When I opened my eyes, he was gaping at me.
“Who is he?” he asked because I hadn’t let him know his name. I’d told him what had happened between us but not who he was.
“It doesn’t matter,” I answered.
“Olympia,” Luca stepped forward.
“You asked why I lost control that day. As foolish as it is, that’s why. It doesn’t matter now. It didn’t matter then.”
He frowned but I just turned and opened the door. I made my way out of his House back to mine, silently grateful he hadn’t chosen to continue the conversation through the bond. Harrison wasn’t his business because Harrison didn’t matter. He was just a boy from the Third Ring who’d looked at me in a way that made me feel something I hadn’t expected. But now he hated meand whatever hadn’t even begun was over. It meant nothing. It was nothing. I would never think about it again.
Or so I vowed.
Chapter Fifteen
Milo
“Good news,” Paxon announced as he strode into my bedroom. “No one involved in the ceremony woke up this morning with a black bar on their forehead.”
“That’s good news?” Olympia asked, raising a brow from the corner where she sat in an armchair, feet kicked up on an ottoman, flipping a knife in the air and catching it.
Paxon scowled at her but I merely grinned and focused on fastening my cufflinks. It was the fanciest suit I’d ever worn. Sky blue and shimmering via the metallic silver thread woven throughout, it fit me well, a fact I could attribute to the Third Ringers who’d taken my measurements weeks ago the moment Nascha had announced Raghnall’s agreement and my impending nuptials.
Now the day had come, as quickly as I’d expected for it only having been planned a few weeks out. I hadn’t reached out to Isla again for anything outside of a quick question or check in from time to time. Both of us had been busy with preparations, her even more so than me since Raghnall’s agreement had come with the added issue of declaring her Heir. Politics withinHouse Lynx had been roiling ever since and she only had a few moments to spare from time to time to ask me about flower preferences or feast options.
“Is it in poor taste to have a wedding of this magnitude on the same morning as the Culling?” I asked too late, glancing back at Paxon and Olympia.
“Raghnall thinks it symbolizes your alignment with the Geist’s will,” Pax replied.
“Raghnall is an idiot,” Olympia grumbled.
“Besides, you’re already married anyway,” Pax continued, stepping up to straighten my tie. “You and Isla signed the papers days ago. The ceremony is a formality, as is the following feast, and then…”
He trailed off, eyes flicking up to meet mine.
“Do you need any pointers about where to stick it on the wedding night?” Olympia asked with a wicked grin. “Aim between her legs and you should be fine.”
I rolled my eyes as Pax audibly choked and moved away.
“It will be binding after the consummation,” Paxon said in an overly formal tone.
Olympia just rolled her eyes behind him and went back to flipping her knife.
“Have you heard from Luca?” I asked, watching her warily. Isla’s cousin didn’t seem the sort to hold a grudge or plot revenge but I wanted to be certain we were entering into this arrangement aware of any potential complications.
“I have,” Olympia replied unhelpfully.
“How is he?”
“Fine.”
“Olympia,” I sighed.
“Bummed he won’t be Heir but happy for Isla,” she finally admitted, dropping the knife to glare at me. “He isn’t so sure how he feels about you yet.”
“Put in a good word for me?”
She shrugged, noncommittal, and I had to refrain from sighing again. My cousin was at her best when she was being her worst. Instead, I focused on straightening my sleeves and preparing myself for the task I’d been most nervous for all morning.
