her footsteps clicked down the stable aisle.
My marriage has a huge potential to help me destroy all of these petty alliances and power moves. But Lord Dion has an alliance with the Paragon. And while I like the Paragon, that somehow doesn’t feel right either. Hah, I never thought what would disappoint me most about my marriage is who my husband’s friends are!
The evening of my engagement announcement, my stomach had taken up the delightful hobby of practicing flips in my guts.
I stared with a twist of fascination and horror as Skye climbed into the fancy, wrought iron gazebo that had green vines twisting up its sides. “May I have your attention?” she called to the crowd of fae that had invaded the mansion’s gardens that evening.
She kept talking, but I didn’t hear it. My heart was thumping too loudly for her voice to cut through. “I’m going to be sick,” I whispered. I was hiding behind a bush trimmed to resemble an English teapot and was thankfully out of my Court’s eyesight at the moment.
“No you’re not,” Indigo said. “You’re just nervous—unless you’re serious?” Her forehead furrowed. “But I was very careful to only make bland foods for you for the past two days—just in case.”
“That’s why you made potato soup and rice gruel? Aww, Indigo, you’re too thoughtful!” I tried to smile, but I couldn’t tell if I was or not. My whole body had gone numb.
The fae meandered down to the end of the gardens where the gazebo was, whispering to each other as they gathered beneath the darkening sky. Today they were putting on their “refined” act, which meant they were dressed like British royals. Now that I’d figured out how their costumes changed with the image they wanted to convey, it was a lot easier trying to figure out what games they were playing. I’d bet today they were proper and powerful because no one had a legit idea who I was going to choose, so they needed to cover their bases.
“It’s fine.” I rolled my shoulders back and tried to listen to the crickets to calm my churning stomach.
We had to hold the announcement outside because it was the only place big enough for the crowd that had come today—a bunch of the common fae were here, too.
Indigo had actually introduced me to her parents—who were incredibly pleasant brownies with warm smiles and not a single cross thing to say. I peeked down at Indigo.
She scowled at me. “What?”
Yep. No idea how their pleasantness combined created her.
“I still think we should have held the announcement earlier in the day,” I grumbled. “Holding it at twilight means we had to haul a bunch of lights out here and have all the servants use their magic to create those light orbs. Talk about inefficient.”
“Chase certainly tried to back you up—though I think he was more concerned about ill-wishers being able to hide.”
I laughed, but the sound was flat and nervous.
Indigo reached up and gently touched my elbow. “Are you okay?” she asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this nervous.”
“It’s because before this I haven’t had to pick who I’d spend the rest of my life with—and, more importantly, who is going to be my closest ally.”
“Ah, yeah, that’s a good point.” Indigo squinted at the wide array of fae. “To be honest, I figured you’d pull another one of your shenanigans out and surprise us all. But Lord Dion is a solid candidate. Plus, I’m pretty sure you’ll break him in under a month.”
I couldn’t respond as I stared out at the fae. All of the nobles were present—looking bored and vaguely offended even though I hadn’t addressed them tonight.
The common fae openly looked back and forth between Skye—still making her announcements—and me.
I saw a few I knew from the various Court functions I’d gone to—a family of highly respected pixies, the representative from the trolls, a few centaurs, a mermaid had even come for the occasion—she was sitting in the giant fountain in the center of the garden courtyard.
Why is everyone staring at me? I jerked my gaze to Skye, who gave me an encouraging nod.
“Is it time?” I whispered to Indigo.
“Yes.” Indigo’s forehead wrinkles grew. “Do you need help?”
“Nah. I can walk. Thanks, though.” I tried to smile at her again, then climbed down the stairs of the little stone patio we’d been standing on, and took the pathway through the fae that magically opened up for me.
I think I get why