Page 87 of Death of a Mortal

“Yes…”

“Good. I want that firmly in the back of your mind. There will be a ball in one week that you will be expected to attend. You will not onlybehavebut present yourself as if a heathen did not raise you in a barn.”

I could feel the rage building at the slander that I assumed was aimed at Keryth. But if he was talking about Cassius…well, he wasn’t actually too far off. I let it slide.

“The queen will fetch you once a day between now and then to ensure you know how to act and speak. Heed my warning, Naci, one hair or breath out of line and—”

“You’ll make me a whore and kill Nella. I remember.”

“Those are not empty threats.”

I could hear the animalistic growl behind his words. I’d heard the king was a Veythryn, but I made a mental note to find out what his vey was. That sound made me pretty sure it was a terrifying beast of some sort.

A ball…I tried not to think about the fact that Varyn would likely be there. Or that I would be surrounded by so many people that despised me. Tried…but failed. My heart sank.

After the king left, I resumed my pacing, thinking of what the week ahead would bring. A week to prepare for the ball. A week of lessons with the queen.

I shuddered. Something about being in her presence made my skin prickle. Whatever it was, it wasn’t harmless.

Chapter 21

Dance, Marionette

The next day,Malvina came for me just as the king had said, right after my lunch of slop.

She led me from my cell to a small room off the hall adjacent to the laundry rooms. My heart squeezed, knowing I was so near Nella but could not see her. On the way, we passed Moe and Ott heading toward the folding room with full bags of clean linens ready to be folded.

Of course, I had to pass them in the queen’s presence… Their looks were enough to confirm what Nella had told me about their feelings.Wonderful.

We stepped into our destination room, and already inside was a fae male I had never seen before. He was dark-haired with deep-brown skin, wearing simple clothes. He didn’t scream royal or noble to me.

“This is Thalen Evior. He will be your dance instructor. We hope you will not have to dance, but you should be prepared if anyone is…curious and asks. You will, of course, oblige if asked.”

A nervous flutter started in my stomach. I had to dance. Thusfar, my “dancing” had been figurative. Never once did I imagine it would be literal.

Not that I hated the idea of dancing. It was that I never had, and it looked so complicated. And it also required you to be really, really close to someone, and at this ball, those someones would be males…curious males, she’d said.

Curious to see the king’s scarred, mortal puppet.

“You bring me a scroungy mortal with all the grace of a fish out of water, and expect me to transform her into a swan in one week?” Thalen scoffed. “Your Majesty, what you ask is nearly impossible.”

Okay, rude. How did he know how graceful I was…or wasn’t? We hadn’t even started yet.

“The way she stands hunched, the way her feet point slightly out, she will not be cut out for our courtly choreography.”

Oh, that was how. Still, rude.

“If anyone can perform this miracle, Thalen, it is you. I have the utmost faith,” the queen crooned, tilting her head toward him in deference, clearly respectful of this male.

He smiled in response. “We must begin immediately then! First thing”—he walked behind me and poked me hard in the back—“stand up straight, chin up. Second thing”—he smacked the back of my thigh with a conductor’s stick I hadn’t even seen him produce—“you must keep your feet straight and stay light on your toes, moving like water, fluid and with purpose.”

He smacked the exact spot that Cassius had hit with the lightning belt so long ago now, making me gasp.

“Are you okay? What happened?”Noxie asked.

“Just a painful memory the dance teacher brought out of me. I’m alright, Noxie.”

“I would pay a lot of coin to see you trying to dance.”