Page 2 of Queen of Ever

Because I loved him still, despite everything.It was like I’d opened a floodgate and now I couldn’t get it to close.

Silence slipped around us as we watched the sun climbing higher in the sky, as the bright oranges and pinks began to fade to blue.The light touched the courtyard, making the spires glitter like gold, and the waters spraying from fountains sparkle.The Summer Palace was at its most beautiful at sunrise.It was one of the things I loved about this place.Watching the sun bring it to life soothed something in me, making me feel like if I sat here long enough for that golden light to touch me, it would bring me back to life, too.

‘We should get you ready for breakfast.My brother is back and won’t like it if we’re late,’ Marietta said, finally breaking the silence.I wasn’t exactly hungry, but I couldn’t very well refuse the hospitality of the man who had offered me shelter when I had nowhere else to go.In fact, Solas had done a great deal for me since I’d arrived.He’d arranged for tutors to help me study and learn the ways of the Fae Realm, including etiquette and dancing, which felt ridiculous but at least it kept me busy.He’d also arranged for an instructor to help me master my newly-awakened magic—although I was still a long way from actually mastering it.

I let Marietta lead me back inside, watching as she sifted through the dresses in my wardrobe.Apparently, I couldn’t be trusted to dress myself because I chose things that were too plain.Not that I would have saidanythingin that wardrobe was plain.If I’d felt like a servant in a medieval movie at Dreadhold, here I felt like a princess.Or rather, like the pauper who was pretending to be the princess and hoping no one would figure it out and cut off her head.

‘This one,’ Marietta said, giving the dress a nod of satisfaction as she held it up to me.I didn’t argue; I’d long since given up arguing with her on matters of fashion.She helped me dress, the gold and cream coloured fabric making me look like a sunbeam, which seemed to be the fashion in the Summer Palace.Everyone wore gold trimmed clothes and gold jewellery with gems that caught the light.They all had blonde, or at least light-coloured, hair—though I suspected some of them weren’t naturally that colour—and they all dressed up for every occasion, even if they were only going to the library.I never thought I’d miss my servant dresses, but at least there was no social pressure when I wore a uniform.

Marietta finished the look with a simple amber pendant wrapped in gold before sitting me down to tend to my hair.‘Why do you really do this every morning?’I asked.It was a question I’d asked her many times, but she always gave me the same answer.

She raised an eyebrow at me in the mirror.‘What makes you think my answer will be any different today than it was yesterday?’she asked.

‘Because I don’t believe that a Seelie princess is helping the likes of me get ready because she wants to.’

‘But you know I can’t lie.’

‘True.But you’re not saying everything, either.’

‘Someone has to make sure you’re presentable.Besides, I like visiting you every morning.You’re like the sister I never had,’ she said, smiling brightly.Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door.‘We’d better hurry.That’ll be the servant to collect us for breakfast.’

Solas had been gone for a week now, off on some matter of royal importance, no doubt.Honestly, I didn’t ask too many questions about it because I had enough to deal with and I doubted he’d tell me, anyway.He was the king, after all.It was none of my business.But Marietta had been different in his absence.More relaxed, more playful, almost as if she could breathe when he wasn’t around.Which made sense.Tt must have been a lot of pressure to be the sister of the king.

The servant led us down to the dining room, which was one of my favourite rooms in the palace, as strange as that might sound.It was like a glasshouse out of a fairy tale.The sun shone in on all sides and exotic plants filled every corner and lined every shelf, filling the air with a sweet, floral scent.The sun always made me feel good, so I suppose starting my day with good food in the sunshine was a definite perk.

Solas was sitting at the head of the table, his plate already filled with food, a teacup in one hand as he read from a scroll that lay where his plate ought to be.He looked up as we approached, his assessing gaze raking over me before he gave a small nod.‘I see you’re growing accustomed to life in the palace, little rabbit,’ he said.

‘Marietta has been helping a lot,’ I admitted.

‘Perhaps, but you look as if you were born to this life,’ he said, a soft smile on his lips that alluded to more than he was saying.‘How are your studies progressing?’

Marietta and I took our seats as I contemplated how to answer that.The theoretical side was fine, I’d always loved learning, but the practical side?Even though I was now fae, I seemed to lack the natural grace Marietta possessed.And as for my magic…

‘She’s improving every day,’ Marietta said warmly, offering me an encouraging smile.Even though I knew she couldn’t lie, it was pretty close to one.My progress was slow at best.

As a plate was placed in front of me, full of vibrant fruits, it occurred to me that I’d never once shared a meal with Tarian.In the wild, desperate whirlwind that had been our time together, there were so many things we’d never had the chance to do, so many things I never had the chance to discover about him.

‘Imogen?Is there something wrong with the food?’Solas asked, but there was a slight edge to his voice that told me he knew where my mind had wandered to.

‘Sorry, no.Everything looks perfect, as always,’ I said, offering my best attempt at a smile before taking a bite to excuse myself from having to say anything more.‘How was your trip?’I asked, attempting to divert the conversation.

Solas let out a breath as if the whole ordeal had been tiresome.‘These political matters always drag on far too long,’ he said, the words giving very little away.In fact, it almost seemed pointless saying them at all.Many of the conversations in this place went much the same way, people using a lot of words to say very little.Solas rolled up his scroll and turned to me then.‘Seeing you this morning has given me an idea,’ he said.

‘Oh?’I was almost afraid to ask.

‘We should put your training into practice, don’t you think?The summer equinox is coming up, we hold a soiree to celebrate.The entire Seelie Court will be there.’

‘That sounds like a lot of people,’ I said, anxiety beginning to coil in my stomach.I wasn’t sure a party was a good way to start practicing.The last time I’d faced a fully assembled fae court, it had been at the Hunt Ball, where Tarian had dragged me away to a storage closet.While some of the courtiers I’d seen around the palace had excised that piece of gossip from their systems, there were many others who had not.

‘Don’t worry, you still have a few days to prepare.I know you’ll do fine.’

My gaze darted to Marietta, but the tight smile on her face told me I didn’t have a choice in the matter.‘Right,’ I said.At Solas’ raised eyebrow, I quickly amended my words.‘I mean, yes, whatever you think is best.’I couldn’t quite get the wordsyour majestyout.They felt so foreign to me, as was thinking that Solas was my king becauseIwas Seelie.But he nodded as if he approved of my response before turning back to his breakfast.

I was going to have to study hard before the equinox so I didn’t make a complete fool out of myself.

‘You can’t think at the water to move it, you have tofeelit,’ my instructor said as I glared at the pool of water in front of me, willing it to move as it stubbornly ignored me.She’d said the same thing to me so many times by now that I could mouth the words in perfect sync as she spoke them—though I didn’t, because I’d made that mistake once and I was sure I still had a bruise from where she whacked me with that stick of hers.

Galacia was a master in water magic, and from the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes, she must have been quite old, given that fae didn’t seem to age.But even her experience couldn’t get me to move a single drop of water from that pool.

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