Page 75 of Bound to the Shadow Queen
“Be careful, ladies, or you run the risk of further inflating his oversized ego,” Nevara said through a hazy smirk. “And shards only know how we’ll tolerate him then.”
Soren glanced over at her, his smirk growing wider.
“My ego isn’t the only thing that’s oversized, Visionary,” he practically purred the words. “But we can discuss that later, in private.”
My sister’s eyes nearly bulged out of her face while I choked on the cinnamon spirits, but Nevara’s expression didn’t twitch.
She blinked once. “No need. I have already seen.”
Soren chuckled, but Wynnie looked intrigued, a sentiment I echoed.
“Is that… a capitalized S, or a lowercase one?” Wynnie asked as Batty flitted over her glass, filling it with snowflakes.
Nevara only smirked.
I threw back the rest of my whiskey before pouring all of us another round while Soren continued on like normal.
“Well, the most popular theory is that you’re chained to Draven’s bed,” he said evenly.
Wynnie snorted. “She wishes.”
“I do not!” I spat, sloshing some of the precious Emberkiss onto my sister’s lap.
“It’s not right to lie in the presence of the Shard Mother’s own vessel,” Nevara said, clearly recovered.
I tried very hard to compose my features. “Well, it’s not a lie, because he’s a frost twat who thinks I’m an ab?—”
“Absolute disaster,” Wynnie yelled, cutting me off before I could sayabomination.
“Yes.” I agreed quickly. “That.”
Laughs rang out through the room before the Autumn emissary continued.
“Then there’s the not remotely believable story about you managing to stay ill for two weeks when we have one of the best healers in the realm.”
“Shards,” I cursed as Batty landed on my wrist, settling against my skin. “I knew I had missed something obvious with that one.”
“And of course,” his gaze sharpened almost imperceptibly as his eyes met mine, “there’s always the outlier, claiming that you’re an Unseelie, sent to be the undoing of our King.”
Silence fell like a guillotine.
I let out a nervous laugh, and my sister followed with an even louder one in an attempt to make it sound like an actual joke.
“The Shard Mother would never allow that, and neither would I,” Nevara said, offense coloring her tone.
It didn’t escape my notice that she was vague on which part the Shard Mother wouldn’t allow, and I was sure it didn’t escape Soren’s either.
“Besides, the Unseelie don’t have blue hair,” I blurted out.
Nevara blinked, and Soren tilted his head. “Is that true?”
Indeed, it was. Only Winter Court had blue hair as dark as mine. Spring Court sometimes had lighter shades of teal. Unseelie usually had black or brown or pale blonde hair, with the occasional crimson, unless they dyed it on purpose.
“Yes.” I nodded enthusiastically, latching onto the easy differentiator before I realized I should have no way of knowing that. “I…read about it. In a book.”
Batty burrowed her face into my sleeve like perhaps she was embarrassed by me.
“I read that same book,” Wynnie said, passing me her newly drained glass. “And I was particularly disappointed in the section about wingspan. I would have thought we’d get at least a small hint of?—”
