RHYSAND
The party was already testing my patience.
Everything about it was overly extravagant, gilded columns, chandeliers dripping with crystals, people dressed like they were all trying to outshine each other.
I leaned against a marble pillar at the edge of the ballroom, sipping from a glass of wine I didn’t even want. It was all politics and pretense.
“This is the dumbest thing I’ve been forced to attend in weeks,” I muttered.
Kage stood beside me, arms crossed, smirking. “You say that every time you have to come to one of these. But why should we throw a party for her?”
I shook my head.
“Ask my uncle.”
He snorted but didn’t argue. He knew better.
Before I could say more, I noticed a pair of council members making their way toward me, Derek and Mireen, both older, both infu
