Forever Fae (Forever Fae #1)(16)

I can tell my mother and father are worried so I smile to try and assure them. My father asks quizzically, “Are you sure you’re OK? What happened?”

I’m thinking about the vision but for some reason it doesn’t feel like it’s the right time to announce to everyone what I saw. I look over at Ryder and I can tell he feels the same way.

As much as I hate to do it, I lie.

“It was a vision, but it was really blurry and it went by so fast. I don’t really remember any of it.” I look to Ryder and he nods his head. My father looks over to him and asks the same question.

“Did you have a vision, too?”

Ryder shakes his head. “Yes, but like the princess said, it was blurry and it came too fast. I don’t remember much of it either.”

I blow out the breath I had been holding and I close my eyes. I need time to process what I saw, but I wonder if Ryder saw the exact same things that I had seen. I’m pretty sure he did, but hopefully I can talk to him alone somewhere and see what he thinks about it. My father didn’t look like he believed a word Ryder and I said, but he didn’t say otherwise.

My father leans over to whisper in my ear.

“I need you to talk to Elvena as soon as possible.”

“I will, first thing in the morning,” I respond. Elvena tends to have the answers for everything since she’s the prophetess.

My father announces, “The meeting with the council has been postponed to midday tomorrow. Prince Ryder and his kin will be staying in the guest quarters.” I jerk my head hard to stare wide-eyed at my father. I think I might have pulled something in my neck from moving my head so fast. I can’t believe Ryder is staying here for the night. My father has never offered to have people stay in the main house.

With a dark and desperate look, Merrick cuts in.

“Your Highness, don’t you think it would be best if they stayed in one of the other houses on the property?” He pauses and then adds quickly, “That way they would have their privacy.”

We all know that isn’t the real reason Merrick wants them out of the house. Ryder tries to hide a smile and fails miserably. I look at him agitated hoping he’ll stop. Provoking Merrick is just going to cause major problems.

My father smiles kindly at Merrick.

“Merrick, they will be fine in the main house. The house is fully guarded so nothing is going to happen. If it is Calista’s safety you fear, then you are more than welcome to stay in one of her guest rooms in the south wing.”

Ryder’s smile vanishes while Merrick’s smile comes back full force. Triumph is clearly written all over his face. What is my father doing? I shake my head in disbelief and look at my father. His mischievous smile explains everything. This is absolutely preposterous. I can tell Ryder doesn’t like the idea of Merrick being so close to me. Merrick’s face is beaming and I turn my dark look to him because he’s the one doing the provoking now. Merrick usually stays in the warrior housing on our property and now that he’s my guardian, I didn’t even think about how that would change.

Merrick moves closer to me and looks over at Ryder. He stares at him with a huge grin while he addresses my father.

“Good idea, Your Highness. I think I will feel better if I stay closer to the princess.”

My father looks like he’s about burst with laughter so he turns his head so no one can see. I just roll my eyes and sigh. It is going to be a long night, and it’s just getting started.

He looks back at me and his smile is gone, but the humor is still clearly there.

He says, “Sunshine, I believe your mother and I will take our leave. Don’t forget the meeting is midday tomorrow.” He leans down to kiss my cheek. “Good evening, and enjoy the rest of the night.” He winks at me and looks toward Ryder. “I’m sure there are plenty of people wanting to dance with you.” With this last comment he turns to find my mother and they both leave the Great Room.

Now that my parents are gone, I’m left with Merrick and Ryder. The tension is unbearable and thank goodness my friend Xylia takes this moment to ask Prince Ryder to dance. I spoke to her and my sister, Meliantha, about him earlier. He caught us staring at him so I know he knows that I was speaking about him. Not being very subtle, Xylia practically drags him to the dance floor. She looks a little wild with her purple highlights and purple dress, but I like that about her. I watch them dance for a few minutes when I hear Merrick enter my mind.

“Will you dance with me, Princess?”

I give him a warm smile and hold out my hand. “You don’t need to ask, Merrick. I would love to dance with you.”

He takes my hand and we make our way to the floor where we begin dancing to the slow melody the band is playing. He pulls me close and rests his other hand on the small of my back. It’s a little lower than what is considered polite, but I get the impression he’s doing it for Ryder’s benefit. Annoyed, I casually lift his hand up a bit and narrow my eyes at him.

He looks down at me seriously and asks, “Why did you move my hand, Cali?”

I look at him incredulously. “You know why, it doesn’t look good for my reputation if you are practically grabbing my ass.”

He shakes his head clearly not believing me. “I don’t think that’s it at all. What’s going on between you and Ryder?”

“Nothing is going on. I just met him,” I say hastily.