Page 137 of A Storm in Every Heart
I slide over to make room for her next to me, and she leans against the railing.
“You look nice,” I say out of brotherly obligation.
She scoffs. “I look tired, which is what I am. I almost made Dellanore or Avaline pretend to be me.”
I crack a smile. “Don’t you think Prince Thorne would notice?”
“Not at all.” She scowls. “He’s awful. Even worse than I expected, and my hopes weren’t high.”
“So I take it you won’t be announcing an engagement tonight,” I joke, cracking a smile for the first time all day.
She shakes her head, her scowl growing deeper. “No, but it wasn’t even my choice.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“He doesn’t want to marry me,” she says incredulously. “Can you believe that?”
My brow furrows. “Actually, no, I can’t. What happened?”
Serena lets out another frustrated huff, then immediately smiles a wide fake smile, waving to a few courtiers behind us. “Wait for them to move along,” she says out of the corner of her mouth.
I nod, still shocked. Not that I wanted Serena to marry Prince Thorne, but I can’t imagine why he would be the one to reject the engagement. My sister is a princess, wealthy in her own right and objectively beautiful, whereas Thorne is a fucking asshole. She’s far too good for him. So, what’s the problem?
The courtiers move on, and Serena’s smile slides back off her face. “Sorry.” She sighs. “Anyway, Thorne isn’t looking for just any princess; he wants a sorceress.”
My eyebrows raise. “A human, you mean?”
Fae rarely use the word “sorceress.” That, along with “witch,” is a word almost exclusively reserved for humans with magic who somehow find their way into Ellender.
“No idea, I didn’t ask for clarification,” she huffs. “Apparently my magic isn’t strong enough for whatever precious magical babies he’s planning.”
I shake my head. “Fucking idiot. Maybe he’s just shallow and wants a human wife?”
She cracks a smile. “Are you saying I’m not as pretty as a human?”
“Of course that’s not what I’m saying,” I blurt out. “You can do far better than Prince Thorne.”
“Oh, I know that.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m offended, obviously, but at least now I won’t have to marry him.”
“You wouldn’t have had to anyway. Father never would have made you go through with it.”
“I don’t know,” she says dubiously. “Magnus has been in his ear lately about what a benefit to us it would be to have an alliance with Vernallis.”
I gesture aimlessly toward where the Vernalli and Hydrattan nobles are happily mingling. “Is this not friendly enough?”
Serena shrugs. “Don’t ask me.”
My brow furrows again. “It seems like Magnus has been in Father’s ear a lot as of late.”
Serena purses her lips. “I know. I’m honestly just glad he’s delegating to someone. You know how controlling he can be.”
“Oh, I know, believe me.”
We fall silent, and I adjust my black mask on my nose before my gaze falls back on the ramp up to the ship. Still no Odessa…
“Speaking of ‘pretty…’” Serena says, drawing my attention back to her.
I raise my eyebrows. “Were we speaking of that?”
