Betrayals of Spring (Forever Fae #2)(25)
“Good evening, Your Highness.” He bows his head and lifts his gentle eyes at Finn and then back to me. “Who, may I ask, is your escort for the evening?”
“His name is Finn, and he’s a warrior of the Summer Court,” I kindly respond back.
The announcer is a short, pudgy man wearing a white tunic and white pants. His rich, black hair and black beard contrasts greatly with his pale features and white clothes. He gives me a warm smile as one of the servants approaches me to help me out of my cloak. I hand over my bow and arrows to Ashur so that I know they are safe while we attend the ball.
The announcer’s eyes grow wide at the sight of my dress and it takes him a few seconds to gain his composure before announcing in his deep booming voice, “I give you Princess Meliantha, and her escort, Warrior Finn, from the Summer Court.”
Everything goes in slow motion while I’m met with hundreds of different pairs of eyes all trained on me. Some are smiling, some are gaping, and some of them are giving me hostile looks. I look around, but I can’t see Kalen anywhere. I can tell he is near because the pull tugging on my soul is demanding I go to him.
We walk down the steps and into the crowd. The room is immaculate with white draperies hanging from the ceiling and glimmering in the light. Clear glass windows surround the room making it feel as if we are in the midst of falling snow. The twinkling lights from outside are also in the ballroom giving off the illusion of falling snowflakes. I find it amazingly beautiful because the illusion of snow is a whole hell of a lot better than freezing in the real snow.
“Would you like to dance?” Finn asks.
I look up at him and smile.
“I would love to dance with you.” Guilt tightens my chest because even though Finn is my date and I love dancing with him, I secretly have been hoping to dance with Kalen as well.
Finn takes my hand and leads me onto the dance floor. He places his other hand on the middle of my back and moves his body a little closer to mine. He smiles at me with a longing passion and begins to sway to the soft flow of the music taking me with him. We dance together, lost in the melodies of the music, when I notice Elissa dancing with a Winter Court fae. He is a very handsome man, but I wonder what happened to Ashur. I glance around the ballroom for him until I finally see him scowling in the corner.
“Calm down, Ashur. I know she cares about you, so stop looking at them like that.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like that to me, Princess. Why do women always do this?”
His anger-filled gaze finds me and I give him a scowl of my own.
“Men aren’t innocent either, dear Guardian. Just hang in there. She can’t dance with you all night, now can she?”
His shoulders sag at my declaration and his eyes become weary.
“I know she can’t dance with me all night, but it doesn’t make it any easier to see her ogling another man.”
“She’s not ogling.” I turn my eyes from Ashur to take a look at Elissa again. She actually happens to be staring at her partner with an evil glint in her eye instead of ogling. I’ve never seen her look that way before. She takes the man by the hand and starts to lead him out of the ballroom. I don’t know where they are going, but I know I don’t want her traipsing about by herself.
“Please follow her, Ashur. Something doesn’t feel right with the way she’s acting.”
“I will, Princess. Will you be OK in here?”
I give him an incredulous look.
“Ashur, I’m surrounded by people and I have Finn in here with me. I don’t think anything is going to happen to me around this many people.”
He nods his head and then searches the crowd for Elissa. We have lost sight of her, so he quickly exits the ballroom in search of her. I hope he catches up to her. The sick feeling in my stomach feels like warning bells ringing throughout my body telling me something is wrong. I’ve had this feeling a lot today and I know it’s just a matter of time before something awful happens.
“Is everything OK?” Finn asks. I look into his worried amber eyes and I plaster on a fake smile.
“I hope so, Finn. I’m just a little concerned for Elissa, but Ashur is going to check up on her,” I say, concerned.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. Ashur isn’t going to let anything happen to her. He’s in love with her. He has been for years,” he informs. Yes, I know he’s in love with her. I think I knew before he did that he was in love with her from the feel of his emotions being heightened every time she came near.
Finn pulls me closer to his warm body and starts to hum along to the tunes of the sweet melody in my ear. I get the feeling someone is watching me, so I search the crowd until I am stopped by the piercing ice blue eyes of a certain Winter Prince. Finn is oblivious to the man staring daggers at him. I can feel the heat of Kalen’s penetrating stare, so I decide it might be best if I take a break from dancing. I don’t want any trouble involving men fighting over me. I fan myself to make it look like I’m hot, and I casually lay my hand over my throat.
“It’s so hot in here. Do you mind if we go and get a drink?” I ask Finn. He nods his head and takes my hand. The bar is set in the corner of the ballroom, and, unfortunately, we have to walk through the massive crowd to get there. Finn orders me a drink and I sip it slowly. Faerie wine is the best liquid I have ever tasted in my life and nothing compares to it. It feels amazing as it glides down my throat, instantly working its magic through my body and making me feel toasty and warm. People in the mortal realm would freak out at the sight of faerie wine. It’s bright blue in color and gives off a glow as soon as it’s poured out of the bottle. It sparkles in the glass and glitters when swirled around. I have always been fascinated by it. The wine is also very potent, just like any other substance in the Land of the Fae.