Kai could not wait for this miserable feast to be over—or rather, the miserable dancing portion of it. While he wasn’t the center of attention here like was common at celebrations in Nyrene, plenty of faeries still flocked to him. They pulled him into their dances and moved him ever farther away from where he wanted to be.

  With Seraiah.

  Kai craned his neck, trying to find any member of the party he’d arrived at the Summer Court with, but came up empty. Virelai had said something to him about Wisteria while he’d been watching Ren dance with Seraiah, and that had been the last time he’d seen either of them. After his singular dance with Seraiah, Ren had also disappeared somewhere. Now Kai could no longer find Seraiah, either.

  He spotted the Summer King near his throne. The fae king was no longer dancing, and from what Kai could tell, Seraiah was nowhere in the vicinity.

  Kai cursed. He needed to find her and the others as well, but Seraiah came first.

  More grasping fingers reached for him, trying to pull him back into the sway of the music, but Kai brushed them away. He’d been trying to be polite before to avoid angering anyone, but now that Seraiah was not here, he no longer cared.

  First things first, he would check their assigned rooms. She may have gone back there to escape from the dancing. If she wasn’t there, he wasn’t sure where else she might be, but the Summer King would be hearing from him. He would not lose her.

  But you may already have.

  Seraiah’s confession of the what her visions did to her lurked in the back of his mind. They needed her visions, and he knew there was no convincing her otherwise, but he hated what it would do to her.

  He’d already made up his mind that at the first hint of madness, he would put a stop to this whether she wanted it or not. He could not stand by and watch as someone he loved destroyed herself for him or his sister, or even the world. Let the world break beneath the shadows, if it meant he could keep her safe.

  Kai took the stairs two at a time until he reached the floor where they’d been assigned. The hallway was empty and only the faint sounds of music from the celebration penetrated the walls.

  He strode past the other doors, stopping only when he reached the one where Seraiah should be. She had been given the room next to his. Kai rapped his knuckles on the door and then waited, holding his breath as he listened for any sounds within.

  There were none.

  If she were asleep, his knock should have been enough to wake her . . . unless it wasn’t a natural sleep. He tried to recall what she’d told him while they were dancing. They’d talked about the necromancer and she’d said she’d told Ren to wait after her first vision. What she hadn’t said was that she’d intended to have that vision tonight.

  Kai gave up waiting and reached for the doorknob. It turned easily in his hand. He paused before pushing open the door and revealing the room. Either she’d neglected to lock it or it meant she wasn’t here after all. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

  Steeling himself, Kai entered the room. The glowing orbs on either side of the bed cast a soft glow and showed him the figure stretched out over the bed. Relief coursed through him to have found her, but it was short-lived. There in her loose fingers was an empty glass vial, like she’d taken it and fallen asleep.

  Kai remembered the first time he’d seen her take a faery potion. The fear had raced through his body as he watched her eyes roll back in her head, and she collapsed as though all the bones had gone out of her body. Had he been any slower, she might have hit his desk, and she certainly would have hit the floor. He remembered the panic that followed when she didn’t wake, and Neorah couldn’t find anything wrong with her. The days had been long and his patience stretched thin.

  He hadn’t known how much he didn’t want to see her do this again until he stood before her now.

  She lay atop the blankets on the bed, still dressed in her finery from the feast. He hadn’t gotten a chance to tell her how beautiful she’d looked. He hadn’t taken a moment to appreciate the first time they’d ever danced together. Instead, he’d only been concerned about what that mage had wanted. Kai blew out his breath and ran his fingers through his hair. When she woke, he would tell her.

  Until then, he’d stand watch and make sure no harm came to her. The last time she’d taken a potion, it was three days before she awakened. He had no idea if it would be the same. Kai gently removed the slippers she’d left on, and then went to his room and gathered up the blankets from the bed. When he returned, he tucked them around Seraiah so she wouldn’t get cold. While he did this, she didn’t so much as stir, but he could see her eyes flickering beneath her lids. He hoped it meant she was learning something useful and wouldn’t need to do this again.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Kai moved the single wooden chair from the table under the window to a spot next to the bed. He couldn’t have said how long he’d been sitting there watching Seraiah’s face for any sign of change when a knock startled him.

  “Come in,” he called. He couldn’t pull himself from Seraiah’s side for even a second.

  “I suspected I might find you here. What—oh, is she asleep?” Virelai asked, lowering her voice as she neared the bed. “So she took the potion already?”

  Kai had moved the empty vial from Seraiah’s hand to the table beside the bed. “What do you want?” he asked. “Have you done something?”

  “I have done nothing.”

  Kai snorted. “No one believes that. What do you want? Did you come to ask for your favor? Or perhaps you weren’t looking for me at all and instead were looking for another opportunity?”

