He didn't tolerate everything, though, and I was glad for it. I didn't want him to become a doormat; hell, I liked the thrill of danger when he growled with deadly intent, and there was something extremely satisfying at watching people back down the instant Dain lifted his lip in a snarl. There was a line, and Dain wasn't interested in letting people cross it. He'd carved out space for himself in Stag Court over the past century, and he wasn't going to give it up.

Only once did someone dare to touch him. Dain didn't even set down his glass of wine. He simply picked the man up by the throat with one wing-hand, his viciously sharp talons drawing red beads of blood, and asked in a very calm voice, "Would you like to reconsider?"

As one might imagine, people kept their testing of the waters to sniping words after that.

The palace held a revel each week, which I dutifully attended. Dain skipped out on one, and I endured listening to people make nasty comments about all the ways moon-called monsters likely debauched themselves under the light of the full moon. But he attended the rest, including the final, celebratory revel before the delegation left. The lords and ladies who had come were satisfied with their agreements with Stag Court, and the plans to build a true road between the Courts seemed of avaricious interest to both the Court of Mercy delegation and the courtiers of Stag Court.

At a lull in the music, my partner drew me to the edge of the dance floor and bowed to me before pressing his lips against my knuckles. "Might you have an interest in joining me in the garden, your highness?" Lord Yllavar asked, with the sort of heated gaze I recognized right away as an invitation. "The evening is cool, and your lovely hair is damp with sweat." He tucked my hair behind my ear with an elegant movement, brushing his fingers down the curve of it in a flirtatious touch.

"Are you asking merely for a walk, my lord, or something else entirely?" I asked, smiling at him, feeling deeply uncomfortable at getting touched with such familiarity by one of the lords from the Court of Mercy. My desire to have my ears touched by beautiful fae began and ended with the one who'd carried me here.

He smiled, a lovely expression on his otherworldly face. "A walk would satisfy, but if you desired otherwise, I would be delighted to give you more pleasure than simply that of my company."