I give her a look of mock hurt. “You wound me, Your Majesty. It hasn’t slipped once.”

“In that case, watch and learn, princeling.” There’s a mischievous glint in her eye that causes me to press her against me again. The mist around us turns to light, falling like sparkling raindrops in the night sky. In the distance, bright explosions of light erupt across the Thayarian landscape. Then misty rays dance in ribbons around us. A tendril brushes my arm, leaving a dewy drop behind. My eyes widen in surprise. She’s combined the two conduits; a skill I didn’t even know was possible.

The music crescendos, and I spin her away from me in the glowing orb that surrounds us, then pull her back before dipping her deeply on the final note. Her chest heaves, and I have a full view of the length of her body, breasts flattening with the position. An image of her laying on her back in bed, naked, flashes across my mind, and I nearly lose my control over the magic concealing Fionn and Silene. I pull her up to me quickly, determined to wipe the image from my mind. But then her intoxicating scent hits me again, and I sigh involuntarily, catching myself rubbing soothing circles on the small of her back. She doesn’t comment on it, but her eyes meet mine with a heated look.

“Well…” she says, voice flustered and cheeks tinged with a rosy pink. I make a low noise in the back of my throat involuntarily, and I’m about to ask her to dance again when polite clapping breaks whatever spell has been cast over the two of us. I’m reminded that there are others—many others—surrounding us, and that my mission is to get information out of her through seduction. I need to leave her wanting more. I turn to Laurel, then bow deeply, before raising her hand to my lips. I brush the top of it with the lightest kiss, never taking my eyes from hers, and I swear she shivers at my touch. She gives me her own nod, the small gesture full of meaning, and we turn back to the crowd with matching plastered-on smiles.

“I’m honored to formally welcome His Royal Highness, Prince Hawthorne Vicant, Crown Prince of Velmara,” she says to the crowd. “While I know this ball is coming a bit late…” Laughter breaks out across the crowd as Laurel gives them a sheepish look that says she knows it should have been sooner, “I hope tonight is the first diplomatic event of many in the history of Thayaria and Velmara. Please welcome the Prince this evening.”

With that, she leaves my side and walks to join a group of her advisors. A female I recognize as Aria from the Council of Advisors walks up to me, and I put on the mask of a charming prince once again.