Kaia spits out a grape. It bounces across the table and then lands in her mother’s lap. Kaia slaps her hand over her mouth, her blue-gray eyes huge, and Nerissa gives her a quelling look. The look finishes on me, and I might have felt a little quelled myself if Carver hadn’t suddenly made a noise like a donkey, finally belting out the laugh he’d been holding back.
Anatole bangs his hand down on the table and bursts out laughing. He sounds like a donkey, too. It’s contagious, and the whole table erupts, snorting and braying until most of us are wiping tears from our eyes. I shake my head, grinning. I haven’t laughed like this in…well, ever.
Nerissa eventually gets up, comes over to me, and then kisses my cheek, something that would usually make me squirm. Today, it somehow feels normal. “I always wanted to have four daughters.” She squeezes my shoulder. “Now I do.”
I keep smiling like a loon even though my throat suddenly feels thick, and heat stings the backs of my eyes. I have a family that loves me. I would protect them with my life.
Well, maybe not Piers, but I have a feeling he would return the sentiment.
Thoughts of Piers kill my smile and leave me feeling oddly queasy. Or maybe that’s the explosion of emotion. Or the lamb.
I lay down my fork, not hungry anymore. Griffin pushes his chair back, signals for Carver to follow him, and then drops a kiss onto the top of my head. Things like that are natural for him—for everyone here except for me.
“Meet me at the Athena temple at sundown,” Griffin says.
Excitement and nerves twist my insides into a knot. I slide a hand over my churning stomach. “What should I do?”
“Get ready for your wedding.” Griffin’s smile makes my heart skip a beat. Or maybe three.
“Besides that. For the preparations, I mean.”
He tucks some flyaway hair behind my ear. “Nothing. I’ll take care of everything. Trust me,agapi mou.”
I nod. I do. I really, really do.
I make it back to our room in time to throw up my entire meal. Talk about wedding jitters.Gah!
I’m feeling better by the time Jocasta and Kaia knock on the door. We collect Kato and Flynn, two of Sinta’s most exalted warriors, to carry packages for us—something which not so secretly makes me laugh.
Flynn gruffly insists they’re there for protection, and I roll my eyes when he straps on about fifteen extra weapons just to prove it.
I take up the rear with Kato, leaving a silent and vigilant Flynn to walk in front of Jocasta and Kaia. The princesses nod and wave to smiling merchants and shoppers as we weave our way through the agora toward the more exclusive shops at the top of the hill. I choose the same place we went to before the realm dinner so I can watch the young, handsome shopkeeper fawn all over Jocasta again and see how Flynn reacts.
His response is exactly what I thought it would be—quietly seething. Jocasta keeps her head high and appears not to notice Flynn hovering and glowering.
“You’ve mastered the princess thing,” I murmur behind a display of gowns. “Adoring populace. Surly, overprotective guard. You above it all.”
“Flynn’s not my guard.”
My eyebrows wing up at her prickly tone. “He is whenever we go out.”
“Which is twice in almost never.” Jocasta plows through the gowns, not even really looking. “And he only notices me when someone else does.”
Unfortunately, considering the shopkeeper’s obvious admiration and Flynn’s sudden grumpiness, it’s hard to argue with that.
“I’ve had enough.” Jocasta turns to me, her blue eyes blazing. “I’ve waited too long already. I’ll give him six more months. After that, I’m looking for a husband. Preferably one that looks just like him.”
My eyes widen. “Jocasta!”
She sighs, and her shoulders droop. “That was a joke.”
I frown. I don’t think it was a joke. “Why rush? You have plenty of time.”
She absently runs her fingers over a bolt of butter-yellow fabric. They snag on the delicate weave, and I take a closer look at her hand. There are calluses that weren’t there before.
“I’m old,” she finally says.
I snort. I can’t help it. “How old?” Apparently, it’s the question of the hour.
