Resonant

Chapter 22

Fen

I held my breath as Zale tied a cravat around my neck. "Sorry," I said again when he was done. He kept telling me not to, but I couldn't seem to stop apologizing for getting us into this situation.

"It's okay, Fen."

I just didn't see how that could be true. Because of me, Zale was going to see his father tonight. I was pretty sure they had never met before, but I didn't want to make Zale feel worse by asking.

It started when Kyra came for lunch and I traced her soul bond to somewhere far away, but definitely underwater. There were so many reasons I couldn't just grab Kyra and follow the bond to her soul mate. First, there was a chance we would land in the water instead of in an enchanted castle like this one, and that would mean a fairly immediate death for me. Second, Kyra wouldn't understand what we were doing and I couldn't tell where we were going or why. And then there was the more political reason. Even if we landed somewhere safe enough for me and even if Kyra didn't mind being teleported somewhere random without explanation, we might end up causing some kind of diplomatic incident by trespassing in a kingdom where we didn't belong.

So, yeah. I couldn't just grab Kyra and go. But I wasn't sure how else to find her soul mate. That's why when Kyra mentioned a party her father was throwing to help her find a suitable match and said "I wish you could come" to Zale, I asked, "Why can't we?"

Zale froze up and Kyra said she would love if we did, and then everything moved really quickly from there. I think Zale just didn't want to disappoint his sister, but I'm sure she would have understood if he refused to go. Heck, even I understood why this was a terrible idea once I spent a few seconds thinking about it.

"I can pretend to be sick and you can stay home to take care of me," I offered, even though I knew Zale would never agree even before his head started shaking no.

"If Kyra's soul mate is mer, this is our best chance to find him for her," Zale sighed. "It's that, or I throw one of these events, myself, and invite her along. And I'm not doing that."

Wouldn't it be better than confronting his father? I didn't ask.

Someone knocked on the door and Astrea called, "Open up!"

Zale obeyed, and she cast a critical gaze over him and then me. "You're dressed right, but I'm not sure how much good that'll do you," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

She cast me a droll stare. "You're fae, Fen. It's weird."

My chest tightened and I knew my cheeks were flushed. As if I wouldn't have been different enough already, attending a party for royals and nobility when I didn't know the first thing about proper deportment. I knew I stood out. Mer tended to be pale, probably from the lack of sunlight in their natural habitat, and my skin was dark. My hair shone like metal and my eyes were freakishly gold, and my ears were too pointy. And even though fae were tall, compared to merfolk I was short. It made me feel uncomfortable and far less capable, like a child.

I already stuck out enough in Zale's home. After hearing how disparaging Astrea could be about hers, I knew it would be even worse in Vidonia.

"Astrea, apologize," Zale snapped.

"Sorry, Fen," she muttered. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, they'll all think it's weird. We don't normally date interspecies."

"That's not better," Zale grumbled. He pulled me into his side and hooked an arm around my shoulders. "You're going to be fine," he promised. "It doesn't matter what anyone there thinks."