“However thrilled to hear that your economy is booming, I’m quite attached to my earthly possessions.”
“All right.”
I drum my fingers against my bicep. “Are you planning on making me move into your quarters?”
His neck snaps very straight. “No. Betrothed couples don’t share a bed before marriage. They hardly share oneafter. I’ll put you up in the room beside mine.” His gaze slides to the wall behind me, which I imagine separates both rooms.
“Does it have direct access to your quarters?”
“In the past, but I’ve had the door sealed.”
So, no impromptu visits? That’s a relief.
“My parents will need to know it’s a farce. Naeva and my grandparents, as well. We’re a very tight-knit bunch. I’d hate to lie to any of them. Not that I’d get away with it anyway.”
“As long as they keep our secret, that’s fine.”
“Will you be telling any of your siblings eventually?”
Konstantin smooths his palms over a manbun that is so casual, I suspect he might have tied it himself. “Eventually.”
“What about Aodhan?”
“If Aodhan knows that we’re playing at being mates, so will Izolda. He’s terrible at keeping secrets from her. Best if I build on your lie that the bond slipped into place sometime last night.”
“I’ll warn my family not to broadcast the news. Last question—for now. What am I supposed to do during my time in Glace?”
“Act like you’re infatuated with me.”
I raise a single eyebrow. “That was a serious question.”
“What do you usually do in Luce?”
“I participate in Siorkahd meetings. I help prepare meals in the Market Tavern. I oversee various projects in the human lands. I visit the needy and the sick. I help my grandmother tend to her garden. Or rather, I keep her company by filling her in on all the latest gossip whileshetends to her garden, since I’m endowed with the opposite of green thumbs. I have regular lessons in spellcasting and”—I swap the wordsreading and writingfor—“foreign tongues.”
His brow ruffles.
“Were you expecting that I shopped, attended balls, and lazed in bed whilst stuffing my cheeks with sweets?”
“Yes.”
I can’t even hold it against him, seeing as he’s a Faerie noble, and that’s the way of the wealthy purelings. “Look, I understandif you don’t invite me to roundtables with your board of governors. However, I would like to be given useful endeavors, preferably of my choosing, but I’ll be glad for any mission.”
“Fine, but nothing that endangers you physically or mentally.”
“How sweet that you’re worried about my safety and sanity.”
“I’m not a monster.”
His words toss me back to the ship. To Taytah telling me that my mate…no, theowner of the ringwasn’t a monster. To think she’d known I was going to be tied down to Konstantin one way or another. Did my parents know as well, or had my grandparents kept the new details from them? Wouldn’t my father have stormed back had he heard?
I glance up at Konstantin’s skylight.
“The instant the prophecy comes to pass, we’ll put an end to our ruse,” he says.
He makes our ruse sound so easy…so harmless. “Izolda’s going to be so disappointed.”
“And probably angry, but once she understands why we partnered up, she’ll forgive us.”
