The irony wasn’t lost on me that I was still a virgin. Dance wasn’t my only specialty. I was quite the actor as well.
I’d meant to sneak away with Cadmi. She was high on the list. But Pervinca was even higher, and I wasn’t one to ignore an opportunity. She wasn’t number one, but if I played things right, I might strike a chord that echoed all the way to the top. That’s where the name Crispin Maglen, Earl of Ashcraw, resided all high and mighty. He’d always be at the top. Somehow, I knew there was no taking him down. Not unless I fell with him.
“Fine,” Pervinca said pertly. “It’s getting overcrowded in here. How many invitations did your aunt send out? She ought to be more selective. I hardly recognize half the cretins flouncing around the ballroom. A party starts to feel less exclusive the more civilians you allow in, you know.”
I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. How could Crispin stand her? Probably why he was drinking.
I needed to get Miss Prissy Pants out of the ballroom before he noticed and stopped us. Some busybody could report seeing us leave together a little later. I wished I could see his face when he got slapped with that juicy broadcast.
“Let’s not tarry,” I said, ushering Pervinca along. But Pervinca wasn’t one to be rushed. No, she had to sweep out of the ballroom like a damn Disney princess.
Maybe I didn’t need to mess with Crispin. Pervinca Peppercuff was probably punishment enough. A lifetime of misery. My heart dropped as a well of sorrow opened inside my chest. I felt as though I might trip and fall into it, then drown in the endless waters below.
I lifted my chin. Resolute. No. I should definitely mess with him. He needed to suffer, at least a little, for ripping my heart in half before I even realized I had a heart for the breaking.
Pervinca prattled on beside me the entire walk to the private courtyard. It was dark when we stepped outside. If I’d known I would snag Pervinca Peppercuff, I would have lit the lanterns ahead of time. Instead, I called fire into my palm. As the fire lit, so too did Pervinca’s eyes. Her lips parted.
“It’s true, then. You have elemental powers.”
“Among other qualities,” I said.
I moved around the courtyard, lighting each lantern with my fingertips. Firelight glowed over the stone benches, fountains, and trim shrubbery. I walked over to the stone statue Uncle Liri had commissioned in my likeness. It was life-size and nude. I leaned one arm against it and asked, “What do you think?”
Pervinca’s layers of tulle swished with her when she walked over, stopping in front of the statue. She looked it up and down, openly staring at the generous carving of the genitals.
“If you wish to compare, I’d be happy to oblige,” I offered. I hooked one thumb under the band of my Speedo and snapped it against my hip bone.
Pervinca took her eyes off the statue and narrowed them at me. “I can see quite enough as it is,” she said pertly. “I’m not one of your naïve conquests, Prince Lark. I know all about your game of luring ladies to private quarters then attempting to seduce them.”
Smirking, I let go of the statue and folded my arms just below the gold chain. “Then why did you come here with me?”
Pervinca pushed several curls over her shoulder and lifted her nose. Just when I thought she couldn’t act more superior, she stretched that particular appendage to new heights. “Curiosity,” she informed me. “I wanted to see you in action. I must say I thought you’d be more charming.”
“If you wanted charming, you’d be toasting flutes of bubbling wine with your bore of a boyfriend, the earl.” I showed my teeth when I smiled.
Pervinca pursed her lips.
“You have your entire life to live a boring, proper existence, Pervinca. Don’t you want to live a little for one night?” I lifted my chin, higher than her nose. “Don’t you want to be ravished by a prince?”
She shivered slightly. It wasn’t cold out. Dahlquist was rarely cold.
Pressing my luck, I moved one hand to my heart and looked at her in earnest. “I promise I won’t tell a soul, upon my honor.”
“Upon your promise,” Pervinca corrected. She grinned. “If I were to grant you such favors, it would have nothing to do with your supposed honor.”
I shrugged. “Is that a yes?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Sky, she was aggravating, but she wasn’t storming away, either.
It was fitting to do this here in the castle courtyard. I still remembered the day Crispin had wandered in while his parents spoke to my fathers in the throne room about boring matters of the realm. I’d been twelve at the time. My brothers were still children, off in the nursery. I had a basketball from the human world that I was bouncing around the courtyard, practicing my dribbling and spinning the ball on the tip of my finger.
When Crispin sauntered in, tall and confident, my heart had leaped at the possibility of a new friend, especially one so beautiful. He had a long, elegant face and proud way of carrying himself. Even as a boy, he’d worn his hair in a long ponytail tied back with a silk ribbon.
“Hi, I’m Lark,” I’d said. “Who are you?”
“Crispin Maglen, Earl of Ashcraw.”
I swear I was a goner the moment I heard his voice. There was something magnificent and breathtaking about his arrogance.
“Do you want to play ball with me, Crispin?” I’d asked eagerly.
He’d sneered at me. “Do you really think I’d be caught dead playing with the likes of you?”
“The likes of me?” I’d repeated, feeling as though I’d just been pushed.
“A halfling. The son of a liar. The offshoot of an elf. Shall I go on, halfling?” He’d smiled cruelly, looking more delighted with each ugly insult he flung at me.
There were so many words I would have liked to have said if I could go back in time. Instead, I’d looked at him with a trembling chin, tears spilling from my eyes. There was no blinking them away. I swear they splashed out, adding to my humiliation. I expected Crispin to either apologize or laugh. (Laugh, most likely.) But he sneered again, drawing back as though I’d developed a case of the pox that he didn’t want to catch.
“Boo-hoo. I made the halfling cry.” His upper lip curled. “Pathetic.”
His voice hadn’t sounded attractive. As he spun on his heel and strode away, I’d vowed then and there that one day I would make Crispin pay for his cruelty.
A promise was a promise. What better place to seduce his intended than in the courtyard where he’d stomped on my heart?
Dropping my gaze to Pervinca’s lips, I took a step forward.
“Have you ever kissed a male with fire magic?” I asked. I called my powers to me, controlling flames that danced over my chest.
Pervinca took a wide step backward. “You’ll burn me,” she hissed.
Her sour expression nearly extinguished my fire. I didn’t want to show her this part of me. It felt too personal. But I was determined to at least get a kiss. Had Crispin kissed those pert lips of hers? No. I couldn’t think about that.
I concentrated on sending the flames licking up my neck. I opened my mouth and drew it all back in, then smiled. “I promise not to burn you.”
Pervinca huffed. “You make a lot of promises.”