Page 93 of I Summon the Sea

Except for one of them.

Neere.

She’s not dressed as a guard anymore but as a lady in a lovely green gown, long hair caught in an elaborate updo, long green pendants hanging from her earlobes.

She steps in my path and looks down her narrow nose at me. “Well, well. The half-drowned rat has made it through the first trial. Who would have thought?”

I stare right back. Why is she here? Why is she mingling with the fae nobles?

Well, it appears that all my thoughts appear in oversized letters on my face, because she smirks.

“Don’t look so shocked. The Royal Guard is often comprised of nobles, and you poor human wouldn’t know anything about it, but taking part in the sacred procession from the lands to the Sea Palace for the festival is an honor.”

My mind spins. So she’s a noble. And what about Tru and Arkin?

She sneers. “Look at you. Pathetic. So ugly and ordinary. So… monochromatic and magic-less. I don’t see what Athdara wantswith you, weakling, spending time around you, lending you his moths. And yet you wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t saved your ass over and over.”

Glaring, I try to sidestep her. She’s right, and the truth grates.

She blocks my way again. “Arkin is escorting me to the ball, and he already gave me his token. So stay away from him, do you hear me?”

Seriously? She thinks I’m interested in her man? And even more ridiculous, she thinks he’s interested inme?

It would seem so, because she bends slightly to get into my face. “I said, do you hear me, little freak?”

Gods above.I shove at her and resume walking before I stab her with my hairpins. They are pretty sharp, and I’m saving my dagger for the king.

“You’re all going to die, all of you little humans!” she calls after me. “You were born with a foot already in the grave. So die already, and let us enjoy our festival in peace.”

Right…

“Oh, and stop flirting with Athdara! He isn’t interested. All he has ever done was follow the king’s orders. Or because he’s insane.”

Holy Wights, she’s still talking. I tell myself that going back and scratching her eyes out isn’t serving any purpose, but Gods, I want to.

“He isn’t interested.”

Why did her comment sting?

I couldn’t give a rat’s ass if she thinks I’m flirting with Arkin, but implying that I’m not good enough for Jai? That he doesn’t care if I exist?

Dammit.What’s the matter with me? That should be the very last of my concerns. In fact, it shouldn’t even make the list. Damn her, and damn Arkin for choosing such an idiotic, spiteful female as his lover.

Where are the humans? I only see fae and more fae, pointed ears covered in nightgold and silver, sharp eyes following me, susurrations and the nauseating tang of earth magic, sweet apples, and rot. I think I see skin turning to bark, hairdos turning into thorny branches, mouths turning into caterpillars.

I blink.

It’s not until I’ve reached the pavilion that I find the humans. They have been herded inside, it seems. Or they hid there themselves, away from the fae. Who would blame them?

Under the white fabric of the pavilion’s roof, they are sitting at small tables, but they have stilled, the conversations rippling around me when I stepped onto the terrace fading. They stare at me as I walk to the tables laden with food and drink.

What are they seeing? What do they know? What are they so afraid of, their gazes searing my back and pricking the back of my neck?

The moth remains quiet on my shoulder, and I doubt they even notice it—unlike on my way here when it insisted on fluttering its shiny wings, a living adornment, drawing every eye in every hallway I crossed.

When the silence finally breaks, it’s predictably bad.

“Fae-sympathizer,” a voice says.

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