down some as we walk. He points out noble after noble. Most are from the Great Houses, but some are from the Lesser Houses. They’re still High Fae, but many of them are craftspeople and others who offer various services like the tailors that Cole brought me to. Others are part of important guilds like the Scientific Guild that Darian’s a part of.

“You look gorgeous,” a feminine voice says from behind us. I whirl around, knowing the voice instantly.

I’m shocked at Lee. I’d thought that wearing a dress that was actually burning seemed like the most outlandish and incredible kind of dress possible. But hers outdoes mine by miles. Just like the night we went to the Luminas Spectacle, I saw what light magic could do, but this dress is more than just made from light. It plays with my mind.

Unlike the night at the Luminas Spectacle, this doesn’t shine so brightly as to light up the room. It’s like the light’s been dimmed, and any time I look at it from a different angle, it’s a different color. Almost like it’s not just green or red or gold. It’s all of them at once.

And it’s an actual dress made of real fabric, just like mine.

Her hair has been braided into a crown again, but this time, thin strands of the same fabric that makes up her dress have been woven into that braid so that it glows and makes her stand out in the crowd even when her House isn’t one of the Great Houses.

She’s grinning from ear to ear, and I’m so glad she’s here. Tonight’s the last night that we’ll see each other for a long time.

“Lee, I didn’t know you were coming to this thing,” I say and attempt to pull her in for a hug, but Cole’s arm tightens like a vise, keeping me from succeeding.

Lee shakes her head, and I can feel Cole’s anxiety growing. Okay, so no hugging during fancy balls. “Is Darian here?” Cole asks.

Lee nods. “You know him. He always spends his nights in ballrooms stuffing his face. What is it he always says about them?”

Cole chuckles. “I’m here. I hate dancing and I hate people. Why wouldn’t I spend the night trying to eat my weight in delicacies?”

His voice sounds exactly like Darian. That slightly confused, higher pitched voice that I’ve become so familiar with over the weeks that we walked from Aerwyn to Draenyth. It instantly perks me up. Even in a room like this, full of people that terrify me, there are reasons to smile, and it’s good to remember that.

“So now what?” I ask. “We’ve walked around. I was terrified watching you and King Gethin nearly duel each other. I know we can’t just laugh and spend time with Darian and Lee. So… what do we have to do?”

Cole grins at me. “I could introduce you to a few more people. Darian and Lee’s mother is here. Well, their father is too, but we don’t talk about him. Or we could dance.”

I can see Cole’s smile and Lee’s grin. Their words make me think I should join in, laughing and smiling right alongside them. But I can’t.

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