“Never,” I replied, unable to keep myself from grinning. “I only want honest confessions from your mouth.” The words slipped out before I could think better of it. Both of our eyes travelled to the almost empty glass of whisky on the table.
“Are you drunk before eleven o’clock in the morning?”
“I believe that’s ‘are you drunk before eleven o’clock in the morning,Your Highness?’” I drawled out the title, unable to help myself.
After what happened in Norrandale, the past few months in the palace had been dreary and depressing at best. There were no social events, no parties or revelry of any kind. Most daysI spent in utter boredom. In fact, this was the most exciting conversation I’d had in weeks.
Gwen did not think I was being funny at all. Her face held nothing but annoyance at me. When she didn’t respond, I gestured to the glass. “Would you like a drink?”
“No, thank you,” she said quickly.
“You don’t drink?”
Gwen shrugged. “My father and brother are both fond of the bottle. No good ever came from it.” Clearly not.
“You know—” I took a sip, returning to my comfortably reclined position — “I do feel as though I’m being judged here somehow.”
“And what right would I have to judge a prince?” Gwen’s tone brimmed with sarcasm.
“You tell me. What gives you the moral high ground, Lady Gwen?”
She scoffed, looking away from me to shake her head. “You haven’t changed one bit, have you?”
“Well, you know what they say.” I gestured to myself. “You can’t improve perfection.”
Gwen clenched her jaw to prevent herself from saying whatever it was she felt impelled to say. She took a step back.
“Of course not, Your Highness.” Gwen disguised her mocking with polite words. “I’d better be on my way, then.”
“Do send my regards to my future brother-in-law.” I knew that she would do no such thing.
Gwen was halfway out the door when I called her name. She looked over her shoulder.
“I hope you’ll change your mind and join me for a drink sometime.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”
Chapter 5
Elara
A crow shrieked in the distance, and I crossed my arms to keep from shivering, despite all my warm layers of clothing. The air was cold enough that I could see my own breath. I stared at the gravestone that was inscribed with Ray’s name. Members of the royal family were usually buried in the crypts beneath the palace and there was a cemetery in town, but I knew if Ray could choose, he wouldn’t want to be buried in any of those places.
Ray loved the forest. His life was the forest.
I never got the chance to give my friend a proper funeral. But I was grateful that, at the very least, his body now rested in a place he would have wanted.
I had arranged for a grave to be dug on the outskirts of the forest with a heavy marble gravestone resting on top.
Ray would have probably said it was too extravagant. I smiled at the thought.
With my gloved hands, I placed a bunch of daisies on top of the grave. Part of me was reluctant to believe that it was my oldest friend lying there beneath the earth. It didn’t feel real. None of what we were going through felt real. So much had changed in so little time.
“Oh, Ray.” Just saying his name out loud created a pang in my chest. “How did we find ourselves here?”
I brushed a few stray leaves away from the gravestone. “Everything is such a mess and it feels like I have nobody to talk to,” I confessed. “The situation is so dire, and everyone is looking at me for answers.” The council was rushing me for a decision — all while, in the back of my mind, I knew I could be expendable as well.
“I need Cai more than ever and he can’t even look at me.” My voice cracked a little and I sniffed in the cold winter air. My eyes wandered to the trees around me and into the distance where the forest grew deeper. It was entering its annual slumber — I could feel it. I couldn’t even hear the birds singing anymore.
