To my surprise, Devora spun around, her red hair sweeping over her shoulder at the motion. She raised an eyebrow as Nox gave her his charming smile.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“The drinks. We’ll take two, if you don’t mind,” he said, motioning to the tray.
“And what makes you think I’m serving?”
Nox blinked. “Oh, well, I—I suppose I just assumed?—”
“Yes, you did, didn’t you?” Her blue-green gaze gave him a once-over, and I had to hide a grin behind my hands. Devora glanced at me and said, “Your Majesty, wouldyoulike a drink?”
“I’d love one, Devora. Thanks.” I reached out to take a glass, my hand brushing right past Nox’s bewildered expression.
“Anytime.” With that, she turned on her heel and headed toward a campfire several yards away, where Katrine and a few other women were chatting. I watched as all of them took one of the drinks. Katrine said something that sent the group into laughter. A smile tugged on my lips at the sight of them getting the chance to relax. This island had that effect on people.
“And who isthat?” Nox asked, his eyes still fixed on Devora as she pulled her long hair into a strap of leather, the firelight glinting off her glasses.
“If I tell you, will you tell me what this Hunt thing is?”
“Can’t. I’ve been sworn to secrecy.” He pinched his lips shut with his finger.
I rolled my eyes. “She’s my lady’s maid. And a friend.”
“Well, then, here’s to friends,” he said, holding his cup in the air.
I tapped mine to it. “To friends.”
46
Thorne
“Here, try this,” Galen said, handing me a skewer. “Best fish I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something.”
I took a bite of meat hanging off the edge. He was right—the skin was the perfect crispiness, seasoned with rosemary and a hint of spice. It fell apart in my mouth as I chewed and groaned my approval.
It had been a long time since I’d been to the island. My father used to bring Mother and me when I was a teenager, which was when I met Daelan and Hector. They were several years older than me, but they were still willing to give a scrawny, annoying adolescent the time of day. I was instantly awestruck. They were everything I wanted to be—confident, untroubled, likeable without even trying. An air of lax importance that made others respect them and want to be their friend at the same time. Their father was the Regent Lord of the Island Territory back then, so they would often visit the North Territory when meeting with King Orion. The two of them, Galen, and I became instant friends.
It was always like this when we saw each other again. Laid-back, indulgent, burdenless. Laughing and drinking around a fire like nothing had changed.
But this time, something was different. This time, all four of usbore titles and positions of power we hadn’t before. And this time, we had secrets we couldn’t share.
Too much was on the line, and there were too few people I trusted after multiple assassination attempts and all the other strange incidents. I thought Galen knew the urgency of the situation. I thought he understood how careful he needed to be to get through the rest of this tour, considering not twenty-four hours ago, he was seizing on the floor with poison coursing through his veins. But tonight…
“I’ll take another, beautiful,” he slurred to the woman passing by on his right. She and a couple other islanders had been bringing him drinks all evening. I’d lost count of how many he’d downed.
Perhaps things hadn’t changed as much as I thought.
“Galen, you might want to slow down,” I muttered.
“Why? We’re on island time now,” he said. “If someone’s gonna try to poison me again, at least it’ll taste good.” He threw an arm out wide to grab his fresh drink. His sleeves had ridden up his forearm a couple inches, exposing bronze skin that had me instantly flinching away.
“Because you get careless when you’re drunk,” I hissed, pointing to his skin.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not drunk.”
“Trust me, friend. You’re drunk,” Daelan said as he swung his arm over Galen’s shoulders. I tensed, then relaxed a fraction when the high collar Galen always wore held true, blocking Daelan’s skin from touching his. During Galen’s drunken stupors, I had to constantly be on alert.
A glorified babysitter. Except thebabywas a grown king who could kill someone with a single touch.
