Hollis
"So I said, 'Who are you kidding? Your wolf doesn't even have two ears.'" Lord Gunnar, one of the Snowcrest nobles Father begrudgingly agreed to bring on the trip, bursts into laughter at his own joke.
Father nods once, crisply, and takes another drink from his cup. Zain, my Beta whenever I take the throne, just sips his drink. Eva laughs politely. I put on my fakest laugh-Gunnar likes the sound of his own voice too much to ever notice me.
Around us, the celebration is in full swing. The early spring air here is warm enough that I didn't have to wear my cloak over my tunic and pants, but Eva is wrapped in fur over a fine, sky-blue dress that cups every inch of her body and still didn't make me look twice at her. Couples spin around the oak tree, which someone strung lanterns in the branches of, and music plays from a dozen different performers scattered around the space. For being put together in the afternoon, it's decent, but I miss the celebrations at home. Their alcohol is bullshit.
Father looks at me. "Have you made inroads with the other delegates?"
He's searching for other allies. He says he wants to know we have someone backing us before breaking ties with Dun's Crossing. I still think he's being too cautious, but he's the one who left his Beta, Eva's father, at home to run the kingdom in his absence because he doesn't trust anyone else. Caution has been his middle name for a long time now.
"I'm friends with Candace Solberg," Eva says.
Father's face shutters. "Not them."
I squeeze her hand. 'We're trying to get away from Dun's Crossing.'
'Why?' Eva demands. 'I like Candace.'
My mark burns. I need to do something about it. Between the ritual and now, I finally looked at the damned thing. When I saw the rays of a sun shining back at me, I almost puked. Somehow. Candace bit me. I just need to figure out what about this fucked up place made that happen.
'Because the Solbergs can't be trusted,' I reply.
"I've met a couple of guys," Zain offers. "They were talking about doing a friendly spar tomorrow. Hollis, you want to join?"
"Sure," I say, barely hearing him. "I'll be there."
Father grunts, pleased. My chest warms. Military and combat prowess is the one thing we share these days.
"Ah! King Andri, Prince Hollis," someone says.
Father and I turn in unison. King Kieran and Luna Raven approach. Even in the dim light of the night, her stomach is impossible to miss. I'm shocked her healer allows her out of bed.
"King Kieran." Father clasps his hand. "Luna Raven. Impressive work."
"Thank you." She curtsies awkwardly. King Kieran has to help her regain her feet. "It seems I specialize in bringing new life to the world these days."
"When are you due?" Eva asks.
"Soon," Luna Raven groans.
I sip my weak wine to cover my eye roll. She seems nice enough, but she's way too casual. No poise, no grace. In the few memories of Mother I still have, she carried herself like she was always walking on a cloud.
"Snowcrest is honored by our small role in this miracle," Father says. "Enjoy your success."
King Kieran and Luna Raven say their goodbyes and move off. As Lord Gunnar launches into a tirade about how they didn't even acknowledge him, I scan the party again.
I haven't seen Candace yet. Which is good. I don't want to, not after this morning. But at this point, I'm starting to suspect she actually might not be coming. So I can start my plan.
If I was at home, I'd go to the library. Since Mother's death, our collection's become more and more military texts, but I'm sure there's still some history in there. Something that would tell me about the Haze and the times it backfired. Instead, I'm stuck in a fucking field, and that means my only resources are the people around me.
I kiss Eva on the cheek. "I'm going to go see if they have anything stronger."
"Bring some back if they do," she replies.
I laugh and escape the group.
'Need a hand?' Zain asks.
I tell him no. He is my Beta, and I trust him with my life, but I don't trust anyone with this kind of secret.
After a brief, failed search for harder liquor, I ask a woman to dance, and the plan begins.
"You're from Escuro, aren't you?" I ask as we spin around the tree.
She giggles. "How did you know?"
The dark hair and eyes, the dress that looks like nobody's seen it in the light in twenty years, the vague aura of social ineptitude.
"Lucky guess," I reply. "Are you mated?"
She giggles again. I tighten my hold on her and hope she finds that romantic. This kind of information-gathering is not where my strengths lie.
"No." Her eyelashes flutter so much I actually wonder if she has something stuck in her eyes. "But I could be."
"Oh yeah?" I dip her to hide my expression. "Do you know anyone who is?"
"Loads of people." She leans closer, her licorice smell clouding the air. "I was out in the Haze last night. Were you?"
"Missed it." That's the story I'm giving Eva, so it's good enough for this stranger. "So the Haze has been working in Escuro? People are happy with their mates?"
"Um... yeah?" She looks at me strangely. "Why?"
Fuck. "I'm writing a book."
"Ooh, tell me more!"
The rest of the night goes a lot like that. Finding someone who could have answers, asking questions that are supposed to be subtle, and either hitting a wall or ending up in another ridiculous lie. By the time I wander off the dance floor, half the gathering must believe I'm writing a book or a paper or a poem when I haven't written anything but a tactical map in years. And every time, I get the same answers: the Haze is dangerous in Escuro. Some of the plants here have been so ruined by wolfsbane that they're unsafe to touch. But when people risk it, everything proceeds normally. The bites are normal, the couples are normal, everyone is happy. This holds true both before and after King Gavin's death, a line of questioning I thought would be useful and mostly got me weird looks.
Two more days. Then, I can go home and see if there's a way to break a mating bond, even if it's a legitimate one. Or I can just never see Candace again and learn to shoot my bow through the agony in my shoulder.
I stomp over to the table set up for the delegates from Snowcrest Canyon and stop cold. Eva and Candace sit there, laughing like one of them just told the funniest joke in the world. Candace's head is thrown back, her blonde hair cascading away from her face like a dying ray of light, and she clutches her stomach over her grayish-blue gown like she might burst a rib from laughing too hard. Eva looks perfectly at peace, like she's laughing with an old friend instead of a woman she visited in person for a week and has been writing letters to sometimes since.
A feeling I don't know how to name crunches through my chest.
I'm in the middle of a Goddess-damned party. I crush the feeling down and saunter over to them like there's nothing in the world wrong with the woman I'm supposed to be mated to and the one who tricked the Goddess Herself to mate with me sitting together.
"What's so funny?" I drop into the seat next to Eva and sling my arm around her shoulders.
Eva swipes a tear from her eye. "Candace was telling me a story about the ruddy-breasted flycatchers, and-"
I snort.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Candace's face fall. Her gaze lands squarely on my arm.
"What?" Eva says.
"Oh, come on, you expect me to believe a fucking bird story is that funny?" I chuckle. "You were talking about something actually interesting. Tell me."
"It really was a bird story," Candace says quietly.
My mark screams. That's my mate, sitting across from me, looking like a kicked puppy. Every instinct in my body howls for me to shut up and apologize. But I didn't get this far in life by listening to my instincts.
"By the Goddess, really?" I shake my head. "Can we talk about something interesting now, then? I'm here, and unlike Eva, I've got standards."
Eva shakes her head. "Did you find the drinks, then?"
"I couldn't find shit. It's like people in Dun's Crossing have no idea how to have fun." I turn to Eva and direct the next comment only to her, over the torturous agony in my shoulder. "Maybe that's why the funniest thing you could find over here was a story about a bird."
My mark doesn't matter. Just two more days, and then I'll figure out how to get rid of it.
It's that, or I have no idea what my future looks like anymore.