She pointed to the coil of gorgon rope resting next to the armor form. “Take that, find him, and tie him up.”
“Shouldn’t I tie you up too?” he asked, not moving.
She stretched her neck. “I’m going up to my room. I’ll instruct Meer to keep me there until the Shine has passed. I should be fine, so long as I don’t see him. But I’ll have Meer secure the door magically, just in case.”
“Or maybe you could just let it happen,” Damion said. “Save us all a lot of trouble.”
She picked up the empty basket and whipped it at him. The wood crunched against his up-thrown arms.
“Things are already complicated enough,” she said. “He loves Honey.”
He frowned at her. “Are you sure about that? Besides, I don’t think this has anything to do with his feelings for the nymph.”
“Oh, please—”
“I don’t like what he is,” Damion said, standing, “but I like his brother even less.”
She glowered. “This is not about Endreas. Kaelan has no experience with Raes. He doesn’t know what it’s like when one Shines. It’s not fair to him. He wouldn’t thank us for allowing it to happen once he came back to his senses.”
Bending, Damion grabbed the coil of rope. “Don’t be so sure about that, coz.”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but—”
“I’m thinking you’re about to stand before the Crown and vie for Radiant with an unclaimed Prince at your side. Flor and Rahul can kiss ass as much as they want, but we all know most of the family will never support you. You were already defeated and you’ve been exiled. You have to do everything you can to give yourself the best chance possible—”
“You want me to claim Kaelan while I’m Shining?”
“He’ll agree, won’t he?”
“Yes. He will, but not because he wants to. When the Shine is gone, he’d be furious and he’d have every right to be. I promised him I wouldn’t claim him.”
“Weeks ago!”
“So?”
“So ask him again,” Damion said.
“He’s not going to be thinking about anything except for getting me into bed. He’ll agree to anything right now.”
“You might not Shine again for months! This is your only chance—”
“To break my promise and claim someone against his will?”
“Hardly,” he said. “It’s been clear since he died that whatever delusions he had about the nymph are long gone.”
“You don’t understand. What happened that day was—”
“I understand that he’s gone out of his way to be near you every chance he gets. That he watches you when he thinks you’re not looking. You can’t tell me you don’t—”
“He’s a Prince—”
“And you’re a Rae and that’s how it’s meant to be. Stop fighting it and let it happen! It probably would’ve happened already if you weren’t holding out for the other—”
Her hands curled. “I am not holding out—”
“Then why have you blinded yourself to Kaelan? He wants you. The only reason he hasn’t taken you is because you’re keeping him away. You blame the nymph, the promise, but it’s none of those things. It’s you. The only reason I can see that you’re resisting is because of that—”
“They’re both Elves, you know,” she growled. “Or has that ceased to be of importance to you?”