  Hurt flashed in Virelai’s eyes, so fast he thought he might have imagined it. “I was looking for you because I thought you might like to know some new information I learned. I have an idea that—”

  Kai cut her off. “Whatever it is, it can wait. Once Seraiah wakes up from her vision, you can explain whatever it is you think you have learned.” He knew he was being short with her, but it had been a long day.

  “But—”

  “I don’t want to play one of your games right now, Virelai. I have more pressing concerns.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “This isn’t a game. I thought—”

  “It’s always a game with you. That’s why you have no true friends. You are your father’s daughter.”

  As soon as he said the words, he knew he’d crossed a line. No mask covered the hurt on Virelai’s face now.

  “I guess I was wrong about you,” she said, barely over a whisper. There was no venom in her words, only pain.

  Before he could apologize, she turned on her heel and fled.

  Ren pulled at his gloves, lost in thought, as he made his way back to his assigned faery room. The hallway was quiet, but outside the music still played on even as the hour grew late.

  He wished he could have gotten a better look around before they’d asked him to leave, but he could always try again tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow he might also—

  A small squeak dragged him out of his thoughts as he collided with something that should not have been in the middle of an empty hallway.

  Virelai.

  “Excuse me,” she murmured, head ducked as she moved to step around him.

  Ren caught her arms before she could get past him, and her gaze came up to meet his. He didn’t know her very well, but based on what he knew of her, he would have expected a sharp word or two about not paying attention and running into her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is everything all right?” He felt her tense under his hands, and he quickly let go.

  Virelai took a breath as if to compose herself. “Nothing is wrong. Why would it be?”

  He almost believed her.

  “You are not the only one with the survival skills to read people,” he said, studying her. “Anyone who knows and bothered to look close enough would see it.”

  Virelai broke eye contact, a dead giveaway that he was right. It was likely as much as he would get from her, but that didn’t stop him from asking, “Where’s Wisteria?”

  “In bed, as far as I know. I believe that is where we should be as well.”

  He thought to tease her about her words, but he didn’t think she would appreciate it, and for once, he didn’t feel like annoying someone into keeping their distance.

  Ren counted the doors behind Virelai. If he had to guess, she’d either just come from Kai’s room or Seraiah’s. “Were you speaking with Seraiah?” he ventured a guess. He knew the two of them did not get along, so perhaps that was the reason for whatever had upset Virelai.

  “No. It seems she’s already making good on her bargain with the Summer King, so if you are looking for her, you’ll have to wait. If you are looking for Kaimana, I think you know exactly where to find him.”

  Her expression changed ever so slightly at the mention of the elf prince, so whatever had upset her had to do with him.

  “We have no business, and if Seraiah is indisposed, I suppose there is nothing for me to do but wait.”

  “Funny how we were told we can leave whenever we want, but they’d never allow us to go.” Virelai moved around him, and Ren turned to watch her go.

  “What did he say to you?”

  Virelai stiffened and looked over her shoulder.

  Ren didn’t think she would say anything, but after a long moment, she spoke.

  “That I like to play games, and I’m my father’s daughter. It’s why I don’t have any true friends. Nothing I haven’t heard before.”

  Ren knew even if you were used to hearing something that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

  “I thought to help, but it seems my help is not needed.”

  He heard her unspoken words. I am never needed.

  He hated to admit it, but Virelai might have been right when she’d said they had a lot in common.

  Virelai continued on, and he should have let her go. Instead, he found his feet tracing her steps.

  “Tell me,” he said, when she stopped at her door. “They are not the only ones who need help.”

  She blinked up at him, and again he expected a cutting remark. Maybe he was not any better than the elf prince.

  “Then come in.”

  Ren followed her into her room, waiting near the door as she touched the orbs next to the bed and then slipped off her slippers.

  “I confess,” she said, settling onto the edge of the bed, “I may have said something I shouldn’t have to Wisteria.”

  Ren raised one brow and waited for her to go on.

  “You can sit, you know.”

  He was surprised when she gestured to the space next to her and not the chair across the room.

  She waited for him to settle in before continuing. “I may have suggested I thought the Summer King was hiding something, and the best way to find out would be through the servants.”

  He could already tell where this was going.

  “Wisteria took it upon herself to capture the creepy one from the woods and question her.”

  “Are you saying you went to Kai to warn him to expect a visit from the Summer King?” he asked.

  “Not quite. We played a game. I’ll skip the boring parts, but the faery girl confirmed the Summer King is not helping his sister.”

  “As far as she knows.”

  “Yes, and she also said he does not know about the shadows, but she suggested that the fae are not the only immortals from this world or another.”

  It only took him seconds to put together what she had figured out.

  “The dragons.”

  “Precisely,” Virelai said. “The dragons might know the way to remove the shadows.”