Page 114 of First Light
The dance circled them around again, and the music got louder.
Too much to explain on the dance floor. “Regan said something to embarrass her at breakfast this morning.”
“Oh aye, she would,” Duncan growled. “That’s a viper in the garden.”
“Regan?”
He gave her a quick nod. “She should go to the top of your list. Seren never trusted her.”
“Cadell said she was out of the country, remember?”
Duncan sighed. “Dammit. It’d be easier if she’d been the one. You wouldn’t even have to convince anyone. Just say ‘Regan killed Seren’ and people’d believe ya. No one trusts her.”
Carys made a mental note. “Why?”
Duncan leaned down and spoke into Carys’s ear, the heat of his breath brushing across her neck. “Seren always said Regan smelled of the fae. She suspected Regan had a fae lover like her mother keeps.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Duncan kept his head close. “When someone is willing to align themselves with fae power, where do their loyalties lie? With the humans of this world? Or the ones who hold power?”
“Does this have something to do with your… extracurricular activities?”
Duncan pulled back, and the corner of his mouth turned up. “I’m going to remember that one. Extracurricular activities.” He chuckled a little and led her through the alley of dancers, focusing on dancing for the last strains of the song.
For a few stolen moments, Carys joined him, reveling in the magic of the flaming hearth, the castle walls, and the stomping of the dancers in finery stolen from a fantasy novel.
Where are you, Carys Morgan?
She was in the middle of a fairy tale with all the intrigue, beauty, and humanity of her favorite stories. There were unicorns in the forest and fae in the shadows. There were kings and knights, and more wondrous than anything, there weredragons.
Carys threw her head back and laughed, catching Cadell’s stern expression from the side of the room.
What would her mother say if she saw her here? Would the magic of the moment thrill her? Would the mystery intrigue her?
Don’t follow the lights, my Carys. They want to lead you away from me.
The memory of her mother’s warning popped into her memory the moment the music stopped.
Duncan cast a glance at the head table and took Carys’s arm. “Lachlan looks like he wants to murder me.”
“Don’t joke about that.”
Duncan lifted one dark eyebrow. “Oh? You think he could?”
Carys’s breath caught at the danger in his voice. “No. I… I don’t know. Let’s try not to find out, shall we?” She looked around the room and noticed that Eamer was missing from the head table.
Meet me in the portrait gallery after dinner.
Oh shit. Not after the banquet, after dinner. Which meant she was late.
“Duncan, I need to go.”
“Where?”
She looked for Cadell, who gave her a nod. “Cadell knows where I’m going, but I need to go alone. I’m meeting someone.”
“Carys, who?” Duncan’s fingers were firm on her arm. “Please don’t?—”