The Promised Queen (Forgotten Empires #3)- Jeffe Kennedy Page 0,40
the shrouds of her filmy skirts.
“Must I have a goal?”
“You always do. Besides, I don’t see you putting off Dearsley just to stroll in the gardens.”
She laughed, and the warm sound of true amusement from her warmed me like a kiss. “To see and be seen,” she murmured. “Nothing more complicated than that.”
“Your Highness!” Lord Percy sashayed in our direction, arm linked through Brenda’s, both beaming. Percy wore a shirt like mine, though in white, and with a vest embroidered lavishly with flowers that matched the full skirt billowing beneath. In contrast, Brenda seemed to be in uniform, though of no military or guard of any kingdom that had ever existed. The top looked like fanciful chain mail, made of gold scales like a dragon would have, with metallic spikes that curled up to frame her square jaw and short silver hair.
They both bowed from the waist, Percy with a lavish flutter of his green-and-gold nails. “I must say, Your Highness, while it’s delightful to see You looking so, well, alive, I do believe Your new fashion statement has already caused a great deal of difficulty.” He cocked his head, eyeing Lia’s revealing gown with envy. “We don’t all have the figure to carry off the sexy naiad thing.”
Brenda huffed out a short breath. “Wear what you want to, Percy. It isn’t that fucking hard.”
“Well,” he simpered, flipping open a fan painted with the same huge flowers as on his skirt, “not yet. But it will be! Ooh, stop,” he exclaimed when she elbowed him sharply. Then he leaned in, speaking behind the fan. “I absolutely forgive you two for what you did to my life raft. Kara darling is adding a few extras during the repairs, to make up for it.”
To my surprise, Kara appeared then, wearing somber clothing but carrying a colorful cocktail. He lifted it in a silent toast, acknowledging us, a slight smile on his thin lips. Sondra eased around us, taking his elbow to talk with him quietly.
“So,” Brenda interjected, “any further initiatives we should know about?”
Lia glanced at me expectantly. Great. How was I supposed to know what Lia wanted me to keep secret? Though I guessed she wouldn’t leave it to me if she thought I’d screw it up.
Or she trusted me. The thought hit me with more force than I could’ve imagined. She’d made it clear, but I just hadn’t quite gotten it through my thick skull, that we’d be planning this venture together. Lia trusted me to say what I needed to. It shouldn’t have hit me so hard, but it did. Lia believed in me. Even now, when she had less reason than ever. I put my hand over hers on my arm and squeezed lightly, rewarded by the warmth in her gaze.
“There will be something,” I told them, catching and holding Kara and Sondra’s eyes, too, so they sidled closer. “Her Highness needs to visit a temple first, but upon our return, we’ll need a strategy.”
“Any hints?” Percy yawned dramatically, fluttering his fan over his mouth. “A riddle, perhaps, to enliven the otherwise dull evenings.”
I didn’t bother glancing around at the elaborate festivities. The oppressed people outside of Calanthe would likely give anything to savor just one of Percy’s dull evenings. We all had our masks, I figured, and Percy’s pose of frivolous boredom hadn’t fooled me for long.
“Is Agatha around?” I asked.
Brenda and Percy exchanged interested glances, and Percy snapped his jeweled nails. A young man wearing only a strategically placed garland dashed up and kissed Percy’s hand. At Percy’s whisper, he trotted off again—his naked behind twitching and gleaming with oil.
“It’s after hours,” Lia murmured to me. “While we’re not fully in the Night Court, the lines become … blurred.”
I yanked my attention back, realizing I’d been staring in shock. That explained a great deal. I’d known about the nighttime revels at Lia’s palace, in theory, but hadn’t witnessed them. Clearly I needed to recalibrate my head to Calanthe’s excesses, even more strange to my eye after the starkness of Yekpehr. And if it felt that way to me, after being in Anure’s fortress only a few hours, what was Lia going through?
I studied her face, still turned up to me, and saw the acknowledgment there. “It’s good to see your people happy and enjoying the delights of Calanthe,” I said, and she smiled. A soft, closed-lipped smile with sadness in it, but also gratitude, maybe.
Agatha drifted up on the half-naked guy’s arm. Kissing her cheek, he