“Don’t cry yet,” I say, then pick up a pastry. “We’ll see if she actually makes good on that offer.”
She reaches out to poke me in the arm. “That’s not why I’m crying!”
“Why are you crying?” I demand.
“Because ofyou!” she says.
“Why on earth are you crying because ofme?”
Karri looks at Olive across the table, who also looks the tiniest bit misty-eyed. But Olive simply looks back at her. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet.”
“What?” I demand.
“Tessa, my dear friend.” Karri reaches out and puts a hand over mine. “You are going to make a great queen.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Corrick
Two months after we arrive, we’re given word that we are able to return to the Royal Sector. The east wing of the palace is now habitable, though the central portion and the west wing will take at least a year of repairs.
Lochlan and Karri have been staying with us in Consul Beeching’s manor, but when servants begin packing to return to the Royal Sector, I’m surprised to hear from Tessa that Lochlan and Karri are planning to return to their small apartment in Artis.
I go to find Lochlan, and he’s loading his own belongings into a trunk.
“The servants would have gotten to your quarters,” I tell him.
He snorts. “I don’t needservants.”
“Well, they would have.” I pause. “Are you really not moving to the palace?”
“I don’t belong in the palace.” He gestures around the room. “Ireally didn’t belonghere. I shouldn’t have stayed this long, but I was worried these people were going to tear you apart.”
“Oh, they’re still going to try.”
“I know.” He studies me. “But you’re on your feet now.” He pauses. “Your Majesty.”
I’m still not used to it. The title tugs at me in a way that hurts.
I wonder if it did that to Harristan after our father died. I wonder if it will ever stop.
I cross my arms and lean against the doorway. “How will you keep up your studies?”
It’s a genuine question. When he determined to stay, I hired him a tutor the very next day.
Lochlan looks back at the things he’s packing. “Karri will help me. You don’t need to keep paying someone.”
“I didn’t mind.”
He says nothing to that, and silence builds between us for a while.
Eventually, I break it. “Do you really want to leave?”
He scoffs. “I already told you. I don’t belong there.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
His hands go still on his belongings. “You’ve done enough for me. I can go back to my job in the forges and stop making a fool of myself in front of all these people.”
