“I just returned from an assignment,” he said as we approached the tall doors of the ballroom. The crowd had thickened around us, filling with Illucian nobles and soldiers dressed in dark suits and blue and gold dresses. Every one of them was probably armed.

“What kind of assignment?” I asked.

Before he could respond, a frantic servant blocked our path. “Your Highnesses, please come with me. Her Majesty requests your presence on the dais for the introductions.”

“I’ll see you inside,” Kiva said before slipping into the crowd.

“I think I’m growing on her,” Ericen said, offering me his arm. “She glowered mildly less.”

I snorted but slipped my arm through his, squeezing a little tighter than I meant. My eyes stayed trained on the back of the servant as he led us through a side corridor. At the end of a long hall, we turned right into an open sitting room lit by sona lamps. A couch sat along one wall, along with several chairs separated by small tables.

Razel sat on the arm of the couch, a glass of wine hanging between two fingers. She wore a dress of ice blue, the tight-fitting strapless bodice lined in citrine gems that glimmered like trapped sunlight. Sleeveless, it bared the crisscrossing scars and fresh cuts along the back of her forearms like trophies.

“There you are.” Her eyes alighted on Ericen. “I hear your trip was successful.”

He nodded but wouldn’t meet my questioning gaze.

“And how lovely you look, Thia dear,” she added with a smile that didn’t match the long, pointed look she gave my dress.

“And you, Your Majesty,” I said as genuinely as I could.

Razel stood. “I will announce you both, and you will dance to begin the ball. Do it without the grimace you both wear so often, and we might end the night without any trouble.”

Ericen shifted, and Razel smiled again. “Come along,” she said, turning for a door in the far wall.

Ericen offered me his arm again, and I took it, if only for something to force me forward. My muscles had turned stiff, my breath becoming shallow. I didn’t want to be paraded in front of these people, to see their hungry eyes devour me like the helpless prize they believed I was.

Razel pushed open the door, and we stepped out onto the dais. The conversation slowly quieted as a loud male voice announced her. A raucous chorus of applause followed. Then Razel announced Ericen and me, and only the sheer force of his body moving forward convinced mine to do the same.

The sound of clapping roared in my ears, and suddenly, we were standing beside Razel, a room of pale faces staring back.