Page 75 of I Summon the Sea

Somewhere inside the palace, a clock chimes.

“Oh gods, she will be late!” Daria all but shoves me out of the door. I barely have time to grab my dagger and hide it in my cleavage. “Come, my lady, I’ll show you the way.”

“I’ll escort her,” Tru says, stepping out from the shadows by my door. “I was sent by?—”

Athdara, I know.I nod at him.Let’s go.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Tru tails me as I toddle in my uncomfortable shoes down long corridors, my dress trailing behind me. I notice when he grips a pendant hanging at his throat, bearing the king’s crest carved in a light blue stone. It has to be an amulet of some sort.

The fae love gems and minerals as much as they love trees, birds, and dragons. Nothing strange about that. Humans love the same things, but not with such an obsessive devotion. Fae like to take things to extremes.

See the royal guards’ uniforms as an example.

It makes me wonder about Arkin. If he’s a royal guard, where are his wings, and why isn’t he here? And what about Tru? Doesn’t he have any job other than to follow me?

My frustration is still mounting. I need to ask questions. What I need is a pen and paper to express myself, and…

I stop and glance around me, realizing that I’m hopelessly lost. Corridors radiate in several directions, but none look familiar.

“Lady Rae,” Tru says with a small bow, his long pale braid slipping over a broad shoulder to swing against his silver breastplate. “Allow me to show you the way to the banquet hall.”

I nod curtly.

He strides ahead, and I hurry to follow him, tempted to kick off my shoes and throw them out of a window to be swallowed by the sea.

I shouldn’t care about these matters, about Arkin and Tru.

About Jai, either. It goes without saying. He’s the worst because he makes my heart beat too fast, my mind go empty, and my body feel too hot… until he whirls about and eviscerates me with his cold arrogance and cruelty.

How many times do I have to be shocked to realize he will hurt me? It should be enough by now, shouldn’t it?

He saved you in the trial.

Yes, but to what end? We all have our stories and our missions. What’s his?

To hold the king’s cup, more like, I think as I follow Tru down galleries hung with somber portraits, or to cut up his dinner and hand-feed him. It wouldn’t surprise me.

What has the king promised him? What is he after?

A human adopted by the king, isn’t that what Daria said?

“Such a kind gesture, the king adopting a poor human boy from the countryside.”

That’s a huge promise, all right. A huge gift. More than enough to ensure Jai remains the staunchest defender of the fae.

And my enemy.

Remember that, I tell myself as we are joined by more humans dressed in borrowed finery, making our collective way to the banquet.It doesn’t matter one bit if he’s nice to you sometimes. He’s the same person he was when this journey started.

If that stings, then too bad.

The hall Tru leads us into is long and vast, the ceiling so high that the lit chandeliers seem to float in the dimness like great glowing jellyfish.

A seemingly endless table covered in black cloth splits the space, tall-backed chairs framing it. A dais with a black throne stands at its other end, and the fae nobles have already filled most of the seats around it—leaving us humans this end of the table.

Fine, I didn’t really expect us to sit across from the king or anywhere near him, hence my plan to meet him in his apartments.

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