Resonant

Chapter 27

Fen

Astrea and I were already in the dining room, waiting for Undine and Zale so we could eat, when a man I didn't recognize walked into the room. He carried a little silver tray, which held an envelope. When he approached us, he bowed low and said, "Sir Fen, Lady Astrea. A message from Prince Zale."

Sir Fen? Sir? The title fit me funny and Astrea did me the favor of reaching out for the envelope when it became clear I was too awkward and too surprised to take it, myself.

"Thank you," she said with a dismissive wave. The man bowed again and left us.

Astrea opened the envelope and pulled out thick card stock with loopy black writing on it. She rolled her eyes. "Such unnecessary pomp," she muttered even as her eyes scanned the contents. Her brows raised and she passed the letter to me.

"He wants us to have lunch with him and a friend in the public dining room," she said. "Did you know he had friends?"

The question was clearly asked as a joke, but I found myself shaking my head, anyway. I never really thought about it before. Zale never brought up friends and I never asked... was I a terrible bond mate or what?

I was so upset over realizing I must have missed an important part of Zale's life that I almost forgot to worry about eating in a public dining hall. Why couldn't we just eat here? Maybe friends weren't allowed, only family? But I liked this dining room. It was cozy and nice and I never felt judged by anyone.

"We'd better go get dressed," Astrea said, standing and tugging at my elbow.

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, we can't very well go dressed like this."

She gestured to her clothes and I frowned. Astrea wore a white linen dress that was cut to accentuate her meager curves, with a high neckline and a narrow waist and a swishy skirt that looked sort of fun. What was wrong with it? "I think you look pretty," I said.

She got all bashful, but I could tell she was pleased. "Well, regardless, if we're going to be out in public then we should dress smarter."

"Help me?" I pleaded. I still had no concept of how to dress for all the different places and events in Zale's life. Another reason I didn't fit right here.

"Of course! Ugh, I love Zale for bringing you into my life. He'd never let me dress him. You've got to be the world's greatest almost-brother-in-law."

Astrea said the words flippantly, but they made me so happy. "You're going to be a pretty great sister-in-law," I replied, even though the idea of marrying Zale was still weird and unsettled.

She laughed a little and wrapped her fingers around my arm. "Can you take us to my room? We don't have a ton of time."

I didn't know if we were really in that much of a hurry or if Astrea was using this as an excuse to teleport, and I didn't much care either way. I obliged and watched as Astrea dug through her closet at dizzying speeds, pulling out dress after dress until she settled on one that looked almost identical to the one she was already wearing, just with some purple embroidery on it. Did the embroidery make it that much fancier? Really?

But then she switched out her shoes and put on a necklace, then did some kind of twist-and-braid thing to her hair, and I had to admit, it made a big difference. When she was done, she stood in front of the mirror, twirling this way and that and frowning whenever she looked away from her dress and at her face.

"Astrea, you look beautiful," I said sincerely, because she did.

She grimaced at her reflection before her eyes cut away again. "I look like a man playing dress-up."