Crown of Shadows (Court of Midnight and Deception #1) - K. M. Shea Page 0,96

of her antacids.

I cleared my throat and smiled again. “And my chosen husband is Lord Rigel.”

When I glanced at the Wraith, I saw to my delight that I had managed to elicit another response in him: shock, I think?

He straightened up, and his lean and usually relaxed body was stiff as he stared me down.

His dark eyes didn’t look dead at all, oh heck no. Now they very much had a certain light to them—whether it was the aforementioned shock, or building rage, I couldn’t tell.

Please, please let me survive this decision!

Lord Dion at his side dropped his jaw and gaped at me—along with the rest of the Court.

No one moved—not even to twitch a muscle. The only noise in the gardens was the hum of the spotlights and the chirp of the crickets.

There was a scuffle near the back of the crowd, and when I looked I saw Chase with a hand slapped over Lord Linus’s mouth. The fae lord’s eyes were as big as moons, and Chase seemed unable to stand still or straight as he gawked at me. A clatter near the front drew my eyes to Skye. Her hands were arranged in the position they’d normally be when she was clutching her tablet, except it must have slid out and fallen to the ground.

Yep. Clearly my people thought I’d lost my mind. I swung my gaze back to my potential fiancé.

“Lord Rigel? What is your response?” I held out my hand.

Please say yes!

Air leaked out of me, and my lungs seemed unable to suck it back in as the moment stretched on forever.

A year passed before he moved, and it took my shocked brain several seconds to process the fact that he was coming toward me.

He climbed the stairs to the gazebo and stopped at my side.

When he moved again I almost winced—afraid I was about to get payback for my most definitely unwanted request.

Instead, my heart stopped when Rigel took my hand in his, and turned to face the crowd with me.

“Is that an acceptance?” I whispered.

Rigel didn’t even look at me. “Yes.” His voice was loud enough for the Court to hear.

“Hah!” Lord Dion broke out in a loud, amused honk, but he immediately smothered his reaction and switched to a smile and an enthusiastic clap.

He was still fighting a grin as the rest of the Court joined him—though they lacked the enthusiasm and were clearly going through the motions with their polite golfer clap as their brains tried to catch up with this unexpected twist.

Rigel didn’t look at me as he said at a volume I could barely hear over the shocked applause of the Court, “I assume you have a reason for this?”

“Oh yeah,” I assured him.

“You will explain it to me—in detail—tomorrow.”

“Gotcha!”

The crowd grew louder—they were still applauding at the same level, but now they were also murmuring to one another like a cloud of hornets.

And based on the glittering eyes, stiff expressions, and raised chins, I was betting the nobles weren’t happy. The common fae still appeared mostly overcome by shock—though the troll’s confused but thunderous claps were the loudest in the area.

I gave Lord Rigel a thumbs up and a wink when he finally glanced at me.

This close I think I could safely categorize the expression in his eyes: puzzlement.

I managed to baffle the Wraith. That’s gotta be an achievement!

“You don’t love me,” he stated.

I inhaled my own spit and choked. After about ten prolonged seconds of coughing, I assured him. “No!”

His expression cleared—he seemed to feel better about it—and Skye slowly approached the base of the gazebo. “If you would step forward, Queen Leila and…Lord Rigel. I will arrange a receiving line so the Court can…wish you both well and give you its congratulations.” Skye kept giving me a meaningful look during the lulls in her sentences.

Lord Rigel dropped my hand like it was a dead fish and glided down the stairs. I was a step behind him—moving more carefully because I still wasn’t great with heels.

Once Skye arranged us to her satisfaction, she stepped to the side to converse with some of the guards, who started motioning at the fae like an airport employee directing landing airplanes.

Indigo joined Lord Rigel and me, looking markedly less disturbed than anyone else on my team as she scooted around to stand behind me.

“Congratulations, my Sovereign, and to you, Lord Rigel,” she said.

I peered back at her. “You seem remarkably chipper.”

“Of course!” She sniffed up at me. “I was really worried