Page 130 of Enchanted Kingdom
“No one will be looking at your face,” Owen offered.
Keir pinned him with a glare. “Not helpful.”
I took a shaky breath and looked back to Krewan. “So, pretend to be comfortable?”
He gave me a winced smile. “Yes. And we will try to get you out of there as soon as we can.”
I could see Keir was getting worked up, as his blue magic was at the surface of his skin, crawling along his arms again. “I hate this,” he spat.
“Youwill also need to remain calm and collected the entire evening,” Krewan added to Keir.
I reached over and placed my hand on Keir’s forearm, his magic vanishing.
Krewan gave his head a slight shake, like what I had done had been interesting. “You two are both being taunted tonight. Tonight will not be fun. Tonight will not be romantic. Tonight is a battle. Every smile and every step you take is defiance to this power play tonight. You can do this. Both of you.”
Before I could think about it, my thought slipped out. “Why are you being so nice right now, Prince Darkness?”
Krewan gave his head a shake, his eyes not leaving mine despite the fact that I had just referred to him as Prince Darkness. Out loud. “Because I also hate it. That my father would force you to do this, knowing how uncomfortable you’d feel and how much unwanted attention you’d get? Or possibly even the fact that he wanted to see you in it?” He pressed his lips together as his eyes locked on mine. “I loathe him for this.”
I gave him a nod.
Keir gave me an evil grin.
“What?”
He cocked his head. “Well, if he’s expecting you to be made a spectacle of, I think we should start the night off with a bang then.”
That sounded ominous. “How?”
Keir grinned. “You’ll walk in with me.”
Krewan snorted a laugh. “Brilliant.”
We were done pretending Keir wasn’t as interested in me, that ruse was up when I began sleeping in Keir’s wing. I wiped at my eyes again. “Okay, fine. But I need to go have Silvia fix my face from these damned tears.”
Keir brushed a kiss to my temple. “Go. Take your time. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
I turned to leave but then at the last minute decided to hug Keir instead.
He immediately wrapped his arms around me and held me there. Into my hair he whispered, “I promise we will do our best to make it as bearable as possible. All three of us.”
I guess I had figured out what the entertainment tonight was after all.It was me.
CHAPTER36
Itook a deep breath before the ballroom doors.
“I’m right here with you,” Keir said as he put his hand on mine, which was hooked into the crook of his arm.
My eyes went to Owen. “If I start to falter my fakeness, do some sort of signal.”
Owen snorted. “Like what?”
“Find her and tell her that I have an urgent message for her,” Keir provided. “Then she’ll be able to walk away with you and no one will question it.”
My chin went back.
“What?” Keir asked.
