Two Wicked Courts

Chapter 7

I sipped a metal goblet slowly, acting as though I was nursing wine when I had already dumped it out into a nearby fern and replaced it with water.

Leander was entertaining courtiers next to me, the length of his warm thigh snug against mine, and I made few attempts to even appear like I was listening.

Weeks had passed since Leander's studies resumed and I had inadvertently discovered Cia and the king's affair, but I was still reeling from it. It was certainly supposed to be a secret, but with adjoining rooms, I was surprised I hadn't heard rumors before. The twins had never even hinted at it, so I assumed they were too self-absorbed to notice, and I certainly wasn't foolish enough to pry.

The whole event was just surprising to me. The affair and the peculiar servant, who I had only seen in passing while she trailed Cia and pretended as if she didn't know me. I didn't know what to make of any of it.

I did, however, make the most of the available time I had when Leander was otherwise preoccupied. I had explored a majority of the palace, discovering where the kitchens and servants' quarters were located. I frequented the kitchen in order to obtain more food for Alana and I, and the staff grew accustomed to me. Most were humans that worked without glamour, but there were a few Half-Fae and even Lesser Fae employed.

I eventually ventured to ask why they worked for the palace willingly. Most had ignored the question but an elderly Half-Fae, marked by the slight point to her ears, halted in peeling a pile of starch vegetables. She chuckled. "You really have no idea, do you?"

And then she had explained. "The humans are all either taken, as you were, or the descendants of those that were taken. Slaves or indentured servants. Some would kill to be Favored, like you."

I bristled, the memory of Leander's attack still too fresh. "Aye, well, be careful what you wish for."

She shrugged. "Even the ones that don't have to be here... have to be here. Out in the capital or the wilds by yourself, there's no survival. I'm sure the princes have warned you that humans are hunted and eaten, and they aren't lying. Us Half-Fae are the same, and the lesser Fae aren't much better. We're all the labor behind the daoine sìth's endless, privileged lives, and we all know that. There's no choice."

"But there's always a choice. There has to be," I said forcefully, as if I could will the choice into reality, or prompt her to tell me of a way out.

She had said nothing else.

I played with my necklace idly while Leander continued to talk, rolling the polished crystal between my fingers. I was still surprised Leander hadn't taken it away from me, but he apparently found it charming, and once said he liked the way it looked between my breasts, so I could continue wearing it. The motion was becoming something that soothed my anxiety when I was near him. I was still anticipating when Leander would decide to finish what he had started at the party, but weeks had passed without incident. It worried me.

The remarks Xanthe had made towards Leander must have left an impression on him. I had gleaned that fornicating with humans was looked down upon, since we were no better than animals to them, especially when it came to Favored. Being caught with me again would endanger his precarious seat atop the palace's social circles and apparently that was enough to curb his appetites, even away from prying eyes.

He still kept me close but it was mostly for show, like I was decoration. Both his touch and his kisses were hollow because they weren't pressing for more. It was almost chaste. Chaste was hardly a word I would use to describe anything related to Leander, but it fit.

Several nights he sent me away and left with other Fae, mostly men. I think he made a point of exclusively selecting men just to further annoy his father, Cia, and Xanthe. I was surprised they were so open about such things, because it was not common back home and Christianity taught that it was evil, but that belief said many things were evil and I decided long ago not to pay attention to any of it. I briefly wondered what the human world would be like without such influence, but I stopped myself, because I would never see that world again.