So much for keeping quiet.
The king began to chuckle.
My father stepped up, in front of me, as though to shield me from the Fae King.
“King Ankor. Thank you for allowing us to visit you. I wanted my daughter to see some of the realms that the Council oversee.”
“Oversee?” The king laughed. “Is that what you call it?”
I stepped forward, next to my father. “Thank you for having me. It is nice to meet you.”
Tavlor moved up next to me and bowed, deeper than I’d ever seen him subjugate himself before.
He spoke a few words in Faerie, I assumed because I couldn’t understand a thing he said, and the king nodded. The gesture, I had to assume, was a good thing.
Then his gaze came to rest on me.
“So... Ava... you are the heir that no-one knew about,” he said. There was an arrogance to his stare. My instincts wanted to punch the arrogance off his face—or, at least, magic it away—but I needed to behave. I couldn’t let another leader get to me or there was no way I’d be respected as High Warlock.
If I wanted the position. I still wasn’t sure.
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah... including me.”
His eyebrow quirked up and for the first time I really looked at how strong, and handsome, he was.
His jaw was angled and his ears were pointed, but he had a strength to him that I liked.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I sighed and glanced at my father for approval. How much of my story was I allowed to share?
When my father didn’t say anything, so I assumed it was all right to keep speaking.
I inhaled through my nose and chose my words carefully. “Well, my mother kept me hidden in a private realm for my whole life. She only revealed to me about ten years ago, who my father was.”
He nodded. “That would have been... enlightening.”
I laughed out loud. “Well, yes, but I’d never left the private realm I
grew up in, so I took it with a grain of salt that the man who had sired me was some sort of... ruler. I had no idea that when I came looking for my father, that I’d stumble into...”
“This...” He held out his hand and indicated to the opulent room.
I shook my head. “Ah, more like... the Council, the bounty hunters, jail.”
He grinned at me, his teeth white and straight. “The Council doesn’t like anything new. Nor anything different. And you, my girl, stirred them up like a tornado.”
I glanced from my father to the Fae King.
How did he know that?
Chapter 12.
I HELD MY BREATH, WAITING for the Fae King to continue. He didn’t. Instead, he buttoned up his shirt, his fingers moving with grace and dexterity. It was like he was waiting to say something more, holding me captive for as long as I would allow him to.
I shot him an annoyed look.
He grinned, making sure I saw every single one of his glossy white teeth.