facing each other in a circle, the desk made of fused thick glass shards and depicting colorful visions of all of the kingdoms’ people, each desk specifically for an elf, a shifter, a merfolk, a gorgon, and a caster.
I tried not to gape too hard as my eyes ran over the entire room—since it was entirely unbecoming in present company—the circular wall surrounding the desks even made of the same shards of colored glass. The brilliant white marble beneath our feet danced with the multi-hued light sprinkling in from the sun. At the sun’s peak of day, this royal meeting room would positively glow with beauty.
Father asked delicately, “Trixie, would you like to take a seat?”
I blinked and turned my focus to the royals.
Oh Fae. They were all already seated.
This was humiliating.
It was a possibility I hadn’t been as covert as I thought in my ogling. I had fairly lost myself in Fae’s creation. It was blindingly hypnotic, and I had fallen prey to its charms.
“Of course, Father.” I cleared my throat and quickly moved to the elven desk. Two royal seats sat behind each desk, so I took the one remaining next to my father. “My apologies.”
Queen Alora snickered to our right. “Her eyes were sparkling as much as that belt she’s wearing.”
“What is the belt supposed to depict from her kingdom?” King Elon queried, directly next to her in the circle. “I can’t quite figure that out.”
My cheeks flamed red on my porcelain skin.
I should have taken it off.
To our left, Queen Mikko pondered aloud, “Possibly, it’s supposed to be all of the elven powers?”
King Traevon lifted a bored eyebrow and stared at the individual directly across from us. “Would you like to comment on my daughter’s belt, King Athon? Everyone else seems to be having so much fun.”
King Athon appeared to be just as bored as Father with this conversation. He shrugged one shoulder, and rumbled, “It’s simply a glittery belt a young woman enjoys. Anyone with eyes can see that.”
All eyes did, in fact, turn to look at me for confirmation.
I could not believe this was a topic of paramount importance.
Father lifted one eyebrow, prompting me to speak.
By the Fae, I was actually going to have to explain this, and I would really rather not. I sighed heavily, my face crimson now. “I purchased the belt on the coastline from a traveling caster. The colors represent all five kingdoms.”
King Elon’s head tipped to the side, staring at what he could see of my belt over the edge of our desk. “Well, now. I can see it. That is marvelous, Princess Trixie.”
“Thank you, Your Royal Highness,” I sputtered.
“I want one of those.” Queen Alora pouted prettily. “Do you have the name of the traveling merchant?”
“I do. It was Lasmi Cazor.”
“Oh, I know her personally,” Queen Mikko stated happily. “She does fabulous work, just like that belt, on many items.”
Why in the Fae fuck were we still talking about my belt?
Seemingly, King Athon was of the same opinion. “May we get started with why we are actually here? I would like to leave sometime today.”
The others snubbed him and kept talking about my attire, and how I should be commended for wearing this belt to my first royal summit. Father tackled it with aplomb, with prideful boasts about my tremendous fashion sense.
I was still bloody stuck on King Athon, my mouth shut.
His voice had not helped my libido. The tenor of his brutally dark, unique tone was akin to a sensual blast inside my mind, making me resituate myself on my seat. When his nostrils flared, and he sank lower in his chair and widened his legs, a sneer formed on his previously blank features.
Did he really need to sit like that?
And could the shifter please put on a shirt?
His soft leather pants stretched hard over his powerful thighs and his muscles on his arms bulged obscenely. I wasn’t even attracted to a man so abnormal looking compared to my kind—he looked rather disgusting, honestly—but all I wanted to do was crawl across the room and stuff my face between his legs.
King Athon caught the scowl on my face. A section of his long white hair fell over his shoulder to lie upon his chest, and I was jealous of his Fae damned hair. He swiftly glanced at the others, and then properly shot a death glare right at me when he deemed no one was paying us any attention, their conversation still stuck on my freaking Fae