Page 88 of Moonmarked

The look on Lyall’s face might have gotten close, though. He froze and his jaw basically touched the floor, and the most important thing was that the reaction seemed genuine. So authentic that I almost burst out laughing. Thankfully I composed myself quickly.

Lyall himself looked very handsome. He wore very princely attire—gold on the outlines of his purple velvet jacket, and his mask that was still in his hand at first was full of rocks that could have been miniature suns.

The chambermaids let go of my arms and stepped away, bowed deeply to the prince, and left.

I cleared my throat, smiling, wondering what Runewould do when he saw me, and Lyall took a good moment to compose himself before he spoke.

“I…” He shook his head, then put his mask on, tied it behind his head like he had eyes there, too. It merged with the color of his skin and his hair perfectly.

When he reached for my hand and kissed my knuckles, it wasn’t as weird as before because this time I expected it.

“I truly am a lucky man to have you as my date tonight, Nilah. You shine,” he said and laced my hand around the crook of his arm. “Simply stunning.”

“Thanks, Lyall. You don’t look bad yourself,” I said.

“Why, thank you. I wanted us to match so I picked this dress for you myself. I’ve always had a good eye,” he said with a grin, his eyes glossy as he looked down at my cleavage.

It made me flinch, especially when the next time our eyes met, he looked…turned on. Full of lust—whichugh. Please don’t.It felt so, so wrong. Lyall could be flirty and nice all he liked, and I didn’t mind that. But to actually look at me like that so openly?No, thanks.

Again, I cleared my throat and tried to keep up the smile. “That, you do. So, where is it? Where’s the ball? How many people will be attending?” I said, eager to change the subject, redirect his attention, but then Lyall took me around the corner, and…

“Why don’t you see for yourself?”

A short, wide hallway full of fae wearing masks and shimmer and glitter and gemstones. And ahead, two large white doors, both open all the way, led to the ballroom.

I couldn’t tear my eyes off it while Lyall took me forward, and the people stopped and stared, both at me and at him. Nobody bowed, though, and everyone was dressedwith all kinds of colorful lights, and even more fae were coming through behind us, but the ballroom…

The moment I stepped through the open doors, the world seemed to shift.

Light fractured and danced across the marble floor in soft golds and violets, cast from both the floating golden lights, and those chandeliers I hadn’t once seen on before. They were strung with crystals that pulsed like someone had stolen actual stars from the sky and put them there. Music filled the air—flutes, if I had to guess, the melodyhaunting,and it somehow fit the scene exactly right. The scent of flowers and spices came at me in waves, carried by a breeze coming from the three open glass doors. The round hall was filled with more fae than I had ever seen in one place before.

Which wasn’t saying much, but still.

I’d seen movies and I’d read plenty of books, but my imagination couldn’t have prepared me for this even if I’d had weeks and months. The hall stretched on endlessly. Columns of carved white stone lined the walls, spiraling up into vaulted ceilings painted with constellations just like those in the throne room, except these seemed to be moving across the surface. I could have sworn they shifted positions every time I looked away.

Every single person in there wore elaborate masks and fabrics that defied gravity. The gowns of the women could have been enlarged flower petals, and the men wore gemstones on their ties and jackets and even shoes. Some wore wings on their backs, translucent, shimmery, some shaped like butterflies. Some wore horns on their masks, antlers, tails—no two fae looked the same, and all of them shimmered like they were pulled straight out of a storybook.

I swallowed hard. My own mask suddenly didn’t look as extravagant and as fascinating as I’d first thought. The dress, the silver shoes I wore—they all fit in perfectly with the rest of them.

As Lyall took me forward, heads didn’t exactly turn, but I felt eyes on me all the same. Watching. Measuring. None of them bowing.

Maybe none of these people knew who Lyall really was?

Which was suspicious as hell, at first, but…

The more I analyzed the guests, the more I saw thatit wasin fact possible because every Seelie fae in this place had golden hair combed back in almost the exact same way. A lot of the men were as tall as Lyall, similarly built, and a lot wore purple velvet on them, too.

Yes, it was absolutely possible to disappear behind these masks, and that calmed me down somewhat. I breathed a little easier as we went even deeper into the room.

Golden trays floated on their own, carrying flutes of pale blue liquid that smoked at the brim. As we went, one of them juststoppedin front of us, and I nearly slammed into it, but Lyall stopped me. Laughed and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“This was necessary to lower the number of people allowed in this ballroom,” he said, then reached for two glasses on the tray, and offered me one. I took it just to keep my hands busy, but I had no intention of actually drinking it. I wasnotabout to get drunk in front of all these people no matter what.

And I had yet to spot Rune in the crowd, too.

“That’s okay,” I said absentmindedly, my eyes scanning the people, wondering if I would know him if I saw him with one of these masks on. “There are others.”

“Others?”

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