“Can I bring my flowers?”
“Yes. Bring all your flowers.”
I took his hand and started walking away, eyes burning with tears I refused to let fall.
“Mama,” Killian said, looking back over his shoulder. “Papa looks really sad.”
“I know.”
“Can we make him a flower crown? To make him happy?”
My chest squeezed. “Maybe later.”
“Flower crowns make everyone happy. Even when they’re fighting.”
Behind us, I could hear voices. A deeply amused one.
“You’re an idiot.”
I glanced back to see Aurion had materialized out of nowhere, eating an apple and looking entirely too entertained by his brother’s suffering.
“I KNOW,” Mal’s voice carried across the garden.
“I was just asking if she was alright,” Torin said, sounding baffled.
“He knows,” Aurion said around a bite of apple. “He’s just stupid when he’s jealous.”
“I am not jealous!”
“Sure. And I’m a virgin.”
Their voices faded as I walked further away, Killian chattering beside me about whether we could have a snack when we got inside because finding twelve flowers was very hard work.
I focused on his voice and his hand in mine. No matter what else was falling apart, no matter what secrets Mal had kept or what I apparently was or wasn’t, I still had my son and his twelve extremely important purple flowers.
Small victories.
7
— • —
Mal
I looked like death. Felt even worse. And according to my brother, who was currently lounging in my study like he owned the place, I deserved every miserable moment of it. Didn’t he have a fucking kingdom of his own to rule?
“You look terrible,” Aurion said helpfully, eating what appeared to be someone’s breakfast pastry. Probably mine. “Have you tried groveling?”
I glared at him from where I sat behind my desk, reviewing guard rotations for the third time that morning. Extra security everywhere. Doubled patrols. The kingdoms were still angry about Killian’s powers, and I was not taking any chances with my family’s safety.
Even if my mate currently hated me.
“I do not know how to grovel properly,” I admitted. “Don’t know if it will be enough this time.”
Aurion nearly choked on his pastry. “That’s why you’re sleeping alone.”
“I am not sleeping alone. I am sleeping in my study.”
“Even sadder.”
