Page 58 of The Lord of Whispers

Tucking my arm in Grant’s elbow, I turned my back to Cole and began walking toward Luke.

“Always a pleasure, Cole. And do remember to take a breath. You’re turning purple,” I said over my shoulder. More laughter broke out among his friends.

Luke and Grant filled me in on what I’d missed while I’d been away at the Vitruvian manor in Breakpoint.

“So, I take it that we don’t have a princess yet?” I asked.

They were talking about the Prince’s Choosing, which occurred while I was away.

“Twenty years going strong and not a single twenty-four-year-old woman in Valencia is good enough for our dear Prince,” Luke said, disdainfully.

The Prince’s Choosing has happened once a year for the last twenty years. Every woman, high fae or lesser fae, in their twenty-fourth year was required to come to the High Court for the ceremony. Every twenty-four-year-old woman was lined up in the same room before the Prince for his choosing. No one had ever been good enough to be officially chosen by the Prince during the ceremony. Although those at the Court said that, after the ceremony, the Prince usually chose oneor twoof the women to visit his bedroom.

I wasn’t twenty-four yet, so I’d not been a part of the Choosing yet. I crinkled my nose, inwardly cringing at the thought of being chosen by the Prince and having to spend the rest of my life with someone I’d not chosen myself. Then I let my mind wander to more pleasant thoughts as Grant made a lascivious joke about the Prince’s good looks and wishing he was a twenty-four-year-old woman.

I recalled the conclusion of my lesson with Jay all those weeks ago on how to please him. I’d reveled in the protracted lesson after all that time of him focusing solely on me and not allowing me to touch him. Yes, my lessons were definitely a good part of my life at the High Court.

And, of course, there is Luke, I thought appreciatively, looking at Luke and realizing he was saying my name.

“Al, did you hear what Grant just said aboutDon Davante?” Luke stressed the name to get my attention.

We’d decided to keep my connections with Cass a closely held secret for the time being.

“No, what? What did Ca—he do, and who did he piss off this time?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Well…” Luke began, “it’s not really like the other stunts we’ve seen so far.”

I let out a small chuckle, thinking of the shit-truffle and the statue beheading. I’d been amused by the don’s antics before I knew that Cass was behind them, but now that I knew the don was Cass, I thought they were hilarious.

Luke gave me a tight-lipped expression showing that he did not think the latest incident was funny at all.

“It is pretty fucked up, actually. Lord Garaud had hosted a dinner that evening and some of the lesser fae actually showed up. Apparently, the night was going well; everyone was listening to music and getting along. Lord Garaud, his wife, son, and daughter all made their way to bed at some point, but the party continued on. But later that night, Lord Garaud and his family were chased out of their beds and nearly out of town by some lesser fae before members of House Tragon intervened.”

That sounded cruel, and not at all like Cass. No way the Cass I knew would have ever been involved with or let something like that happen, especially with women and children involved.

Reading the disgust on my face, he said, “I know. The word is that the King is up in arms and wants House Rein to start some coordinated efforts against the lesser fae front near the Rein manor up north.”

I groaned. Jay was probably hearing about the exact same thing over at House Heroux, and he was going to be pissed. I was going to have to talk to Jay about this. I just hoped it wasn’t already too late.

29

Jay

“Good evening, love.”

I greeted Alarie as she strolled into my study, high heels in hand and smelling faintly of booze.

Even before we’d left for Breakpoint, she’d been spending more time out of the manor and longer nights hanging out with “the boys” as she liked to call them—Luke and Rhett.

Noticing my look at her disassembled appearance, she threw her heels to the side of the door, and said offhandedly, “My feet were killing, but I didn’t feel like having Luke carry me again. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about the news from the north.”

“Did you at least let Luke walk you home?” I asked, tight-lipped, deciding not to comment, for the moment at least, on this Luke not carrying her “again” situation.When and to where, exactly, was she being towed around by my House counselor?

“Jay, I’m capable of walking by myself,” Alarie protested.

“Alarie, what have I told you?” I asked, failing to keep all the frustration out of my words. I checked the overwhelming need to protect Alarie that rose in me, threatening to consume all reason. “If you heard the things I heard, knew the things I knew, love, you wouldn’t think I was being so ridiculous. You have no idea how dangerous the High Court is, especially with people getting their powers back,” I explained.

As the Lord of Whispers, I heard the terrible confessions and ideas that were only voiced in whispers in the darkest corners of the High Court. When my powers and the whispers had faded, I had not forgotten about the awful things I’d heard. But with everyone’s powers lessening, my concerns regarding what was planned behind closed doors lessened as well.

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