Alvana paused to look at us. I could see the indecision hovering on her face. “The King wants us to proceed as fast as possible, but I suppose he'd agree that the Valorian needs to be presentable as well. All right, I'll see you in the morning.”
“Thank you,” I said to Alvana, but I gave Tae a look to let him know that I meant it for him as well.
“Of course, my sweet boy,” she said blithely, making me grimace at her back again after she turned away.
Tae snickered once more.
“Shut up,” I hissed at him.
“My sweet boy,” he whispered in my ear, making it sound naughty.
I rolled my eyes. Thankfully, he didn't say any more until we were in his carriage, riding away from the Falcon Academy. Unfortunately, he'd been saving up and came out swinging.
“Someone has a crush on you.” Taeven waggled his brows at me.
“Who, Alvana?” I asked in horror. “No, she doesn't.”
“Yes, she does,mysweet boy,” he drawled. “I'm calling you that in bed tonight.”
“You had better not!” I pointed at him.
“Or what?”
“Or . . . I will . . .”
“Yes?”
“I'll wait till you're asleep and put your hand in warm water!”
“What?” He scowled in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
“Because it makes you pee the bed.” I laughed diabolically.
“It does not,” he scoffed.
“Yes, it does! I have an older brother, believe me when I say that it does.”
“What does having an older brother have to do with it?”
I blinked at him, then realized that he was an only child.
“Siblings play pranks on each other,” I explained. “One of the classic pranks is the warm water thing. It works every time.”
“And it makes people pee themselves? In their sleep?”
“Yep.”
“That's disgusting.”
“And it's only one of the reprehensible things I've learned from him. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“What was that?”
“That's my evil laugh. Every criminal must have an evil laugh,” I said dryly. “Boy, you really missed out on a lot being an only child.”
“A lot that I'm grateful for missing,” he muttered.
“Nah, there's good stuff too. Like knowing they'll always have your back. My brother's a good guy. If he had known what his friend had done—you know the one I lost my virginity to—he would have kicked Tom's ass.”
