“But why should I have to be miserable while they come to that conclusion?” He picked up a twig and threw it into the fire. “No. I’ll stay up on my mountain where it’s quiet and the only people I have to deal with are the boys who climb up for a lark. Speaking of foolishboys,” he gave her a pointed expression. “I’ve shared about my family home now. Are you going to answer my question?”
She sighed, glancing over at the lake where she knew her stepsons were presumably settled for the night. She wasn’t sure what exactly Atlas had told them when he knelt down and spoke at their level that morning, but whatever it was, they had stuck close by her the rest of the day. One of them—Owen, she was fairly certain—had even climbed up on the rock beside her and sunned himself for a bit during the afternoon.
“The princes have never liked me. I can’t really blame them. It must have been strange suddenly having a stepmother who is as old as they are—younger, actually, in Corbin’s case. Most of the time they kept their distance, but occasionally the younger ones would instigate pranks—spicy peppers in my soup, snakes in my bed, taking me out for a picnic and then stranding me in the woods—that sort of thing.”
A muscle along the side of Atlas’s jaw clenched. “I see.”
“Their father’s death seemed to hit them particularly hard, and my reputation made me an easy target for their grief. It started being spread among the court that I was the last person to be seen with Theodor, therefore I must have been responsible for his death. I wasn’t, but my past certainly didn’t help with things. Corbin had me locked in my rooms until they could officially determine whether or not I was to blame, and in the meantime, the rumors kept spreading until I was actually thankful to have an excuse not to leave. The night of the funeral,Corbin and I had a falling out. He’s in love with my lady-in-waiting, Elise, and for some reason decided that I would be against their marriage. I’m not, but I knew that as long as we were friends they would never agree. So…” Lindy swallowed against the hard lumps of tears that formed in her throat. “So I pushed her away. Told her I was a witch like everyone said, and that she would never be able to trust me. He was mad that I made her upset.”
Atlas muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a threat.
“After the funeral dinner that night, I returned to my rooms to find that Jacques, and maybe the twins as well, had filled them with birds—-geese and ducks and swans. It’s probably where he put Phoebe. But if you’ve been around birds, you know that they tend to…leave messes. My rooms were full of filth, and they ruined the one thing I had left from my sister, a knitted shawl she made me when we were children.” The tears were falling in steady streams now, and she swiped her hands angrily over her eyes. “I wanted revenge in that moment. I thought about cursing them. I still had a bottle of magic-infused liquid that I could have used, but I didn’t. Or, at least, I thought I didn’t. I was so angry I threw it on the floor and broke it. I guess the emotion in my voice was enough to carry the magic to the princes’ rooms. The next morning, they were swans.”
“Good riddance.”
She gaped at him.
“I’m serious, Lindy.” His jaw worked back and forth. “It serves them right. They treated you abominably. You were their father’s wife,his queen, and theyteased you like schoolboys with an old governess. Even if you had entered their lives acting as if they were beneath you—which they were, purely based on rank alone—they should have respected you as a female member of their family. If they didn’t want you as a mother, they could have at least treated you as a sister. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t even bother with undoing the curse. They made their nest; they can lie in it.”
Lindy laughed nervously through her tears, unsure what to do with something as unfamiliar as support from anyone other than Elise. “There is the small matter of now being suspected of murdering the princes as well as the king. If they know I cursed the princes, they might just lock me away. If they think I killed them, I’ll for sure be executed.”
“Then don’t go back.”
“It’s that simple, is it?” Her emotions were becoming overwhelming, and she needed to gain control. He had caught her off guard with his caring, and she was so starved for affection that it was dangerously tempting to do something foolish liketrusthim. “We met one another yesterday. Don’t pretend you know anything about me, or my life, or what my options are.”
Atlas stared at her over the flames, his attention so focused and heavy that she had to drop her eyes under its weight.
“You’re right.” His voice was deep and gravelly. “I don’t know you, beyond what I’ve learned the last day and a half. But just because we’ve only met doesn’t mean that you aren’t a person worthy of basic respect andprotection. If returning to your home is unsafe, then I’m happy to offer you an alternative—that partissimple.”
She twisted her hands together, her throat too thick with emotion to form the words to answer. The silence between them stretched on until it felt awkward to respond, even if she wanted to.
Just because he seems different, doesn’t mean he is. He can say that he’s offering shelter, but once I put myself in that position, there’s no way I’ll be able to protect myself if he decides to leverage that power against me. It’s dangerous enough accepting his help now—who knows what he might try to claim as payment?
“Your thoughts are awfully loud over there, Your Majesty, and I hate to interrupt, but…are you going to eat that?”
Lindy jerked her head up, blinking in surprise. “What?”
Atlas nodded to her uneaten fish. “You didn’t finish your dinner.”
“Oh.” Dazed by the sudden casual change in the atmosphere, she handed the bark plate over. “Here.”
His fingers brushed hers as he took it from her, sending frissons of warmth up her arm.
When was the last time a man had touched her with any kind of gentleness? Theodor had been kind, but their marriage was purely political. The only time he had even held her hand was during the marriage ceremony.
“Thanks.” He grinned sheepishly at her. “I know I said I would get myself more, but it was just sitting there.”
“It’s fine.” She pulled her hand away and tuckedit back in her lap. “It’s your fish, anyway. Thank you for sharing with me.”
He paused with a bit of fish halfway to his mouth and shook his head. “No, it’s yours. I gave it to you, which means that nowyou’resharing withme.”
Lindy rolled her eyes. “Are you truly going to argue about this?”
“Yes,” he said simply, surprising her once again. His face was frank. “I won’t pretend to know what kind of a life you come from, but it’s important that you understand that you hold the power in this situation. You could have said no, and I would have respected it. You could still say no, and I’ll give it back.”
“Fine.” She set her jaw and held his gaze, challenging him. “I changed my mind.”
Atlas returned the uneaten piece of fish to the plate and extended it to her at the same moment his stomach growled.
