Page 67 of Shadows of Ruin

Besides, if the Fates wanted to play, then I was ready.

Torches lined Mysthaven’s great hall, dimly lighting the room. Twice the size of our ballroom in Ellevail, this space stretched on and on, seemingly unending in length. Dark-colored florals stood in urns scattered throughout the hall, with long dining tables lining the outskirts. The food smelled divine, wafting from the back of the room, and while many people sat at tables eating, others milled about the room enjoying delicacies from silver platters held by various staff walking about.

Others danced to a string quartet’s music, andmanydrank. They all seemed happy. Or at the very least celebratory. It was a feast unlike any I had ever seen. Voracious and liberating in a way Brookmere’s balls were not.

Raya led me to the back of the room, waving a hand at a seat and diving into the food plated in front of where we sat. Had I not witnessed and been forced to participate in such brutality today, perhaps I would have devoured the dishes before me as well, but my stomach had other plans. A nervous energy shifted inside of me. I wanted to put eyes on Kade. Something in me needed to make sure he remained unharmed.

Raya sat silently, ignoring the world around her as she pushed vegetables and stewed meat onto her plate.

I eyed a man walking by with a platter of drinks and jumped up, grabbing a glass of wine and downing it. Myplans this evening included getting a fair amount of alcohol in me to forget about the horrors of the last few weeks.

My twenty-third birthday had been an absolute shit show thus far, so I may as well continue in such a fashion.

The doors on the opposite side of where Raya and I had entered slammed open, and Kade breezed through them. Jax and Storm followed closely behind. They had all cleaned up.

Too well.

I stared at Kade’s all black attire. His tunic hugged his chest deliciously, halting on his forearms. He’d rolled up his sleeves to the point where I could see the inky black design of his tattoo peeking from underneath the shirt. The top lay unlaced. His sword didn’t rest across his back in its usual place, instead sheathed at his side.

I smirked, knowing he’d attend a ball with it, and grazed my fingers over my own dagger, strapped to my thigh.

“Finally,” Raya muttered under her breath. “Thank the Fates.”

I couldn’t take my eyes from Kade as he moved across the room. His shadows trailed behind him as if he wore a cape. His eyes appeared dark, just like they did whenever he had his “episodes.” I wondered what darkness lurked in him to cause such changes.

And why it didn’t scare me like it should.

I stepped further away from the table, not bothering to let Raya know where I planned to go. I didn’t think walking directly up to Kade right away was smart, but maybe I could get to Storm. Someone more talkative than my babysitter.

I stalked a server at the side of the room, grabbing another glass from the drink tray.

Kade stopped in front of a raised table I assumed the king would be sitting at when he arrived. He didn’t bother sitting down. Instead, he grabbed a chalice of something, swallowing it in one gulp. He spun and grabbed the first woman before him, leading her onto the dance floor.

An uncomfortable, sick feeling knotted in my stomach. He hadn’t spared me a glance. Not one.

“Arrogant asshole,” I muttered to myself as a hand clenched my shoulder.

I turned swiftly, prepared for an attack, but found the king standing behind me.

“I often call him that myself,” he chuckled.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.” I stumbled with my words, putting the glass of wine down onto the table closest to me before I did something clumsy like spill it all over his robes.

If I drank much more, I might do it out of spite. The hate growing for this man, well, it was vast.

“Not that it’s your business,Princess, but it is tradition for the prince to dance with all the eligible women at each ball until he is betrothed,” King Dargan sneered. “He has been gone far too long, and his time to secure a wife has come. I’m sure you, too, must be required to find a husband.”

His words hit their mark, as I’m sure he knew they would. I refused to give him any indication that they had an effect on me. Even if something in me raged at the thought of witnessing Kade paraded around to the women in his court. I didn’t know how to respond to the king, so I chose to stay silent.

The king smirked. “My son inherits this throne, Princess. Perhaps you should set your sights on Storm after all. For no Princess of Brookmere would be worthy of the position of Queen of Mysthaven. Not in either of our worlds.” He bowed his head mockingly and walked into the crowd.

Instead of heading to his throne, he strode toward the front of the room.

He signaled to the quartet in the far corner to stop playing. Those on the dance floor halted mid-step. A silence filled the air. All the attendees waited with bated breath for the king to speak.

“Welcome one and all to the conclusion of our festivities,the Guardians’ Ball. Congratulations are in order for those who passed the challenge and the Blood Oath, and who are now members of the elite group of Fae known as the Guardians of Mysthaven. My army.” The king snapped his fingers, and a staff member handed him a chalice.

He raised it above his head. “To those who pledged their allegiance once more and survived, your king rewards you tonight with this feast. Eat, drink, and dance, for tomorrow our work begins again. Our never-ending battle to defeat the darkness spreading across our lands will find success. We will rid Mysthaven of the evil of this world.”

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