Page 49 of Crown of Slumber

“You don’t?”

“No. We have the Summer Solstice ball, and the occasional festival, but that’s it.”

“Then however did you become such a terrific dancer?”

She laughed lightly. “So, you admit it? My skills are impressive?”

“Better than many of the ladies I’ve danced with,” I said. “Though still not quite as impressive as my own skills.”

She snorted. “Of course not.”

“If you don’t have very many balls or celebrations, then how did you learn to dance so well? And how have you maintained those skills?”

She shifted, nudging closer to the center of the bed. When her elbow brushed my arm, she sucked in a breath and drew her arms over her chest again. I hurried to think of a question to ask to distract her, but then she spoke. “My father wanted a son. He was a soldier, trained from birth to protect his kingdom and fight the enemy no matter the cost. He wanted to train a son in the same way, to teach him to wield his sword alongside his people. When he only had daughters, he sought to teach us in the same way, but it wasn’t what he expected. It was… difficult at first. For me and Gigi. We did not like the training exercises he put us through. And we often begged for Father to relent, to stop trying to mold us into the children he wanted us to be.”

She swallowed and took a shaky breath. “It was harder on my sister, I think. She so desperately wanted Father to love her. For me, though, I could tell Father would never love us the way we loved him. He is distant. Not unkind, but not affectionate either. Not like Mother.”

Aurelia shifted again, and her shoulder pressed into mine. But this time, she didn’t move. And neither did I. I held my breath, waiting for her to continue.

“Eventually, Mother stepped in,” she continued. “She urged us to find an aspect of training that we could enjoy. Gigi chose archery. She loves the bow and arrow, and Father couldn’t have been more proud. But I could never find a weapon I liked. So, I turned todance. I found an instructor who taught me how to move my body with fluid grace, and then our trainer utilized those movements so I could use them in battle.

“Father wasn’t pleased at first. I think he was disappointed that I couldn’t share his interest in weaponry and military training. But, after a year, I showed him my skills, and we sparred.” A slow grin spread across her face. “And I bested him for the first time.”

I huffed in surprise. “You bested theking?”

“I did,” she said smugly. “After that, he realized the benefit of my training. It caught him off guard, and it would likely do the same for my opponents in battle.”

I frowned and nodded. “That’s… rather admirable.”

She turned to look at me, her eyes glowing in the lamplight. “What is?”

“You. Finding something you love and incorporating it into what you’re expected to do. Knowing what I know about you, I would have predicted you would dig in your heels and downright refuse to train if it was something you didn’t want to. But instead, you found a different way. A unique way. Something that could please both sides. It’s… very diplomatic.”

Her eyebrows lifted, her lips parting in surprise. After a long moment, she forced a laugh and said, “Prince Fenn, are you saying I’ll make a good queen?”

I blew out a breath through my lips. “Well, let’s not entertain such outrageous thoughts. You are still a feral dragon keeper, after all.”

She chuckled, and a strange sense of warmth filled my chest at the sound.

“Can I ask you something?” I said.

“You just did.”

I barked out a laugh and rolled on my good side to face her. “You said to Dreya that we would be announcing ourselves to the Autumn Court.”

Aurelia sighed, her gaze still fixed on the ceiling, her hands clasped atop her stomach. Ever the demure princess, even when sharing a bed with her enemy after sustaining severe injuries from a goblin attack. “I don’t know why I said it,” she admitted. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. We need people to believe ourengagement is real, and two neighboring royals traveling through a kingdom would announce themselves in other circumstances. I didn’t want Autumn to be offended if they found out we passed through their domain without paying respects.”

I hummed, my eyebrows raised. Impressive. “Like I said—very diplomatic. But we didn’t plan for this.”

“I know. But it will be good practice for us. For when we must put on a show for your court. We won’t know as many people here, so if we slip up, the consequences shouldn’t be too severe.”

I snorted. “You don’t know Autumn Court, then. Bunch of nasty gossips.”

“I know Autumn Court just fine,” Aurelia snapped, her tone icy.

I stilled, then looked her over. Her shoulders were rigid once more, her arms wrapped around her chest.

Oh, shit. What had happened to her? Had it been someone from the Autumn Court? “Aurelia…”

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