Horns sounded, drowning out Florina’s sigh. The crowd let out a cheer, and everyone jostled each other as they headed toward the trees. I put a hand on Emmeline’s arm to keep us from getting separated.
The hunt had begun.
Chapter 20
Valen
Some people sprinted headlong into the forest, while others moved at a more reasonable pace. Those who could shapeshift into hawks or wolves set out on wings or paws. Quite a few people had already passed out drunk or were vomiting.
I waited for the crowd to thin, took a lantern from an attendant, and led Emmeline into the trees. We walked for about five minutes before I found a small clearing. Soft-looking clover covered the smooth ground, and a few glowing flowers grew around a fallen log.
I took a seat, set down the lantern alongside my bow and arrow, and gestured for her to join me.
Her eyebrows rose, but she flopped easily onto the ground beside me. “I guess we’re not hunting the stag?”
“We’re not venturing any farther with those drunken idiots shooting arrows everywhere,” I said. “And no, I don’t want to win the hunt.”
“Too much attention?”
“Precisely.”
Emmeline stretched, leaning back and gazing up at the branches rustling lightly in the wind. She looked much more relaxed than she had at the party, the lantern casting a golden glow upon her face. My thoughts went back to the picnic and our kiss—a necessary ruse, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t enjoyed it. And by the way she’d kissed back, she was either an excellent actress or had enjoyed it, too.
Shewasan excellent actress, though. I’d just seen her lean forward to listen with apparent rapt attention to the most tedious blathering, heard her laugh musically at horrible jokes. Had she faked the passion in our kiss, too? I had no reason to think she wanted me. Our entire relationship was a lie.
“I wish we could just stay out here,” she said. “It’s so much nicer than making polite chitchat with those snooty, two-faced popinjays.”
“They’re not all snooty, two-faced popinjays.” I paused. “Just most of them.”
She tugged on the skirt of her dress. “Why do you go to these things, anyway? Before we met, I mean. You obviously hate them.”
I’d found it much more bearable with her at my side.
“They’re informative,” I said.
Besides Aristoph blabbering his family’s designs on the throne (which I would definitely pass on to the queen), Lord Gallvien had made comments hinting that he’d joined the expansionist faction. The chief falconer had snuck off into the forest partway through the party with a painter who wasn’t her husband, which I could use as potential blackmail. And House Muzikune wastrying to show a united front in public, but I’d caught the rigid postures and backhanded compliments. They were still feuding over who would inherit the lordship, and one of the potential heirs was Regula’s lackey.
I wished the queen had ordered me to poison Regula years ago, before the princess had amassed so much power. For all her wisdom, Queen Verena faltered at ordering her own sister’s death. I suppose I understood more than I’d like to admit. Despite what Drudon had become, I still reminisced about when he’d let me win games as children just to make me happy. He used to comfort me after nightmares and fight the bully down the street who tried to push me around. Could I kill him if it became necessary? I’d killed better people for less, but it wasn’t the same as spilling my own family’s blood.
My gaze went to Emmeline again. If it came to protecting her from Drudon... I would kill him without hesitation.
Loud laughter carried through the trees, the forest’s natural silence filled with a multitude of voices and the crunch of undergrowth getting trampled. The stag was going to run to the dark side of the moon to escape this racket.
Emmeline plucked a flower and twirled it in her fingers. “What if someone spots us just sitting here?”
“We fake a dalliance. We won’t be the only ones who’ve given up hunting for more amorous pursuits.”
The flower she was fidgeting with stopped moving. “Like at the picnic.”
Her voice held an edge that made my stomach sink. We’d never talked about the kiss. Discussing the threat Drudon posed had seemed more important. Emmeline hadn’t brought it up, and I... I’d been too much of a coward to speak of it. Dwelling in dreams and wishes was easier than facing the truth.
I was supposed to be gaining her trust for the heist, not developing feelings of my own for her. How had my careful plans gotten so twisted up?
“Drudon was watching,” I said. “And our conversation was straying into risky territory. I had to put on an act.”
“I know, but I don’t have to like it.”
Her words hit me like punches. Of course she hadn’t liked it. I was a cruel scoundrel who’d manipulated her into helping me. She didn’t want my affections, didn’t want me touching and tasting her, and I was a fool to delude myself into hoping otherwise.
