She was definitely angling for me to go get him for her, and I kind of wanted to go either harangue him for being obnoxious or make amends for being crueler to him than I'd intended, anyway. The Queen had called him one of the gods' children – whatever that meant – but given that there was no King, he was most likely a bastard in the old-fashioned sense, and that was apparently a sore spot. "As he's moderately less likely to snap at me, I'd be happy to go see if he's still there," I said, to the reward of a smile. "If he's willing, I'll send him to come find you."

"You are gracious, your highness," Lady Rynsandoral replied. "May Omaxian lift the veil for you." She curtsied, backed up a step, and drifted away before I could reply.

I sighed out a breath, then pushed myself up from the wall and made my way towards the far end of the great ballroom, which opened up onto a hedge maze and a series of sunken, walled gardens. The sunken gardens were lit with glass lanterns in which small motes of light drifted, casting a gentle glow on the bark paths and twining plants. Even if Dain wasn't here, it was a beautiful place for an evening stroll, and the cooler air outside felt good against my sweaty skin, reviving me like a wilting flower placed in water.

There really wasn't any rush to try and find Dain, since the revel would go until dawn. He might not even be here anymore, though maybe he'd come to hide for a while. I thought that's what he'd been doing, going riding alone—hiding from the High Court, and giving himself some space to exist without every wary eye on him. He filled his role so well, of the violent, dangerous, monstrous prince, and I wondered how hard he'd had to fight to have even that much of a place in the world.

The sound of a harsh breath caught my attention, and then a woman's cry of obvious pain. I whirled and rushed towards danger like an idiot—and then stopped dead as I came around the corner to see Dain pinning a woman up against one of the vine-shrouded stone walls, her brown legs wrapped around his waist and one of his wing-arms holding her hands above her head.

They were fucking. Vigorously.

My cheeks flamed and my whole body went hot as Dain shifted his head and bit her again, the fae woman crying out a second time. It was for sure pain, but in context I was also absolutely sure she was into it. Dain growled, low and dangerous, rutting up into her without even having taken off his pants, and I started backing up, very slowly.