Jenna Black: Sirensong

The high heels were pinching my toes, and I was losing sensation in the balls of my feet as we continued our circuit of the room. My face hurt from the fake-smiling, and I was so bored I had to swallow a yawn every three seconds. And we weren’t even to the speeches yet!

Throughout the torturous meet-and-greet, more people kept arriving at the party, each one announced in a voice that cut through all the chatter. At first, I couldn’t help looking every time someone new came in, but since it was never anyone interesting, I stopped paying attention. Until a wave of silence swept over the room, and even my dad turned to look.

The party had been under way for over an hour, and the Important Dignitaries in the receiving line had abandoned their posts to come mingle with us little people, so there was no line waiting to come in. As a result, everyone in the room had a crystal-clear view of the figure who stood regally in the doorway. I immediately suspected he’d planned things that way.

In some ways, he was a typical Fae man. Tall, lean, with angular features that were painfully beautiful. And yet, he was like no Fae I’d seen before. He was dressed in an outfit that looked like it came straight out of some artsy historical movie, complete with a crimson velvet coat with enormous cuffs and elaborately embroidered lapels, knee breeches, and a frothy white neckcloth. Crimson wasn’t a good color for him, not with his typical Fae pallor and the long red hair that framed his face under a thin gold circlet, but his lack of fashion sense didn’t make him any less breathtaking.

“His Royal Highness, Henry, Prince of the Seelie Court,” the announcer said into the silence that had overtaken the room.

Many of the Fae bowed or curtsied. I glanced at my dad out of the corner of my eye and saw that he didn’t, even though he was a card-carrying member of the Seelie Court. Avalon had seceded from Faerie about a hundred years ago, and in theory, its Fae citizens weren’t supposed to belong to either the Seelie or the Unseelie Court. In reality, there were very few Fae in Avalon who didn’t align themselves with one Court or the other.

Prince Henry soaked in the attention for a moment, standing nearly motionless in the entryway as his gaze swept the room. My stomach did a flip-flop when the prince’s eyes stopped on my father’s face, then slid to me. A smile curled his lips, and there was something oily and unpleasant about it. I took an instant dislike to him and didn’t care that it probably wasn’t fair of me.

The prince finally stepped into the room, breaking the spell of silence he had cast. People started talking again, and the folks who’d been in the receiving line swarmed to greet their royal guest. I rubbed my sweaty palms together and looked at my dad. It didn’t matter that as his daughter, I was generally considered to be Seelie even though I hadn’t sworn allegiance. The Queens of both Courts felt threatened by my abilities and wanted me dead. That made Prince Henry the enemy in my book.

“Who is Prince Henry?” I asked Dad in an urgent undertone. “And shouldn’t we be heading for the nearest exit?”

Dad patted my shoulder in one of his reserved Fae gestures of affection. “You’re perfectly safe here,” he assured me. “Henry is one of Titania’s sons, but she’d never use him in an assassination attempt. And she certainly wouldn’t do it here of all places.”

I’m sure Dad meant that to be comforting, but my mouth had gone dry and my heart was speeding. I couldn’t see it as anything but a bad sign that a member of the royal family was in town. Not when the royal family wanted me dead.

“Did you know he was going to be here?” I asked.

Dad shook his head slightly. “I had no idea. I don’t know what Titania’s playing at, but I have a feeling we’ll find out before the evening is out.”

I watched the knot of people surrounding the prince move closer and closer to us, and my throat tightened. “Is it my imagination, or is he moving in our direction?”

“It’s not your imagination.”

“Great,” I muttered. Not that I thought I was in any real danger. I had a feeling that if a member of one of the royal families showed up at a state dinner and killed one of the guests, that might start an international incident. Maybe even a war. So I was pretty sure Dad was right and Prince Henry wasn’t making his way toward us with murder on his mind. I just didn’t think whatever was on his mind was something I’d like any better.

“Isn’t it time to go in to dinner yet?” I asked, looking around longingly for some sign that the crowd was moving toward the dining room. No such luck.

“Nice try,” Dad said with one of his wry smiles. “Royalty isn’t avoided so easily.”

The prince was getting closer, and though many people were gathered around him, there were four Knights, dressed in clothing just as archaic as the prince’s, keeping the crowd at a respectable distance. I could feel the magic coming off the group when they were still, like, twenty yards away. Seemed a little rude to me to be so blatantly guarding the prince’s safety in the midst of the Consul’s mansion—as if the mansion weren’t a secure location—but what did I know?

Although the prince bore zero resemblance to my dad, I knew my dad had been Titania’s consort once, a long, long time ago, so I couldn’t help asking, “He’s not another half brother you’ve forgotten to tell me about, is he?”

My dad isn’t the most expressive person in the world, but I was getting to know him well enough to see the slight tightening at the corners of his eyes that said I’d hit a nerve. “Connor is my only son,” he said softly, “and you are my only daughter.”

I wished I hadn’t asked. Connor had been captured and basically enslaved by the Erlking, the leader of the Wild Hunt, a group of Fae huntsman who in the olden days preyed on human and Fae quarry. Now, because of an agreement the Erlking had with the government of Avalon, humans were off their menu. And because the Erlking had also made an agreement with both Queens of Faerie, the only Fae they hunted were ones the Queens condemned. None of which helped Connor, who’d been captured before any of these agreements had been made, centuries ago. My father still grieved for Connor as if he were dead, and I wished I could do something to help.

I didn’t have much time to brood about my insensitive question, because Prince Henry had made it through the throng and was now standing face-to-face with my dad. The annoying tingle of the Knights’ magic made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“Seamus,” the prince said with a big smile, “you’re looking well.”

My father returned the smile, but there was no warmth in it. Come to mention it, there wasn’t a whole lot of warmth in the prince’s smile, either. Maybe it was just Fae reserve, but I had the instant impression the two of them didn’t like each other. I didn’t think Titania’s desire to have me killed was going to improve their relationship.

“As are you, Henry,” my father said, and though no one’s expression overtly changed, I could feel the mingled outrage and surprise of the people around us. My guess was that calling the prince by his first name was “not done.” The Knights in Henry’s entourage stopped pretending they were oblivious to all but their duty and stared at my father. It didn’t seem to bother him. “Such splendor as yours is rarely seen in our fair city,” he said with a respectful half-bow, and Henry’s smile froze for just an instant.

Wow. Dad really knew how to take something that sounded like a compliment and make it obviously an insult. All the while smiling as if he were being perfectly pleasant.