The Art of Blood and Power (Book 2 in The Gifted Trilogy)

2- Old Memories

With the weight of more than a hundred speculating gazes on me, I managed a smile, following Kess down the stairs despite the urge to run in the opposite direction. His arm steadied me as I almost tripped over the lace at the end of my ridiculous dress.

"You're the heathen that picked this dress out for me, aren't you?" I accused him, keeping the smile on my face as I shot daggers at him with my eyes.

Maintaining a gracious smile of his own, Kess whispered back, "Well, I wanted to have at least a little bit of fun tonight" he admitted, looking over the pale pink dress with humor in his eyes. "The color screams 'don't worry, I won't kill you in your sleep' which I think is a refreshing change for you."

"You are so lucky there are witnesses around right now" I threatened him as we reached the bottom of the stairs and he turned towards me, bowing with an outstretched hand. I put my hand in his in what I hoped to be a graceful gesture as an orchestra of violins started to play. Kess wrapped his other hand around my waist and we began to dance around the ballroom, the eyes of every guest glued on us.

The attention was almost enough to make me freeze in place as a spike of hot discomfort traveled up my chest. I focused on taking deep breaths and avoiding their eyes by training my attention on Kess's shoulder.

You're not doing this for you, I reminded myself, focusing on the clarity of the thought. You're here to help keep up appearances. The more you appear to still be the powerless Garner Champion, the more they will continue to underestimate you.

The hundreds of nobles invited were meant to reaffirm what they saw tonight to whoever might ask. They would paint the story we intended them to tell, which was that the Garner Champion was nothing more than a silly girl in a ridiculous dress that spent her time dancing and giggling with the young new king. Though it was unprecedented to have the Garner end with only one Champion, how could anyone possibly see the naive smiling girl as any sort of threat to the current hierarchy of power?

One thing Kess and I could agree on was that being underestimated was preferable to the alternative.

After I forced out a giggle for the third time, Kess lowered his head so that nobody could read his lips. "You might be overplaying the whole 'ditzy girl' routine a little bit, Silvertongue."

"Maybe you're just underplaying the role of Naturian's most eligible bachelor, Your Majesty" I replied before he swung me away and I twirled back into his arms. "If you truly want to fool everyone into believing you're as carefree as they think you are, you might want to turn on the Kesserian charm a little bit more."

He lifted an eyebrow. "The Kesserian charm?" he asked humorously.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about," I said, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "Just make sure to flatter anything here with a pulse."

As the song ended, the people around us clapped politely before grabbing their own dancing partners and joining in as the music picked up again. "Starting with that bunch over there" I subtly tilted my head towards a clump of young women who were giggling behind their hands while batting their lashes at Kess.

"If that is what I must do for the sake of my kingdom" he deadpanned, looking as if he were about to march into a battlefield rather than a group of blushing girls. "Then my honor demands I shall."

"You're an idiot" I snorted before pushing Kess towards the girls. "Remember, turn on the Kesserian charm, and if any of them offer you an apple, don't take it."

He gave me a mock salute before turning away and heading towards the young women, causing a fit of giggles and blushing to occur as each pretended not to notice Kess until he was standing in front of them.