“Oh, and she’s in love with Andre.”
His comment was so careless that I almost didn’t believe him. Except I could see my flustered sister just across the corridor. She nervously pushed her glasses up her nose and tried to meet Andre’s eyes by staring at her feet.
A small laugh escaped me. “You don’t say?”
“My brother is in love with her too,” he continued in a confident whisper. “But for as long as she’s stayed with us, she was promised to Alexi.”
“Promised to Alexi?” His expression told me to keep my voice down, but he was a wealth of information I did not know to expect.
“It’s why my father agreed to take her in. I think he thought he could make a play for the Seat of Power if she married his eldest son. But then you showed up, and my father realized you’re the better choice.” He cleared his throat. “As far as power goes.”
“Was it made official?”
He shook his head. “More like expected. My father is nothing if not opportunistic.”
“And Alexi?”
“Just like him.”
“What about Andre?”
His narrow mouth split into a grin. “He takes after my mother.”
Across the hallway, Andre tugged at his collar while we waited for Ravanna to appear. “Why are you telling me all this? Surely your father would be unhappy if he knew what an... open book you are.”
He smiled wider, and I felt a pang of endearment. “Katrinka was the best thing that has ever happened to my family. My father is a very serious king. And this kingdom is no less severe. With her love of books and muddy walks along the moors, Katrinka disrupted the natural order of things.”
“You love her.” I could not believe this. “Truly.”
“No,” he argued, throwing his hands in the air and pulling furtive glances from his brothers.
It was my turn to smile. “Not like,” I dropped my voice, “Andre. But you do. As a sister. A friend perhaps? But yes, this is clearly love.”
He rolled his eyes and tugged at the hem of his tunic, straightening something that did not need straightening. “Love is not a concept we promote in Barstus. In case you haven’t figured that out by our decorative demons. Fear, yes. Loathing, of course. But we do not love.”
Except hadn’t he just told me Andre was in love with my sister? “Of course. Obviously.”
He hummed a disgruntled noise.
“Speaking of your, er, decorative demons. Are they truly cursed?”
“Cursed?” He huffed a laugh. “Cursed to be ugly perhaps.”
“I didn’t mean cursed. I meant... spelled. Or enchanted?”
“Oh, you mean the goblin wind. It’s a myth. Nothing more.”
“Your maids seem to think it’s real.”
“Yes, the maids. But aren’t all maids superstitious? Anything to perpetuate gossip.”
I had found that to be true. But still, I had felt a chill the moment we crossed the border into Barstus. Even now, I wished for my warmest cloak and hot stones for my feet. “So you don’t believe Katrinka is full of black magic?”
He laughed outright again. It was an easy, lighthearted sound for someone brought up without love. “Katrinka? You’re serious? She once fell down a set of stairs by simply trying to walk down them.” I must have made a horrified face because he quickly added, “It was a small set of stairs. And she only suffered a twisted ankle. Nothing more serious.”
Nothing more serious. Was he serious? “So you don’t believe in the goblins?”
His smile turned into a weary sigh. “I believe my father uses them to play power games with the nobles. And I believe Katrinka is too sweet and good-hearted to be twisted with black magic. And I think you are too smart a princess to believe gossip by maids.”
