“Not sureIknow,” Teddy said after a long silence.
His father laughed. “You know. Gods, it seems like you’ve inherited my timing.” He grinned widely.
Teddy rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. He remembered the way his mind had flashed to her when he was thrashing in the tub, trying to fight off the assassin.
His father studied him. “Not like you to be so lacking in composure or focus.”
“Not like me to fall in love with the most infuriating woman in the two kingdoms.”
Xander laughed. “Yes, well. It will keep you on your toes. I’m glad you found someone who is a better fit than Grace.”
Teddy stared at him. “You knew Grace was unhappy?”
His father shook his head. “No, I can’t take credit. It was your Uncle Evan. He sees all—knows all. You know how he is.”
Teddy slumped into his seat as the mortification settled in. “He could have just told me.”
“You needed to hear it from Grace. She can be a little more reserved about her feelings—more like Evan than Sylvie in that regard, at least.” Xander leaned over and clapped a hand on Teddy’s shoulder. “Look, it’s good to have something or someone to fight for, but you must know that Endros will test you with it in the final challenge. I hope you’re ready for that.”
“I’m certain I’m not. Stella saved me out there. I had a cord around my neck and all I could think was how to protect her. Whatan idiotic thought—” Teddy choked on the knot in his throat. He’d let one admission slip, and now it was as if every secret he’d ever kept was trying to claw its way out at once.
He’d been so worried about the tournament, but what if Stella was the thing he couldn’t survive?
His father offered a knowing smile. “She gives you hope. That’s a valuable thing at a time like this. Probably the most valuable thing. Dying is easy, Ted. It’s the living that’s hard.”
Teddy looked at his father and thought of the horrible memory that he’d needed to give back to Endros. “I’m sorry you had to relive that night.”
Xander swallowed and pursed his lips. “I’m sorry you had to see it.”
Teddy looked down, rolling the golden liquid around in the glass. “I shouldn’t have assumed that you make choices like that lightly.”
“He would have hurt Cece no matter what I did. The choice I made was to let her know I was willing to sacrifice her. She wanted me to?—”
“I know. You don’t have to explain?—”
His father held up a hand. “I do.” He cleared his throat. “Until that point, I was still sure there was a way I could get out of this role. I didn’t want the responsibility and gods know that I never had the temperament for it. Still don’t. But I’ve learned. But you are the best of your mother, thank the gods. And the best of Isla. And I like to think that you’re even the best of me, though I put that in third place because that’s absolutely where it belongs.”
Teddy smiled.
“You have your mother’s temperance and she is not so well mastered as you think,” Xander said with an affectionate smile. “Jess struggles with it still. She always has, but she learned, as you have, how to control it so that she could rule and make a difference. I like to think you have my sense of fortitude, to keep pushing no matter how others doubt you. But you have Isla’s sense of strategy and patience. She never knew when to quit on a lost cause—” He cleared his throat again. “Well, I suppose that’s not the case anymore.”
Teddy winced. “That’s not true.”
His father grinned and winked. “No, it’s not.”
A knock on the door startled them. Xander rose to answer it.
Teddy crossed his arms, trying to compose himself. “Any advice? From one heir to another?”
His father paused with his hand on the doorknob and smiled sadly over his shoulder. “Don’t lose.”
He pulled the door open and Alexandra stormed in, her golden eyes narrowed on Teddy. She was wearing her leather armor, and her long hair was sweaty, strands that had slipped out of her braid stuck to the back of her neck as if she’d been training.
“Alexandra, to what do we owe the pleasure at this late hour?” their father asked.
She crossed the room and poured herself a glass of whiskey. “I need to speak to Teddy.” She sat down in the chair their father had vacated and glared at Teddy.
Xander arched a brow. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” He paused in the doorway. “Alexandra?”
