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"Gloves," he repeats. After a brief pause, he continues, "You're going to be shaking a lot of hands today, Elva."
"Mhmm. Yes." Hands. Gloves. Wait. "Today?"
He nods, watching me closely. "Today. While not everyone will arrive, King Farhan Colm from Fastid, the three witch queens, and the Queen of Suva will be here sometime this afternoon. The Crown Prince from Lermo and Slawyth's representatives will take a bit longer, so we are expecting them tomorrow."
The familiar weight that always fills me when meeting new people makes my chest hurt, and I take a sip of my now pleasantly cooled coffee, trying to find something to do with my hands to keep them from shaking.
"What can you tell me about them?" I ask, hoping that he will show mercy and kindness just for a moment in the best interest of peace for all of us.
He shrugs. "Queen Maren is fine. Very old, very wise."
I've heard almost nothing about her, only that she lets the fair folk run amuck in her kingdom. How wise could she be? "How old?"
"She was here when this castle was built," he tells me. But that's impossible. My jaw drops, and he chuckles. "She's half-Fae."
"She is?" I almost feel terrified, but my wonder overshadows anything else. "But-"
"I'll not tell you anything else about her," he warns before adding, "because she's a wonderful storyteller and will happily answer all of your questions. She loves mortals with a healthy curiosity."
"What about Slawyth?"
"Their president and his husband can drink more than anyone I've ever met, so do not try to keep up with them. Other than that, they just want peace and to be left alone."
I nod, the information so far being surprisingly pleasant. While part of me is furious that no one in Rhyma has bothered to learn these things about our neighbors, I'm excited to be part of the new future, the one where we all work together. I wonder silently how King Kairon knows these things, if he's spent much time with them, or if he has gathered this information from his predecessor.
"And Tirriel?"
He sits frozen for a moment, aside from a slight quirk of his lips as he considers his words. "The Lermoan prince is generally harmless unless you fall to his charms. He's a relentless flirt, you see. It's his strength and his weakness if you can leverage it properly."
"And have you?"
He allows himself a small grin, one that doesn't quite reach his eyes, as if waiting for something else to push him into a full smile. "Have I what, my Elva?"
"Have you leveraged the crown prince?" I tease, wondering how he gathered that particular piece of knowledge.
Running his fingers through his hair, he chuckles. "I have no need to use seduction to get what I want from people. Generally speaking, their fear of me does what I need it to do."
"Generally? But not always?" I raise a brow.
His gaze turns smoldering as he pointedly answers, "Not always."
The heat from his eyes fills me, starting in my chest, radiating out, starting an aching between my legs I've never felt before. His stare feels more intense, more intimate than any hands that have ever touched my body. I shouldn't be playing this game with him. He killed someone in front of me only moments ago. But something about his wicked ways makes me feel safe. As if nothing I do could ever be too horrid in his eyes. He can see the parts of me that I don't allow anyone to witness and understand them.
Desperate to escape these dangerous thoughts, I change the subject. "What about King Colm?"
His knowing smirk fills me with more terror than even the macabre display. He could push me further, and I'm not sure how much more I could take before I let him carry me away onto a bed of sin, fear, and depravity.
"Egomaniac. Boring. Not nearly as smart as he believes he is."
"Sounds like someone else I know," I quip before I think better of it.
He laughs again, something close to affection, barely drowning out the overwhelming heat in his eyes. "You and Raya are going to be the best of friends."
"I thought I wasn't allowed to be friends with her," I remind him, momentarily irked that the pleasantness in his face was for her, though it doesn't matter. I do not crave his affection. Only peace.
His brows raise for a moment. "By all means, be her friend. She could use one almost as badly as you could." Before I can argue, he adds, "My warning is that you don't go looking for someone who might betray me in my own castle. The only people here are ones I've hand-picked because of their unwavering loyalty to me."
A thought hits me. "And if I want to be friends with Shan?"
