Page 51 of Death of a Mortal

“A Veythryn’s shifted form is their vey. Mine is a wolf. And the ice element complements it beautifully, since a wolf’s thick fur and warmer blood protect it from the cold. Just like many avian Veythryn have the air element. It was rumored that the dragon Veythryn had the fire element, but one hasn’t been seen for a very long time.”

“Dragons are real?”

“DragonVeythrynwere, but pure dragons have only ever been a myth in our realm. The only recorded dragons belonged to the gods and didn’t roam the living realm of Caelia. Only the gods’ realm.”

“Whoa.” That was it? All I could say? Maybe the wine was making my brain a little fuzzy. I was drinking too fast, but gods, I needed the courage.

The prince chuckled, and I noticed his cheeks were slightly pink. Maybe he was getting a little fuzzy too.

“So an ice wolf… What’s it like being in your wolf, I mean, yourveyform?”

“It’s freeing, incredible. It’s…indescribable.”

The look on his face was boyish, almost giddy. For the first time, probably ever, I imagined what it would be like if I could turn into an animal at will and run, fly, as far and as high as I desired.

With my luck, my vey would have been a chicken or something ridiculous.

“It feels like you can go anywhere, do anything. It’s…” He trailed off, lost in thought.

“You shouldn’t hesitate. You sound like a cat’s got your tongue,” I said and chuckled, mirroring our first conversation when he’d told me the same thing.

He laughed, small at first, but it grew into a full, clutch-your-stomach, close-your-eyes kind of laugh. And I couldn’t help but join in.

He was so easy to be around. He made me feel normal. And maybe that was why he enjoyed spending time with me. He’d said the nobles were stuffy. Maybe this was as close to normal as he got.

As our laughter faded, a servant brought out our dinners and placed them before us.

I didn’t know how to feel about being served by a mortal when I was a mortal servant of the castle myself. The thought was a sobering reality check.

The prince started on his roasted chicken and potatoes, and I sat watching for a moment, torn between shame and embarrassment for the mortal. And for myself.

“Is the food okay for you? Too hot?”

“Why am I here?”

He paused with a bite halfway to his mouth before putting it back on his plate, contemplating me for a moment.

“Because I want you to be. Because I enjoy your company. Because—”

“But whyme? I’m a mortal. A mortal servant of your father’s castle. I’m not pretty, I’m not proper or noble, and I don’t even know all the ways of your world. Of the fae. And unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think fae princes make a habit of befriending mortals. Isn’t that what you said?”

“Do you remember every word I’ve eversaid?”

“Pretty much.”

This was dangerous—all of it. But the danger felt like warmth, like the first spark I’d felt in years.

Other than the one I had taken to the face.

His face hardened just for a moment, and then he huffed out a breath. Not as if he was frustrated, but like he didn’t know why himself. As if he didn’t have a suitable answer and really had to think about why. That didn’t make me feel great.

The angry beast in my chest didn’t set my blood ablaze, but it definitely lifted its head, waiting for what could happen next.

He stared at his nearly empty wineglass for a moment, twirling it by the thin stem. I could have sworn something in his eyes flickered, but it came and went so fast it could have been the flickering candles reflected.

Finally, he looked up. “Because it’s stifling being a prince. Because the king forces every noble female on me every chance he gets, wanting me to marry. Because they’re insufferable. All day, all anyone ever does around me is say what they believe I want to hear. But you? You talk back, you speak your mind. When you laugh, you laugh without care, and I find myself wanting more and more to make you laugh. You’re real. Far more real than the court and the nobles.” He quickly tossed back the rest of his wine, then leaned in toward me. “And don’t ever let me hear you say that you’re not pretty again.”

I was stunned. The mask was completely off, and he was so much more beautiful without it. No one had ever said anything like that to me. It was all I could do not to give my heart away with reckless abandon right then and there.