The Beginning of Everything by Kristen Ashley Page 0,81

me from.

“And mark this, Elena, if True approaches you again when I’m not at your side, whether you’re in uniform or wearing the most comely gown I’ve ever gods-damned seen, this will not make me happy.”

All right.

So.

Now he knew I was a virgin.

And I knew his man killed my dearest friend.

And perhaps I finally understood why Melisse had insisted I wear this gown.

He also knew how unpleasant my sister could be (though I reckoned he already knew she was thus just simply from her reputation, not to mention she dealt the blow that would eventually lead to his brother’s death).

And he further knew True and I had feelings for each other.

To end, if I thought the night before that our relations weren’t starting all that well, I had much gloomier thoughts about this subject now.

Though it would seem I was wrong, and he wasn’t entirely disinterested in me.

And apparently, he liked my gown.

However, as he held my hand caught tight in his elbow tucked close to his side, which meant I had to be close to his side, as he led us directly to King Mars and Silence, I was wondering if this was a boon.

Or if the fates might loathe me.

21

The Dinner

The Priest

Formal Dining Room, First Floor, West Corridor, State Wing, Catrame Palace, Fire City

FIRENZE

The last to arrive in the formal dining room of Catrame Palace were Prince Cassius Laird of Airen and Elena, Princess of the Nadirii

The minute both their feet stepped over the threshold, he felt it.

And feeling it, he took note.

Also feeling it, Ophelia’s head twitched, and her eyes sought her daughter’s.

Elena’s head jerked, and her gaze sought her mother’s

Ha-Lah’s curls bounced and she put her hand to her stomach in a comforting gesture.

Silence’s eyes narrowed bemusedly.

Last, Farah’s lips parted, and she looked to the floor.

For the priest’s part, he felt his lips thin momentarily before he smoothed them and moved to find his assigned seat.

When he found his chair, he saw that he’d been relegated to a table with non-important personages.

This did not make him angry, as it used to do.

They would learn.

As he sat, he did it thinking this had been a nuisance, these alliances being made…and why.

Now it was more of a nuisance because he was concerned.

That vibration in the veil of magic, the strengthening, it happened simply with all of them together but without all of them being together.

What would come of it when they were?

There was nothing for it.

He’d had to cease the rituals so he could assess the possible danger of how the realms were aligning to beat the Beast.

Now, the priest would have to keep close in order to stop these alliances from coming to fruition.

A bother.

And a frustrating one.

Though it was his understanding he only had to select one and then all would be lost (for them).

He would do that tonight.

He dipped his chin to the boy who filled his wineglass, greeted his dinner companions as they joined him, and looked to the long table at the front of the room where the couples were seated all in a row.

Elpis was no fool.

There was a seat’s-worth of space between each couple.

Privacy.

Time to get to know one another in a room full of people at a table shared by many.

Cassius and Elena to the left. Mars and Silence beside them. Ha-Lah and Aramus next. Ending in True and Farah.

The priest made his assessments and started with the least likely couple first.

Drawing it in, focusing on it, he felt the sensation grow in his lower stomach, and then he utilized it, honing on Mars and Silence, and using his magic, his ears took in their words at a distance he would not normally hear them.

“What was it?” Mars asked low.

“I don’t know.” Silence sounded disturbed.

“A tremor?” Mars queried.

“No.”

“A draught?” he went on.

“No. Yes. What I mean to say is, it was a tremor, but not a tremor,” Silence explained. “A…a throb. And it was not a draught. More like a wind. Not a breeze, a wind. Didn’t you feel it?”

She was talking about the strengthening of the veil.

Though she couldn’t identify what it was.

A boon.

“I felt nothing, mia piccolina.”

My little one.

Yes, they were the least likely couple. They were already much drawn to each other.

And Mars had paraded his new bride in front of his people like she was a precious, priceless ruby extracted from deep in a Firenz mine and hewn to lustrous perfection.

The priest sensed, already, if she were to be harmed, Mars would turn every stone in