Page 103 of The Hunt of Night

“Why aren’t you dressed like this?” I whisper shout, my eyebrows pinched with a slight hint of irritation, and she grins.

“What’s wrong, dear?” the queen interrupts, pulling my gaze to hers, and I gulp.

“Nothing,” I quickly insist as she raises her eyebrows at me, and I feel Kryll’s hand squeeze around my shoulder. It’s not with an unspoken warning, though; it’s filled with reassurance.

I sigh, leaning into his touch as I find the right words to speak the truth as politely as possible, or as politely as possible for me, at least. “This place is beautiful, stunning even, but the attire, not so much.” My nose wrinkles, continuing to display my discomfort, and a smile spreads wide across the queen’s face.

She snaps her fingers, and in a blink, the glitz and glamor disappear, the dresses, the suits, everything. One blink, and I’m wearing jeans and a fitted white t-shirt, with a charcoal-gray hoodie in my lap. Kryll’s white suit is gone and he’s now relaxed in his seat in a black tracksuit. The queen, however, still manages to look just as regal in a pair of fitted pants and striped silk shirt.

“Thank goodness. It’s the law to invite guests under such pretenses, but it’s fake as shit if you ask me,” the queen states, a relaxed glimmer in her eyes. Nora chuckles at her choice of words while Kryll swipes a hand down his face.

“Mom.”

“What? It is,” she insists with a nod.

“I like you,” I blurt, my cheeks heating under her gaze, and I quickly reach for the glass of water the server brings.

“I like you too. It’s Meredith, by the way. If you even think of me as the queen and not Meredith, then my personality will shrivel up and die, and we can’t have that now, can we?” She winks, and I nod.

“Thank you, Meredith.”

“You’re welcome. But I guess this meeting is all down to my son, who seems to like you even more than I do,” she muses, andif I thought it was impossible for my cheeks to grow any hotter, I was wrong.

I make use of the glass of water again, hiding my face behind it as I down half of it in one go.

“This is fun. I never get to see my sister embarrassed,” Nora snickers, earning a glare from me, but she does nothing to shy away from it.

“Well, I don’t mean to bring the tone down, dear, but I would really like to understand what happened. How were you harmed?”

I wet my suddenly dry lips as I place the glass on the table. Kryll’s hand moves from my shoulder to my lap as he opens his mouth to speak, but before he can say a word, his mother lifts her hand, pausing him.

“I already know what you said, but I want to hear her account of the events. You played your heroic role, son,” she says with a dramatic and playful eye roll as she taps him on the shoulder. “But she felt the pain, and with that crinkle in her brows, I’d say it wasn’t just physical.”

Wow.

That’s some assessment.

I clear my throat, tucking a loose tendril of hair behind my ear. “My mother appeared,” I admit, and she nods.

“Ah, that ghastly bitch.” I gape at her as my father chuckles and Kryll splutters on the water at his lips. “I never liked her, August; what did I say to you? Tell her.” She waves her hand in my direction with a nod as my father shakes his head.

His eyes land on mine, a new-found softness dancing in his pools as humor crinkles the corners of his gaze. “She said…that’s one ghastly bitch,” he repeats, making even Nora snort a laugh at the statement, but the chuckles quickly die off.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say that. She is your mother, and that was in bad taste. I?—”

I wave my hand and shake my head. “Don’t apologize. I just, well, she just…I don’t even know.”

“It’s okay, dear. Take your time.”

Kryll’s hand tightens on my hold, offering me the strength I didn’t know I needed.

“She seemed troubled, pained, and filled with regret,” I state with a shrug. “But who knows if that’s true when she did such a fine job of pretending so many years ago,” I add, earning a hum from Meredith.

“Did she seem startled by Kenner’s arrival?” she asks, and I tilt my head.

“Yes, but again…”

“Good acting,” she finishes when my words trail off, and I nod.

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