Page 47 of Madness of Her Mages

Blaze leaned over me, his fingers skimming the tops of my breasts as he unwrapped the scarf. “You would be beautiful either way.” His heated breath in my ear sent a trill racing down my spine.

“Your Highness. You’re going to be late to supper.” Daminica clucked her tongue. “Our queen will not be happy.”

With an exaggerated eye roll, I stood and then knelt down as far down as I could with this obnoxious hoop under my gown. I held my arms open to the girls. They jumped from their pillows and ran to me.

I kissed their temples, brushing their hair out of their eyes. “Be good for Uncle Nikkos.”

“We will,” they simultaneously said.

“We still think she’s a doll,” Aurora whispered in my ear while casting a quick glance in Daminica’s direction.

I laughed, instantly regretting it when it felt like I’d busted a tight stitch in my bodice. Elements, how was I supposed to eat in this thing?

I thanked Nikkos with a kiss on the cheek when he helped me stand. It was so hard to move, much less breathe, in this blasted costume. The dress was a beautiful creamy white and silver that matched my bodice, but elements, it was too much, the bodice too tight, and the hoop too wide. I felt like a dragon with a huge behind and was afraid I’d knock over plants and vases with this thing. Drae and Blaze took my arms, and I blew the girls and Nikkos kisses before we followed Daminica toward the door to our sleeping chamber and adjoining sitting room.

After walking down long corridors, we passed through the grand hall with a ceiling so high, I couldn’t see the top as the walls disappeared into the shadows. A plucky quartet of musicians played a catchy tune on a stage at the end of the hall, the music echoing across the hall’s cathedral ceilings. How I would’ve loved to have stopped to listen to their enchanting music, but we were already late to supper. The black and white checkered floors were so slick, Blaze had to carry me when I started to slide. I cursed the ridiculous, flimsy slippers I’d allowed Daminica to put on my feet. Blaze set me down when we reached a set of double doors. He held my hand as we walked into the grand dining room as the court was about to sit. The circular table was wide enough to accommodate at least fifty people, maybe more, with three massive chandeliers suspended from the tall rafters above us that reflected off the table’s polished charcoal surface. The table chairs all had deep scoops in the backs to accommodate the many fire mages’ wings. Behind the chairs stood dozens of hybrid human/Fae menservants as still as statues, their unseeing eyes facing forward. Oh, thestories they could tell. They blended in with the dark drapes behind them in solid black livery, from their buttons, stockings, and down to the buckles on their shoes.

Malvolia sat in an ornate iron chair that was larger and shinier than the rest of them with a high back not meant to accommodate wings. She was unrecognizable at first with a tall black wig and heavy paints on her face. She wore an iridescent gown of midnight and had unusually long, sharp fingernails that looked more like a dragon’s claws polished to a gleaming onyx. She glared at me from beneath her lashes while motioning toward two empty seats beside her. Only two seats? Blaze pulled out the chair beside Malvolia, giving me an expectant look. I momentarily panicked until I saw Drae glide around the table, taking the seat opposite mine on the other side of the queen. After I sat, the hoop in my skirt scraping the underside of the table, Blaze helped push in my chair before he sat on my other side, his wings draped over the back of the chair.

He squeezed my hand.Relax,he projected to me.Drae and I are here for you.

I thanked him with a tight smile, but as I got a good look at the others at the table for the first time, I realized I sorely stood out, for every single female had on ridiculous wigs, loads of white powder, and heavy face paints—and they were all leering at me. Many of the males didn’t look much better. About half of them also wore white face paints and more subtle makeup. A few of them had black moles above their lips as if they’d been smudged with a chunk of charcoal, and their wings gleamed with colorful glitter. The ringlets in their hair looked too perfect to be real, and I realized they wore wigs, too. It bothered me that only half of the males were dressed like peacocks while every female had to wear those doll wigs and makeup. Why were the mage’s fashions optional while the women had to adhere to a more rigorous standard?

I couldn’t believe this was court fashion, dressing up like a Sidhe Fae doll. So why did I feel like the ridiculous one?

“Did you not have enough time to get ready, Niece?”

Blaze squeezed my hand.Tell her yes,he projected to me.

I turned up my chin. “I refused the wig and makeup, Aunt.”

I stiffened when my mates’ groans echoed in my head. Not that they had any right to groan when they wore no makeup or wigs, either.

I wasn’t about to lie, for next time my aunt would expect me to adhere to their stupid fashion standards.

Malvolia arched a penciled brow, which appeared to have been drawn in an inch higher than her original brow. “Why?”

Tell her you ran out of time,Drae projected.

I shot him a glare before looking back at my aunt. “Because I’m not one of Ember and Aurora’s dolls.”

The collective crowd gasped, Drae and Blaze cringed, and was it my imagination, or did the room heat up several degrees?

But then Malvolia threw back her head and let out a burst of laughter. “Perhaps next time we should leave off the wigs,” she said. “My head does itch.”

The rest of the court bobbed their heads in agreement like trained birds. How pathetic.

“And the makeup,” I murmured, refusing to cower when Malvolia shot me a sideways glare.

Malvolia loudly cleared her throat before motioning to me. “Though this isn’t her official coming out, I’d like to introduce my niece to court.”

I swear I could taste the venom leaching from the courtiers as all eyes turned on me.

“She is an honored guest at my court,” my aunt continued, “and a powerful witch with the siren’s call.”

The crowd gasped, arching back as if I carried a plague.

I turned up my chin, giving them equally heated looks.

---