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Chapter 11
Bree
Over the next week,ball preparations combined with the new Academy training schedule meant that Bree barely had time to eat, let alone seek Rafferty out for the kind of intimacy she yearned to share with him. It turned out that a courtly ball, hosting most of the prominent members of Dark Fae society, took a lot more work than Bree had given Dagen creditfor.
There was the menu to sort out, the various ingredients needed to cook each course. The wine and the spirits. The musicians, the tables, the decorations. She and Dagen were in charge of it all, and while it was a ‘fake’ ball in a way, both of them wanted to get itright.
It would be the first ball since Taveon’s coronation, and many of the fae would be expecting something grand from their new King. Most of them had no idea that he would not be inattendance.
Bree strode through Dagen’s open door after another brutal training session and plopped onto his sofa. He sat behind his dark wooden desk, frowning down at a long stretch of parchment that she knew held the list of all the names who would be attending the next day’scelebration.
“While I enjoy your company at every turn, Bree, might you not choose to change out of your training leathers before our planning sessions? Surely you would be more comfortable in…somethingelse.”
Bree snorted and shot him a grin. “Trust me. I’m far more comfortable in these clothes than I would be if I wore some stuffydress.”
The truth was, Bree had kept her fighting leathers from the Light Fae realm. Rafferty had given her a few Dark Fae sets, but she kept on going back to the ones she’d worn on that fateful day when she’d left her old realm behind. Something about them...comforted her. It felt like an anchor to the past, to who she had used to be. Sometimes, like now when everything was so up in the air, she needed thatreminder.
Lord Dagen’s gaze flicked up and down her torso. “They do suit you, I admit. Though you look particularly stunning ingowns.”
Her cheeks flushed, which was ridiculous. One little compliment and she’d turned ten shades redder. Things had been strangely tense and electric between them since that day in King Midas’s chambers. Neither of them had brought up the kiss...and Bree had no intention of doing so now either. If Dagen wanted to pretend like it had never happened, then Bree would,too.
“How is your training going?” Dagen asked, breaking the tense silence betweenthem.
“Honestly?” Bree let out a belabored sigh. “I liked it a lot better when Eurig wasn’t around to scowl and throw his whole alpha-ness into everything we do. Did you know that Rafe has us working on our strength now? In our fae forms, not in our shapeshifter bodies. Push-ups, pull-ups, sprints, the works. And every single damn time, Eurig shows meup.”
“A better physical demonstration of power does not mean that Eurig is stronger thanyou.”
“Yeah?” Bree frowned, not convinced. “So, then what does itmean?”
Dagen placed the parchment on his desk, stood, and strode over to the sofa. “It merely means that he has built more muscle than you have. He is larger. But not necessarily better. He is certainly notfaster.”
“Hmm. He took Rafe down in afight.”
“You have gone head to head with our King Taveon, who I daresay is much more impressive than some outposter who has lived on wooden docks in the middle of the sea his entirelife.”
Dagen was right. Kind of. But there was something about Eurig that kept getting under Bree’s skin. She wanted to beat him, somehow, even though they were not competing in anything. And she wanted him to see just how powerful she could be, if only to see the look of respect on hisface.
One day. One day, she would be the one towin.
* * *
Training had been calledoff the next morning in preparation for the night’s upcoming celebration. So, instead of beating up her body in a million different ways, Bree took a luxurious bath and styled her hair in long loose waves around her shoulders. She donned a new gown to celebrate the occasion. It was silver blue and flowed softly down her body, hugging her waist and her hips. The sleeves opened wide at the ends, revealing her long and slenderarms.
This time, she attended the ball alone. She and Dagen had decided to split up and roam through the crowd on their own, each listening for curious conversations. When Bree stepped through the large double doors, the crowd that had gathered took her breath away. It seemed there were more fae in attendance than there had been at the Silver Moon Ball, and the expansive space was practically heaving with eveningrevellers.
Bree dropped back her head and gazed up at the ceiling. It had been decorated with a million tiny glowing balls of light. This had been Dagen’s doing, Bree thought as her stomach clenched tight. She scanned the crowd, seeking out his familiar face. Everything within her wanted to speak to him, to look into his eyes once again. She had been wrong not to follow him back to his quarters that night, and she wanted nothing more than to see that warmth in his face onceagain.
But instead, Eurig stepped in front of her, still wearing his golden fighting leathers. Just like always. He was so large that he blocked out everything behind him, forcing Bree to drink him in. He had given his hair another cut, not that it had needed it. But Bree couldn’t help but notice that his groom had only highlighted the strong lines of his jaw and hisneck.
Bree stepped back, hating the way her face flushed with heat. “I’m surprised you bothered to come tonight. You didn’t seem particularly interested in the ballbefore.”
“That’s because we were at training. Silly matters like balls are not important whenyouare learning how tofight.”
Bree rolled her eyes. She didn’t miss the way he’d phrased his sentence, pointedly directed right at her. In his mind, he wasn’t the one learning how to fight, because he already knew how. Bree, on the other hand, needed all the help she couldget.
And she hated that he wasright.
Not that she would admit that to hisface.
