“I thought you were his mate,” Fawn replied defensively. “Until I saw your ears. I didn’t know it was possible for a fae to have human mates, especially not a royal.”
“I don’t know how it’s possible,” Amelia said, deciding not to be offended, “but he’s written me letters since we were thirteen. His friend, Finn, delivered them.”
“And you’re positive there was no mix up?” Fawn asked.
Amelia decided she was offended, after all. “He can feel my emotions, even when I lived in the Human Kingdom.”
“This is the best news I’ve heard in a while.” Amusement bounced in Fawn’s almond-shaped eyes. “The thought of Miss Ora as queen makes me want to move. She is horrid.”
“I think so too,” Amelia grumbled. “Rennick sent me gifts, and Ora helped him pick them out. They were awful.” She jumped up and dashed to the dressing room, retrieved the baby-shit-green boots, and rushed back, holding them up. “Look at these!”
Fawn’s hand slapped over her mouth to suppress her laughter, but the crinkling beside her eyes gave her away.
Amelia deposited the boots on the floor and sat down with a groan. “You should see the dresses. I knew she couldn’t be as wonderful as he made her out to be.”
“She treats the staff like servants when the king isn’t around,” Fawn informed bitterly. “Yet, if he is present, she’s so sweet you’d think she shits cupcakes. Everyone hates her, but no one dares say a word about the king’s best friend.”
“Best friend?” Amelia clenched her fists. “I thought Finn was his best friend.”
Fawn pressed her lips together, her face full of sympathy. “They both are.”
Amelia pushed down the emotion building in her throat. “He called her princess and told her I was just a friend.”
Fawn looked indignant on her behalf. “Why?”
Amelia sagged against the back of her chair, but Fawn’s hand clasped hers on the table with a reassuring squeeze. “If he brought you here, she is no threat to you. The king I’ve seen is not a deceptive one. He is a good ruler who treats everyone as equals, even his staff. He ensures his people are fed, housed, and supplied with everything they need, despite their financial status.”
Amelia’s heart warmed to hear Rennick’s people speak highly of him, but memories from earlier doused it with ice. “He might have changed his mind about me since this morning.”
Gods, to think she’d traveled to the Mountain Kingdom, met Ora, possibly ruined her relationship with Rennick, and ate dinner with Fawn in just a day.
Fawn stood and gathered their mostly empty plates. “I doubt it. You’re his mate.”
“We were being intimate earlier,” she began, halting Fawn mid stride. “He told me he loved me, and I ruined it.”
Fawn set down the dishes on the cart and looked her way. “You do not love him?”
“I think I do.” Amelia rubbed her forehead, trying to find the right words. “I told myself I couldn’t love someone through letters alone, having never met them.” She sighed. “But in person, he’s the same but more, in the best way.”
Saying it out loud sounded worse.
After Fawn wiped down the table, she took a seat and leaned back. “I don’t think so. You said he’s the same as his letters, and if you fell in love with his letters, it stands to reason you fell in love with the man, too. The more is merely a bonus.” She paused in thought for a moment. “How far would you go to make him happy?”
Without hesitation, Amelia responded, “As far as it takes.”
“Most people don’t do whatever it takes for someone they don’t love,” Fawn said with a tinge of sadness. “You’re thinking too hard about what youshouldfeel instead of what youdofeel.”
Amelia nodded, her thoughts eating at her. Her heart physically hurt, and whenever she thought of him, it became hard to breathe. “I hate that he’s somewhere hurting because of me, and I don’t know where to find him to make it right.”
“He’ll be back once he cools off,” Fawn assured her. “It will give you time to think of a plan to make it up to him.”
Amelia hoped she was right.
The next morning, Amelia paced the length of their sitting room, having not heard from Rennick since last night. What if it was too late to fix her mistake?
The green boots mocked her when she stepped into their dressing room. Had he run to Ora yesterday? He’d saved hisvirginity for Amelia, but what if she’d driven him into another woman’s arms?
“No,” she spoke into the empty room. The man she knew wasn’t so fickle as to run to another woman that quickly.
