Betrayals of Spring (Forever Fae #2)(26)

I’m taking a sip of my wine and I almost choke at the sound of my mother hissing in my ear, “What the hell are you wearing? Are you trying to embarrass us?”

I turn around to spit out something sarcastic when an unexpected voice spears back at my mother.

“I think the red dress looks lovely on the beautiful Meliantha.”

I stand frozen at the sight of Queen Mab giving my mom a lethal look. It’s never been a secret that the two women don’t like each other. I’ve been waiting for the day they let all sentiments of manners fly out the window and have it out in front of the other guests. My mother snarls at Queen Mab and then focuses back on me.

“We’ll talk about this later,” she snaps. She doesn’t give me time to respond because she quickly turns around and walks the other way. I release a heavy sigh while Queen Mab doubles over laughing. She runs a finger underneath her eyes to catch the tears that were escaping from her laughter.

“Your mother doesn’t know how to loosen up, does she?” she says while still trying to contain her laughter.

I bow my head to her.

“No, your Highness, she does not. Thank you for the compliment.”

“It was my pleasure, Princess Meliantha. It gives me great joy to torment your mother.” This makes Finn and I both laugh and the Queen smiles warmly at us both.

“Do you mind if I have a word with you, Princess?”

I look at Finn and he nods his head.

“I’ll be here by the bar, so don’t worry about me.” He winks. “I’ll keep my eyes on you.”

I turn back to the queen and coyly reply, “I am all yours, Queen Mab.”

She takes her cold hand and gently grabs mine to place it on her forearm. Even though I am wearing gloves I can still feel the coldness of her skin.

“I meant it when I said you looked lovely in your dress. I did not just say it to aggravate your mother.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” I murmur apprecia-tively.

“You are very welcome,” she responds thoughtfully. We walk over to a quiet corner and she continues to speak. “I’m sorry, dear, about what’s been happening and what you went through. We had an emergency meeting today and Queen Calista filled us in on everything.”

I drop my eyes from her warm gaze and I grit my teeth. I don’t think I will ever get over the anger I feel at what the dark sorcerer has done. I take a calming breath before responding.

“Yes, it has been a tragic misfortune,” I confess.

“Well, I believe you will be in capable hands here. Kalen will no doubt do everything in his power to keep you safe.” A twinkle sparkles in her eye when she says, “I believe you have bewitched him, Meliantha. He offered to be your personal bodyguard for the rest of your visit here.”

I stare transfixed and stunned at the queen for what felt like an eternity. A small laugh escapes her lips breaking me out of my stupor. My heart feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest, so I take a few deep breaths. Why did I suddenly get this light-headed feeling?

The queen gives me a sly smile and I notice a hint of curiosity in her voice when she asks, “Have you not spoken to Kalen yet?”

I take in a quick shallow breath.

“No, Your Highness, we have not spoken yet.”

Her smile turns into a huge grin and then her eyes move away from mine to focus on something or someone behind me.

“I believe now is your chance, dear.”

My eyes go wide and I quickly turn around. The moment I do I am met with the hypnotic blue-eyed prince that has inhabited my dreams for the past five years. So that is the reason why I was beginning to feel light-headed. He must have been standing behind me and my body had been responding to his presence. The smile Kalen gives me is the same smile I fell in love with years ago. I hold back my gasp when I see the light purple rose pinned to the lapel of his coat. It’s the same color as my eyes. I haven’t seen any of the other Winter fae wearing flowers on their coats. I wonder if he did it for me. He looks down at my hand and the corners of his mouth slowly turn down into a slight frown. He meets my eyes again and in his deep, sensual voice he greets me softly.

“Good evening, Meliantha.”

He reaches down and hesitates before clutching my hand to bring it to his lips for a gentle kiss. He kisses my gloved hand and keeps his steely gaze on me the entire time. Oh, I wish I could feel his lips on my bare skin. His black hair falls forward as he leans down and I ache to touch the soft tendrils as they tickle my wrist. My pulse jumps with his touch and I know he can hear the loud drumming of my heart. The fiery blast of our connection is smoldering in my veins making my body feel heated and on fire. I wish I could feel the coolness of his skin on my body, cooling me down from this internal inferno. From the smoldering look in his eyes, I can tell he’s just as entranced by our connection as I am. We have never actually touched bare skin to bare skin, and now that I’m wearing gloves his touch will not bring about the vision. He appears disappointed about my gloved hands, and honestly so am I.

I thought five years ago it was him I touched in the gardens. I remember my heart deflating when the vision didn’t come. It’s hard to believe I found out just a few short hours ago that it was all a lie, and that the dark sorcerer did that to me so I would feel betrayed by the one man I loved. Through hell or the Hereafter, I will spend the rest of my life making the dark sorcerer pay for what he has done.