Resonant

Chapter 11

Zale

When my mother had asked me to bring Fen over for dinner, it had been impossible to picture him in the castle. I had never managed to figure out a way to safely bring Harlow down here, since we were so deep down that being out in the open ocean would kill him just from the water pressure – and that was ignoring the obvious problem, that he couldn't breathe water. Sure, there were people out there who claimed to have artifacts or potions that would let a human safely travel through the ocean, no matter how deep, but it had always seemed like far too big a risk to test them out. In the end, his sickness caught up to him before we ever took that leap.

It was slightly disturbing, knowing that this other man, the one who was supposedly my perfect match, had such a neat solution to a problem that had plagued me in my prior relationship.

When we walked out into the main hall, which was much more crowded than the residential section of the castle, Fen tucked himself closer against my side. His trepidation was obvious, and it sent a warmth radiating through my chest. Fen was clearly uncomfortable and I wasn't an idiot; I knew he hadn't wanted to come tonight. But he hadn't complained or hesitated. He agreed, just because I asked. I wasn't used to getting that kind of support from anyone other than my mother. Even Harlow, who had always wanted to be there for me, hadn't always been able to come through. There were things his health simply wouldn't allow.

Fen, though...

My heart ached, but I pushed through that to acknowledge that Fen was going to be there for me. And I... I wanted to do the same for him. He deserved that.

We actually had some time before dinner would be served, but my mother had thought Fen might be more comfortable eating with us if he got to know her a little first, and I agreed. Especially with what I was doing to him now.

Fen would have been conspicuous no matter what I did. His obvious other-ness, along with those undeniably fae features and coloring, they would have already set him apart, and people weren't used to seeing outsiders. Then there was the fact that he was with me. And not even walking by my side; no, he was tucked against me, arms intertwined. Everyone had already been made aware that I intended to marry a fae man. Who could this possibly be but him?

So, we were attracting a lot of attention. People moving through the halls stopped and stared at us, necks craning until we passed out of sight. The sound of muttering grew the longer we spent out in the public part of the castle, until it wasn't remotely subtle anymore. I could have prevented this. I could have taken a less public route. In fact, we could have avoided people entirely. At the very least, I could have stopped people from staring at us so obviously. I did none of those things.

My people needed to get used to Fen. No one would take our relationship seriously if he was never around. Goodness knew most people hadn't taken my relationship with Harlow very seriously.

So, I escorted the nervous fae man around my castle, taking an unnecessarily circuitous route to the private dining room where my mother took her meals. When we finally stood outside the heavy wooden doors, Fen's eyes were wider than I had ever seen them and his fingers were digging into my bicep. He looked freaked out enough that I felt bad about parading him around like that.

"Sorry about that," I murmured. I hated apologizing.

"It's okay," he said, but I knew he was just being polite, and his acceptance of my apology only would have counted if he knew just how intentional my actions had been before he forgave me. Not that it mattered, since I wouldn't be explaining that to him.

I studied his glazed eyes and flushed cheeks, and realized Fen really didn't look good. In fact, it looked like he might be sick. Surely, it couldn't be from stress, could it? This wouldn't do at all. He needed to snap out of it, and so far he hadn't taken any comfort from my words. Time to try actions.