“And there are still stories about how they even regret doing that,” Iris said. “But I think Lady Marianne likes taking chances, even if she won’t admit it.”
Keith wondered what other chances Marianne had taken that Iris knew about.
He made the call in Iris’s kitchen while she busied herself in the living room. From the sound of it, she was straightening things that were already straight and thumping books around on the shelves just to try to avoid any accidental eavesdropping.
Cooper answered on the first ring. “Hey, how’s it going? Have you met her yet?”
There were a couple possible answers there, but the most accurate ones—
Yes, and the whole world stopped spinning and flung me into outer space.
Yes, but I’m not sure she was as happy to meet me.
—weren’t anything he could say when there was even a chance Iris could hear him over the clatter she was making. He definitely didn’t want to make her feel self-conscious about not being interested in him.
So he chose his words carefully.
“I did. I don’t remember if I told you before, but her name’s Iris. Iris Lightfoot.”
“Pretty name,” Cooper said. “You sound like you’re walking on eggshells, so I’m guessing she can hear you and you want to make sure it’s not awkward.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then I won’t ask you to get into the details right now, even though you have to admit it’d be pretty funny to hear you trying to invent some kind of code on the fly. We’re all curious, though. It’s not every day one of your friends goes off to marry someone he’s never even met.”
Whenever Cooper called him a friend, Keith always felt a rush of surprise. It always sort of stunned him that Cooper could get past what a dick Keith had been when they’d first met.
“So what’s going on?” Cooper said. “Or are you just checking in to let us know you haven’t been catfished?”
“I still don’t completely understand why that’s called that. No, I called to see if you—any of you—wanted to, um, come here.”
Cooper fell silent for a second. “To your top-secret unicorn village?”
“It’s not exactly top-secret. It’s just private. The Silver Council keeps everything pretty tight.”
“Yeah, control freaks usually do.” Cooper swore softly under his breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know it’s your home. It’s just ... really different from what I’m used to.”
Keith shook his head, even though Cooper obviously couldn’t see him. “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, you’re not wrong. But hey, whether it’s private or top-secret, you’ve still scored some invitations. Iris and I have a week to get to know each other, and Lady Marianne said that could include her getting to know you. I don’t know if any of you can make it—”
“Of course we can make it,” Cooper said, like it was no big deal to drop everything just because Keith had asked him to. “It’s pretty quiet right now anyway. I bet most of us can come, even if I have to leave somebody to mind the store. We’ll take tomorrow to make arrangements and then see you the day after. Does that work?”
As long as he could get through another solo day with Iris without screwing everything up. He’d just have to keep his fingers crossed.
“That sounds great. I’ll text you the directions. If you call me when you’re close, I’ll meet you on the outskirts of town—well, the outskirts to me, they’ll just look like empty space to you—and take you in past the magical barriers. And thanks. You really don’t have to come if it’s too much trouble.”
“Keith, I’ve known you for years, and I can count on one hand the number of times you’ve asked for anything. We’ll be there. Should we bring anything? You know how Iz gets about this kind of thing.”
He did. Dragons had elevated manners to an art, especially when it came to being a host or a guest. Iz was under the impression that she was a lot more normal and laid-back about it than her cousin Theo was, but the whole office tacitly understood that she was fooling herself. There was no way she was going to show up without a gift or seven.
“Ask her if she wouldn’t mind packing a suitcase for me on top of everything else? I only brought an overnight bag with me, and I don’t want to be wearing the same two shirts for a week.”
“I can guarantee you’ll wind up with the best-packed suitcase in the state.”
He had no doubt about that. “Thanks. For everything.”
“No problem. Hey, Keith? Just be yourself.”
