I’d never imagined saying this on my possible wedding/rejection ceremony day, but… “I’m not going to kill the High King.”
“Aw, ye weak-as-shite spoil sport,” Brigid grumbled. “The least ye could do is set me up to be queen if ye’re not going to get the gig. Anyways, I’m rooting for ye not to get yer heart cracked in front of every single person ye met yesterday—plus a lot more ye haven’t. Sorry ahead of time about us Secret Kingdom bears being laughers. It’s either that or cry, ye know.”
And with that incoming future humiliation briskly explained, she handed me off to Tadhg and Cian, who were waiting just outside my glass hallway door, no longer in just their underwear.
Tadhg wore a brown velvet tunic embroidered with golden bear sigils and mountain shapes. A fur-lined cloak, nearly identical to the one worn by the Mountain Kings in the portraits on the hallway wall behind him, was draped over his broad shoulders, and a heavy leather belt with a raised bear claw emblem was cinched tight around his waist.
Cian stood beside him in silent contrast, cloaked in a high-collared black silk robe lined with raven feathers instead of fur.
They both wore grim expressions that made a new lump of fear rose in my throat.
“Well,” Brigid said, sounding far less concerned about the situation than any of us looked, “better get meself a seat before they’re all gone.”
“Greg and Darach saved you one in the front row,” Tadhg told her.
Darach. She’d mentioned her outsider husband by name, so Darach had to be the name of her High Prince one. Which reminded me…
“By the way, just in case I never see him again—please thank Darach for being such a great listener. I truly appreciated the ear.”
Brigid scrunched her face at me. “Say what now?”
“Get to your seat before one of the O’Neilly sisters tries to steal him from you again. You know Agnes has a crush on both your husbands,” Tadhg reminded her. “We’ve got it from here.”
Brigid frowned but did as Tadhg instructed. For someone who claimed not to be great at leading, I noticed he had that effect on people.She left, and then it was just the kings and me alone in the hallway. But the rumble of the crowd from the throne foyer room was so loud, it traveled all the way down the corridor.
“What if he says no?” I asked them, though I didn’t know if I’d even hear their answers past the loud thump of my heart beating in my ears.
The Shadow King held up a pre-written sign:
OUTCOME PROBABILITY MATRIX
YAY: 59.5%
NAY: 26.7%
CHAOTIC THIRD OPTION (e.g., delay, demand, twist): 4.5%
DATA SOURCE: Pattern Recognition — High King Precedent (n=117)
CONFIDENCE INTERVAL: ±9.3%
Okay if I was reading his right (and believe, I was not confident about that), those odds weren’t the most terrible. But considering there was probably only a one-in-a-million chance of me being here in a secret kingdom located underneath the country of Ireland in the first place, it didn’t make my heart beat any steadier.
I’d thought the High King would continue dragging this out until my imposed deadline. I assumed I’d have until the New Year. And…
“I’m not ready,” I whispered to both of them. “I’m not ready to give you up. I thought we’d have more time.”
Tadhg said nothing. But his hazel eyes shone with everything he’d said yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Shadow King drew me into his long arms. He cupped one side of my head, pressing the other into his black shirt.
And then he breathed with me. Just breathed, until my heartbeat slowed to match the calm one beating against my ear.
We never had a chance to tell each other how we felt, like Tadhg and I had. But the way he looked at me when he pulled back…
I knew.
They each took one of my hands, and Tadhg fell back into the teacher role as they led me down the hallway, past all the judgmental High Kings of yore.
