I crossed my arms. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Get a little lecture and wrist slap from the stone prince?” he asked cheerfully.
I looked off to the side, ignoring him.
“Aw, come on,” he cajoled. “No need to be unfriendly.”
I sighed and then slid my gaze over to glance at his forearm. The one holding my scabbard had the sleeve pulled up slightly, revealing a couple of inches of stone. “Can you form full armor? How much New Garg blood you got, anyway?”
He blinked, seeming caught off guard by my question. His hand reflexively tightened around my scabbard strap.
“Aye, I can summon full armor. As for New Garg blood, about half. Not that it really matters,” he said. He pointed his thumb at his chest. “You may have heard. I’m a bastard.”
It was true. Periclase was his father, but his mother wasn’t the Duergar queen.
“At least you know who your parents are,” I said absently. I was scanning the room for Lochlyn or Emmaline. I spotted both of them near one of the buffet tables.
“Unknown lineage?”
“Yeah, I don’t know who my blood mother is,” I said. I smirked at him, suddenly realizing that he and I were of similar build. “Hey, maybe we’re related.”
“That’d be a terrible pity.”
I turned to give him a sharp look. The corners of his mouth twitched as if he held back a grin. Otherwise, his face remained stoic as he watched me with those unblinking tri-colored eyes.
Variegated eyes.
For some unknown reason, I suddenly remembered the term for Fae irises like Jasper’s that displayed at least three distinct colors in a concentric pattern. They were unusual and very striking.
I dropped my arms to my sides. “If that’s your idea of flirting, you’re kind of shitty at it.”
I turned on my heel and strode away, and his soft chuckle followed me.
Lochlyn was talking to a gray-haired Duergar official, and when she caught sight of me, she brightened and lifted a finger in a just-a-minute gesture. I grabbed a champagne flute from a server and pretended to sip it while I waited. Alcohol dulled my senses, but a drink in hand was useful for blending in.
Lochlyn hurried over. “What’d Maxen say?”
“I’ll tell you later,” I said with a glance over my shoulder at Jasper, who stood a couple of feet away.
“Who is that guy?” Lochlyn asked.
I blew out a breath. “My babysitter,” I said grudgingly.
Her brows rose.
“I got in trouble with Periclase when I went on my little adventure earlier, so now I don’t go anywhere without escort.”
Approval flickered in her eyes as she gave him a long look. “Well, you could do worse. A whole lot worse.”
“He’s Periclase’s son.”
“Ah, Jasper. I remember him now from my days at court years ago. He’s grown into quite a man. Those eyes,” she said, her gaze still lingering on Jasper. “This throws a wrench in things, though, doesn’t it?”
“Yep. But there’s a plan in the works,” I said under my breath. “I’m going to have to make an early departure from this realm and then figure out a way to get back in.”
There was a bright flourish of horns near the main doorway, and the entire room’s attention swung that way. King Periclase entered the reception hall with his wife, Courtney, on his arm. In their wake walked a few Duergar lords and ladies, plus a cadre of attendants.
Everyone bowed and curtsied as the Duergar king and queen promenaded into the room. As they passed, Periclase slid a hard glance at me, and then his eyes flicked over to Jasper. The royal couple went to sit on ornate chairs positioned on a raised platform, and a queue of people formed almost immediately.
I glanced over at Emmaline, who was standing inconspicuously off to the side with her hands clasped over her tablet. She walked over.
“We’re not expected to go talk to them, are we?” I asked my page.
She shook her head. “It’s not required, no. Only if you’d like to.”
“Thank Oberon.”
Lochlyn and I watched as Maxen spoke to the royal couple and then moved off to the side. A petite, very slim young woman with silver-blond hair approached him. She’d been standing near the royal throne as if she’d been waiting for him. There was something about her that seemed familiar.
“Who’s that?” I asked Lochlyn.
“No idea,” she said. “You’re not jealous she’s talking to Maxen, are you?”
I shot her a glare, and she snorted a laugh.
“She’s King Periclase’s daughter, but not Queen Courtney’s,” Emmaline supplied. “She’s not on the royal family registry because Periclase never officially claimed her as his, but she’s sworn to the Duergar kingdom. Her name’s Bryna.”
My pulse thumped hard in my temples. Lochlyn and I locked eyes for a second.
“Bryna, as in the Duergar-Spriggan bitch who tried to kill you?” Lochlyn hissed.
“Got to be,” I said. My jaw clenched as I watched Bryna smile and chatter with Maxen. “It’s probably a good thing I’m not holding Mort right now.”
My muscles pulsed with the desire to do some damage to Bryna’s delicately pretty face. But then I considered the situation in the larger scheme of things. I could use Bryna to prompt my early exit from the Duergar kingdom. I liked the idea of getting things rolling. I shoved my champagne flute into Lochlyn’s free hand.
“Petra, wait,” Lochlyn came after me as I began to stomp toward Periclase’s bastard daughter. Lochlyn grabbed my arm.
“I know what I’m doing,” I whispered to Lochlyn and then shook off her hand.
Chapter 16
BRYNA’S GAZE FLICKED to me as I approached, and then she did a double-take. Her eyes widened, and she stopped talking mid-sentence. I stepped in front of Maxen, so close to Bryna I could see her quickening pulse at the side of her pale neck.
“Surprised to see me here?” I asked. “Does Daddy know about your wraith? Does he know you tried to kill me? Maybe we should tell him about how you violated the sanctity of the netherwhere.”
Her fingers flew to her mouth as she affected a shocked look.
“Oh! You must have the wrong person,” she said loudly. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she backed up a step as she pressed her other hand to her chest. “Please, don’t hurt me!”
Maxen was at my side, trying to tug at my arm. “Petra? What in Oberon’s name are you doing?”
I shot him a pointed look, and he seemed to get the idea that this was part of a plan. He backed off.
“Don’t you play dumb,” I growled at Bryna. “I know it was you, and I’ve got someone who will back me up. You’re going to pay for trying to murder me in the netherwhere.”
She shrank away, holding up her hands as if to fend off an attack. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I knew it was an act on her part—it was on mine, too—but it was working. People were crowding around. Hands grasped my arms. Someone hauled me backward.
Maxen kept pace with me as people inserted themselves between me and Bryna.