Page 38 of Prince of Never

Two fawns zipped past us arm-in-arm, shrieking with glee as they made a run for a bonfire, and as Briyala turned to watch them, I took the opportunity to slip away.Time was dribbling past, and the reminder of the approaching selection compounded my sense of urgency.I was chasing flashes of green through circles of dancers, around shepherds leading livestock to be blessed, past drink carts and soothsayers and all the way to where the woods began, where pairs and groups of lovers pledged themselves to the renewal of summer for the night.The ever-present music strummed away at me, constantly asking me to dance, to forget, to embrace the night and give myself over to it.

I didn’t realise how close I’d drawn to the river until I caught sight of the bridge over the Sunder, lit with faelight and belching wreaths of scented smoke.On the opposite bank, the Seelie royal family was already gathered.

And the Unseelie Queen was standing before me in a gown of star-studded black, a crown of silver spun so fine it might have been spiderwebs on her head.She’d seen me before I’d seen her.

‘Tarian,’ she purred, beckoning me with a curl of a finger.I stood stock-still, my mind still racing over the bank, trying to figure out where Imogen could be.Whatever smile had been on my mother’s face faded.‘Do not make me compel you.You’re already very late.’

I caught sight of Ves a few steps behind her.All he offered me was a subtle shake of the head.He hadn’t found her, either.I was going to fucking kill him.

‘I’m here, aren’t I?’I tried to still that scratching, needling sense I had that I needed tofind her.It was too late now.The worst thing I could possibly do for Imogen was make anyone curious about what I’d been busy doing.

The queen raised her eyebrows.‘One day, you will understand that simply being present is not enough.Especially when you were very nearly not even that.’She turned back to the bridge, expecting me to fall into line behind her.And now I was going to do exactly as expected, just like a good little puppet, and I wouldn’t give her a reason to watch me too closely.

‘I looked everywhere,’ Ves hissed out the corner of his mouth as he took his place beside me.‘She clearly doesn’t want to be found.What did you say to her?’

I shot him a warning look.As much as I wanted to tear him into pieces right now, it would have to wait.

We approached the bridge as midnight drew closer, a procession of Unseelie royalty and nobility flowing along behind the queen to gather on the riverbank.The smell of sandalwood was thick in the air and the bridge was so hazy with incense that the figures on the other side were indistinct.

The queen paused at the end of the bridge and sighed.Then she cast her gaze around until it fell on me.

‘Come,’ she said, because she must have been able to see that I was still thinking about leaving.There was a low warning in her voice.

I was only a few steps behind her as we walked onto the old bridge.It was carved exquisitely, a wave of thorns and leafless vines stretching up over the river, reaching out and clashing with the wreaths of stone flowers and summer foliage of the Seelie Court.

King Solas and his sister, Marietta, approached from the other side of the river.Marietta was still only very young, having barely reached maturity, but she was the next in line for the Seelie throne until Solas married and produced an heir.The king himself was all blonde hair and swagger, caped and extravagantly dressed in white, but missing his crown for now.His eyes fixed on me as we met in the centre of the bridge, and he smirked slightly before turning to my mother.He bowed gallantly, dipping his head low.

‘Moriana,’ he said as he straightened.‘Seeing you here is always a highlight of my year.’

‘We can only hope the months pass quickly so we can meet in this spot again, Solas,’ she returned, her hands already going to her head.Slowly, she lifted the fine silver crown from her hair.When she dropped into a curtsey, it wasn’t nearly as low or as magnanimous as Solas’s bow had been, but I couldn’t really fault her for how much she hated this moment.If,when, it was my place to perform these rites, I’d resent ceding sovereignty to the smarmy, self-satisfied Seelie King just as much, even if it was only for a single day.She offered up the crown, and Solas accepted it, settling it on his blonde locks with a smile.

‘Shall we?’The queen swept out an arm, opening the way for him to cross the bridge, and he took his first step onto Unseelie territory, a move that would spark a war at any other time of the year.

In the distance, a shot echoed over the Beltane celebration, and those who had been too swept up in the music, in the wine, in the delights of a festival whose entire design was to lure and keep, were suddenly scattering.Screaming.

‘I hope you’ll be offering up some difficult prey this year,’ Solas said pleasantly as a captive was taken within our line of sight, squealing and kicking out at the masked predator who’d caught him.‘I didn’t find last year’s were much worth catching.’He shot me a look, which I ignored.He’d always been a sore loser.I was usually ready to go up against him, but this year I would likely use the hunt as an excuse to slip away.

I moved to Ves as the two monarchs continued up the bank to the tent, where we would spend the next few hours trading barbs and waiting for the tributes to be rounded up.I was sucked into this pantomime now.I couldn’t leave without being noticed.

‘If anything happens to her...’I growled at Ves under my breath, and he waved a flippant hand at me.

‘She’ll be fine.It’s been, what, an hour?How much trouble could she have possibly got into?’

Chapter 18

Imogen

Iwalkedaroundthefestival with a glass in my hand and no real idea where I was going.Ves had disappeared.He’d probably gone the same way Tarian had and I wasn’t going anywhere nearhimfor the rest of the night.I couldn’t be trusted not to make an arse out of myself where he was concerned.How could I be stupid enough to think that a mate bond would be a good thing?With my romantic track record, this was pretty well on trend.

Around me, fae of all different shapes and sizes lost themselves in the music and the wine.They seemed to be wearing less and less clothing as the night went on, some of them getting very intimate in full view of anyone who cared to look.A male with two great, curling horns grabbed my hand and tried to pull me towards one of the fires, into the dancing.I tried to excuse myself politely, but in all honestly, I had no idea what their customs and social rules were so it was hard to know if I was insulting them or not with my rejection.

One thing was for sure, though.The night which had promised to be so much fun was turning out to be decidedly not.I don’t know what I’d expected; it wasn’t as if I’d been big on drinking and dancing back home, either.But if I went back to the castle while the night was still young, assuming Icouldfind my way back without Tarian or Ves, I could just imagine the smug look on Tarian’s face.No thank you.

I let out a sigh.What the hell was wrong with me?

‘You’re going to sigh out all your happiness,’ a familiar voice teased, bringing a smile to my lips.

‘Ethan!’I turned around to see that shock of platinum blonde hair and his casual smile.He wore black pants which cut off at his calves, no shoes, and no shirt, displaying a surprisingly toned body swirling with lines of blue paint.I threw my arms around him, feeling an overwhelming joy to see him again.

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