Tristan nods and quietly slinks away. My eyebrows rise. That was quite a sight. A flipping seven-foot-tall fey princewith antlers, scurrying away from his own rooms because a human twink told him to.
“Ollie, please take a seat and have some tea.”
More tea? After visiting Luci, my stomach is sloshing. But it can’t be helped. I have to bear this intervention and assure them that I’m not crazy for going back to Tristan. I know when my fate is sealed and there is no point in fighting it.
Grimly, I take a seat and brace myself for an interrogation. I still don’t understand why these people give a shit, but they must have their reasons. Complicated, political ones that have nothing to truly do with me at all. I’m sure of it.
“By the Three! Give the poor man a chair!” huffs Dyfri.
I look up in confusion and see Mabon’s enormous pet settling onto the floor by his feet. Mabon’s purple eyes widen.
“But he is just a pet,” he says with a strange inflection in his tone.
Dyfri rolls his eyes.
“I’m just a pet too,” I point out in sudden annoyance.
It is not like me to feel solidarity, but here I am. Sticking up for someone else. How peculiar.
Mabon bites his bottom lip and gestures for a servant to bring a chair. His human clambers up onto it and flashes Dyfri a very happy grin, which the dark-haired fey ignores completely.
What the hell is going on? I glance at Jamie, and to my surprise, he leans in close and whispers in my ear.
“Mabon thinks we don’t know he is madly in love with Blake, and Dyfri used to be scared of Blake, but he is warming up to him.”
It is a struggle to keep my face blank as Jamie moves away from me. Okay, so Blake is the human pet. I think I knew that. The love thing is not at all a surprise. Especially given the way Mabon defended him against Tristan. But why was Dyfri scared of him? It is all still baffling. Just like people always are. It is precisely why I try to stay away from them.
“So,” says Jamie resolutely. “Are you back with Tristan of your own free will?”
Four pairs of eyes are staring at me intently. It is making me squirm. Being the focus of attention is awful.
“Yes,” I mumble uncomfortably.
“Okay. That’s settled,” says Mabon. “Can we go now? I want to get ready for the party.”
Jamie lets out a long-suffering sigh and ignores the prince. He turns to me instead.
“You understand that you can take off his collar and live in Windsor Castle? Or that we can whisk you away somewhere he will never find you?”
“Yes,” I repeat and it sounds sulky to my own ears.
“See, Jamie, the pet is fine. Rhydian did all sorts of unpleasant things to you and you still married him.
I watch with satisfaction as Jamie hastily drops his gaze and turns an impressive shade of red. That’s more like it. Watching other people squirm is far more enjoyable than being the victim.
“And Blake was mean…” Mabon continues before stopping abruptly. “Ah…um…and I still like him.”
Dyfri sits up straighter in his chair. “What did the pet do to you?”
Mabon’s eyes are enormous and his face is very pale. “Um…Nothing. He was simply difficult in the beginning. Like Ollie is.”
Dyfri’s eyes narrow, but he says nothing. Blake’s head is firmly down and his shoulders slumped. Either in defeat or shame, I can’t quite tell. Something is definitely going on.
Jamie is still bright red but now is looking at Mabon with concern in his eyes. But then the human visibly rouses himself and turns his attention back to me. Just my luck.
“Are you really okay?”
His earnest expression is so annoying. I can feel it snapping something inside me.
