As Dain's soulmate and thus honorary princess, I wasn't supposed to show up at revels until the party was well underway. In theory, this was because I couldn't be bothered to waste time on the unexciting parts of revels. In practice, it meant that I sat waiting in a velvet box of a room, snacking on weird finger food while trying not to get crumbs on my dress. It was a gorgeous one today, made of a heavy, shimmery fabric in lavender that left my back and shoulders bare, draping down to mid-calf. I had a neat glamor for the night, too, of black snake tattoos that moved and twined across my skin.

The Dain-related imagery was impossible to miss, and I didn't resent the association. Hell, I liked it. It made me feel like we really might figure this out, and become balanced soulmates after all.

I was making little zooming noises as I flew a cracker topped with a flower made of salmon around when the door opened. I looked up, hopeful that my imprisonment had come to an end.

Well, speak of the devil. It was the Beast of Phazikai himself, much less naked than the last time I'd seen him. He was wearing something not as battle-oriented as usual, a handsome outfit in deep violet silk that had been reinforced across his chest to look something like armor. Embroidered silver brambles curled around the edges of the pieces of clothing, matched by the collar of silver thorny vines wrapped around his throat. Amethyst drops dangled from his ears, with the rest of his piercings filled by silver rings. The whole ensemble leaned more towards elegance than his usual murder vibe; it looked really good on him.

It also followed the lines of his body in a very distracting way. It didn't cling the way a lot of the fae's clothing did, or reveal, but I was now very aware of what lay under that stiff silk doublet, and it didn't take much to remind me of it.

"You look nice," I said. Understatement of the century. I held up the cracker. "Snack?"

"Hm," Dain replied. "I suppose." He walked over like he owned the place, which he did. Rather than take the cracker like an ordinary person, he leaned over and took it with his mouth, giving me a glimpse of his sharp white teeth and the glint of silver metal.

"Since when do you have a tongue piercing?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

He smirked as he chewed, dropping onto the couch and draping his wing-arms along the back of it. "Since I learned how useful they can be," he purred.

I smirked at him. He was in a mood, and one a lot better than despair. It was really, really nice to see. "What, in the past three weeks? I for sure would have noticed that."