“You already asked me that.”
“Different emphasis.” He sipped his drink.
“Ifeelfine.” Were those vents not open, she may have had to beg off their impromptu meeting, but with air flowing freely, she was all right.
“You’refine? You rushed into a burning building, multiple times—and you’re not a watercourser. You literally saved lives, putting yours on the line in the process, and you’refine?”
She shrugged.
The king considered her face for a moment, gaze dropping from her eyes to her mouth and back up again. “I’m not fine.”
“Oh?” Her heart pattered the weirdest jig at his words.So open.
“I thought the fucking sun had risen, only to learn the inn was ablaze. I was consumed with fear that there would be casualties and couldn’t sleep a wink until after the sun was actually up. Why do you think I awoke in such a frenzy and flipped you over, Lady Hevva? Because I’mnotfine. I’m quite shaken up, in fact.” He cocked a brow and tilted his head to the sidein a silent, “Your turn.”
“I let my feelings out straight away with a good cry right there in the yard. Did you not see me?”
“I did.”
When he said nothing else, she continued, “I did not sleep much either. When I did, I dreamt the stairs burned away before I could reach them, and my power ran dry, so I couldn’t make my way to the upper floor. I dreamt of the screaming children.”
“I am sorry, Lady Hevva.” The genuine nature of the statement, the softness in his green eyes, shocked her.
“I don’t feel quite right staying here all day.”
“You’d like to go to the symposium?”
“No. I’m wondering if I can’t be of help at the inn.”
“You cannot.”
She eyed him incredulously.
“There’s nothing to be done.”
“You have to help them!”
“I sent a band of staff down to clean the debris last night. They traded out with fresh mages at dawn who went down to finish the job. I arranged the construction repairs as well. And I remained at the hall today specifically to spend time with those children. These are my people. Of course I have helped them.”
“Oh,” Hevva murmured, taken aback. The revelation struck a chord, fizzling away some of the resentment she held toward him.These are not the actions of a power-hungry king.
They reached for the same strawberry at the same time, but the king gave up his claim. Hevva popped it into her mouth and bit into it boastfully.I win.A bit of juice dribbled down her bottom lip and her tongue darted out to catch it.
He stared at her.
She stared at him. It was a negotiation tactic she’d learned from her father.“Never show your discomfort in uncomfortable silence,”the duke’s words rolled through her mind.
The king topped up his lemonade and took a lengthy sip. “Now, asyou’ve brought up so many times, I do have work to do.” He didn’t stand, merely looked at her pointedly.
Hevva realized she was being dismissed. She held back a petulant huff. Instead, she finished the last of her drink, helped herself to one final bite of cheese, then spun to walk away.
“Countess?”
Hevva decided to pretend she hadn’t heard him as she let her magic loudly swish the decorative reeds.
“Lady Hevva.”
Again, she ignored him.
