Page 94 of Court of Winter

Probably two dozen females waited anxiously by it, peering outside as they primped their hair and whispered among one another behind fluttering fans. More than a few glared at me or sniffed in my direction.

“I just assumed that was the norm for balls.”

“It’s not. All of those females are hoping to be the next queen, but I doubt they’ll even be in the running. Our father is quite particular about who we breed with.” The young prince’s mouth tightened. “Alas, Nori’s been trying to put off this day our entire lives. Our father has stated since we were young boys that he would be choosing our betrotheds.”

I frowned. “Why? I thought such archaic practices were no longer followed?”

“I’m afraid it’s a tradition that he’s resurrected since his own marriage.” He nodded toward his parents.

The king was still speaking with the fairy he’d been engrossed in conversation with earlier, and the queen continued to sit at his side. She looked regal, poised, and so very alone.

“Your parents were an arranged marriage?”

“They were.” Nuwin grabbed a small plate of petite meat pies from a tray floating past us and held it out to me. “My mother isn’t of noble birth. She never would have been considered for marriage to my father if not for her affinities.”

I bit into one of the pies. Flavors rolled over my tongue as I savored the buttery crust and perfectly seasoned hen mixed with gravy. I managed to suppress a moan of delight but barely. I snatched another from the plate before Nuwin could wolf all of them down, then cocked an eyebrow at the prince’s younger brother.

“Did your father marry your mother because she has immense magic?”

His lips lifted slyly. “Correct. You made that connection quickly.”

I waved a hand. “I’ve spent enough time with your brother to learn a thing or two. So was their marriage made in the hopes of what, producing powerful heirs?”

“Also correct.” His smile grew.

“And who arranged their marriage?”

“My father did.”

I laughed softly. “That’s absurd. How does one arrange one’s own marriage? Isn’t that simply proposing?”

“Proposing would imply that the female had a choice. My father was already king by then, and when you’re king, you can do as you please—including having a choice of all of the females on the continent. My father sought out the most powerful female he could find and chose her for his bride.”

“I take it the marriage wasn’t your mother’s choice?”

His eyes dimmed. “No, it wasn’t.”

“So he took your mother as his bride even though she protested?”

“He did.”

My frown deepened as I thought of my own parents, of their simple lives. While poor, they’d been content. No, not just content. They’d beenhappy. Even when we didn’t have much food on our plates, they were still able to find joy in life. Laughter and love had filled our home. I didn’t know how one could find that in a marriage made like a business transaction.

But I would never be able to witness my parents grow old. Their joy had been snuffed out when their lives had been taken too early.

Memories of my parents stirred that slumbering anger in me again. While the prince had not been cruel to me and had even shown me kindness and apologized for their deaths, he’d also taken me for one reason and one reason only—to enslave me to do his bidding.

My fingers curled more tightly around my glass. I brought the flute to my lips as my gaze traveled over the dancers and fae mingling in the room, to the throne that perched atop the ball like a bird peering down from the sky. The king and queen, while sitting beside one another, never spoke, touched, or so much as glanced at one another.

“Is there no love between them? Has no affection ever bloomed?”

A strained look overtook Nuwin’s features as his lips thinned. “No, there is no love. Or affection. My mother, she’s—” He looked as though he wanted to say more, but then he shook his head. “We should dance. The floor is so crowded none of the observers will see us if we drift toward the center.”

I brought a hand to my throat, to the necklace’s cool metal and smooth pendant. “I don’t want to draw any more attention to myself.”

I’d already had too much to drink, but my thoughts were still clear enough to remember the warnings from Daiseeum and the cagey way the prince had acted prior to me entering this room, and I also knew at any moment that clarity could slip. Alcohol was swimming through my veins.

“I think I’m done with this.” I deposited my champagne flute on a tray floating by.