CHAPTER 3
A party is something I can do.
As a Merati male, I’ve spent my life training at court; learning the ins and outs of dance, conversation, and negotiation. Of course, I would prefer that I were in my own clothes--these human “jeans” feel too informal for the event and the fabric is coarse enough to be bothersome--but I’ll be able to handle this with ease.
Fiona and Kye don’t seem to have quite the same level of faith in my abilities.
“No matter what you do, just don’t say anything,” Fiona says. “Let me do the talking. Maybe this is a good thing, we can swing by, say our hello’s, then get the heck out of here.”
“We don’t have to do this,” Kye soothes, slipping his hand into hers. She looks calm, but I can see how tightly she’s holding onto him, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
I eye the two of them, giving him a pointed look to the contrary. Because we do have to do this. Whether Fiona turns around and goes back to the ship or not, I am going to this party.
I have a very important question for her father.
People start to notice us as soon as we cross the lawn and walk up the driveway, their eyes falling on Fiona in awe. She’s beautiful--I’ve looked at her in much the same way many times--but it’s more than that. They seem utterly shocked at her presence, and I wonder for a moment if we’ve made an error in showing up here unannounced. Fiona made it seem as if her father would accept her disappearance as the product of one of her “moods”, as she put it, but these people are looking at her as if they’ve seen a ghost.
“Oh my God--Fiona?”
I follow the voice to find a young woman standing in the crowd, her eyes wide and her blonde hair blown out in a mess of curls. She strides toward the three of us and Fiona blanches away, but the blonde grabs her regardless.
“Fiona, we all thought you were dead!” she squeaks. “After the accident, and no one ever heard from you…oh my God!”
“Hi, Kristina,” Fiona mutters, but she’s drowned out when the blonde accosts her.
She wraps Fiona in a tight embrace, to which my love looks at me helplessly over her attacker’s shoulder. “The accident?” she asks, and the blonde takes her by the shoulders with wide eyes.
“Yeah, the one that blew your dad’s roof off!” she says. “We figured it must be some kind of...I don’t know, a stray firework? No one knew what happened to you, your dad’s been worried sick!”
“My bad,” Kye mumbles, scraping a hand through his hair and glancing over at me. I suppose he wasn’t as careful as he should have been when we rescued Fiona.
“Where is my dad?” Fiona asks. “He, uh...doesn’t know I’m here.”
“For real?” Kristina squeaks. “Oh my God, it’s a Christmas miracle. Come on, I’ll take you to him.”
Fiona gives me one more helpless look before Kristina grabs her by the hand and starts dragging her through the crowd. A hush falls over the partygoers when they see Fiona, and me and Kye are barely able to keep up as the guests crowd in around her, waiting to see the spectacle of her reunion with her father. None of this is going as I’d hoped so far, and I can only imagine things are about to get worse.
We pass through the front doors and into the castle, which is decorated with more of the sparkling lights from outside, silver accents, and green wreaths. A massive prickly tree stands in the center of the entryway, a plush red velvet rug underneath it and glittering baubles gracing its branches. I wonder if the rug is for sitting on--similar to when the queen takes a mate at Merati court--but it doesn’t appear that there will be any mating ceremonies here tonight. In fact, Fiona told me expressly that I shouldn’t mention mating at all, though I would like to make my intentions for her clear to her father.
But there’s no time to take in the alien decor, as Kristina is still dragging Fiona forward. We pursue them through another doorway and into an opulent dining room, where a hush falls over the party as a man stands up at the head of the table.
I can see his resemblance to Fiona right away: hazel eyes and dark hair, though the strands are streaked liberally with grey. His jaw drops as Kristina hauls Fiona into the room, leaving her alone in the suddenly blinding light of the castle’s dining room.
“Fiona?”
Fiona awkwardly raises her hand in a wave. “Hi, dad.”
He pushes his chair back with his foot and strides forward, and at first I think he’s going to be angry. From what Fiona has said of her father, he doesn’t seem like the nicest man. But instead, he wraps her in a fierce embrace, hiding his face in her hair. I can see the shock clearly in her eyes, and she hesitantly wraps her arms around him too, leaning her forehead on his shoulder.
The crowd stands in stunned silence until one partygoer suddenly starts to applaud, as if we’ve just been treated to a show. I glare over at them for interrupting the family’s reunion, but no one seems to notice. I’ve found myself lost in the sea of people, and after so much time occupying Fiona’s attention, it feels lonely.
A hand rests on my shoulder, and I glance over to see Kye standing close beside me. I can tell right away that he’s with me in this--that he’s wondering if this was a mistake, and that maybe there’s a shadow of concern that she’ll decide to stay--and his presence puts me at ease. I reach for him, but he shakes his head almost imperceptibly, as if to say not here.
Right. Because humanity doesn’t see displays of affection between men as acceptable, and because we are surrounded by members of high society.
A woman with glossy red hair walks up behind Fiona’s father as they embrace, tapping him on the shoulder in impatience. She glares at us--the first person to notice us all night--and clicks her tongue before going in for a hug herself. Fiona actively recoils at her touch, and I can feel Kye tense beside me to jump in if necessary.
This must be her stepmother.
The mere sight of Fiona’s discomfort sets me ill at ease. I’ve seen the same look on Lamia’s face countless times: that expression of distaste for me, and of irritation that I have to bother her at all. Of course, if we were here with Lamia, it wouldn’t be long before she’d brainwashed my friends and put a knife in my back.
Hopefully tonight won’t be anything like that.
“Vanessa,” Fiona acknowledges with a nod to the older woman.
“Please, Fiona, call me mother,” Vanessa says with a sneer. Fiona’s father doesn’t seem too bad, but I take an instant dislike to her stepmother. “Who are your friends?”
For the first time, the governor looks at the two of us. We’re both underdressed for the event, and I curse silently at Fiona’s choices in dressing us once again.
“This is going to take a little explaining,” Fiona says before we can so much as introduce ourselves. “Dad, can we talk somewhere private? I didn’t mean to make a scene.”
“Sure, sweetpea,” he says. “Let’s go to my study.” He looks at Vanessa then, raising an eyebrow. “You good here, Vanessa?”
Vanessa looks at both of us with an ominous smile, cocking her head. “Yes,” she says. “I’ll entertain Fiona’s guests while you’re away.”